Escape Reality Edinburgh: Machina

The principle here was simple to open every locker until you can finally go further both in the physical space and in the narrative. It was repetitive and draining in terms of room design. 

There were a lot of interesting padlocks in a modern and futurist style, but this remained a fairly underwhelming experience in the end. 

Honestly, THE worst game I’ve ever played.

Firstly, it was FREEZING cold in there, they had an electric heater in the room plugged in, which had exposed wires and was faulty. This was an accident waiting to happen. 

So much stuff was broken including the tv screens. 

The clue system (via a tablet) was the stupidest I’ve came across, which gives you limited clues and times you out. 

The electric coded locks just didn’t work despite the right code, which also time out after each attempt. 

Overall, it was just dreadful. 

It's a weird game as the first part looks so high-tech and has a minor 'wow' moment when there's an unexpected game mechanism. The later parts of the game look a bit cheap and cheerful in comparison, and the puzzles aren't anything out of the ordinary. My least favourite room here, including the impossible Alice one. 

Clue system is awful, just generic clues on an iPad after scanning a QR code - often telling you to do something that you’d already done. GM kept coming into game if we were stuck which disrupted the flow. Avoid this company.