This game may scare you! PG rated may be unsuitable for younger players - Please call for more information. St Josephine’s Orphanage for Girls was once the finest educational facility in the North West. Today, the grand Victorian property stands empty, derelict and abandoned. Until now as the property stands up for auction by a local firm. You and your colleagues have been invited to enter the grade II listed site and evaluate its potential for developing it into a new, state of the art urban-living apartment complex. Tread carefully though, you wouldn’t be the first to walk its eerie halls and perhaps decide for yourselves that some doors are better left closed.
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Quite disappointed in this experience as we were expecting something much more intense and scary. The game itself is best described as creepy but never ventures beyond that. As regards the set - it's extremely small! The decor, furniture and props are fairly poor quality and something that really grates is multiple locks (4-5) on one piece of furniture! For enthusiasts visiting Manchester you're much better off taking a trip to the venues outside the city to play more impressive experiences.
Team size: 2Time taken: 45.00Outcome: Successful escape!
originalstory-drivengreat hosting
Great experience for the spooky/ horror fans, but if you are coming in for puzzles, it's a little light. It's more about the story and the atmosphere than the puzzles. That being said, we had a fantastic time and my wife definitely had a few jumps throughout the game!
This game was fun with a few scary moments (I screamed a fair few times!) and the GM was wonderfully in character which added to the experience. I really enjoyed some of the production and there were some great moments, perfectly themed to a creepy old orphanage.
Our main issue with this room was that one of the props/clues was so ridiculously faded and impossible to read that we figured it couldn't be part of the game so we lost a lot of time on that. The GM cannot hear you in this room unless you talk to them over the walkie-talkie so they obviously weren't aware we were having this issue until we asked over the walkie if the clue was part of it after about ten minutes of being stuck. We said we were totally unable to read it and asked if they had a spare they could provide. After taking the clue, they agreed that it was completely impossible to read even in the light and wrote over it to make it clearer. Not the biggest issue in the world but still took away from the immersion and overall game experience, and obviously made us lose a fair bit of time. Could just do with double checking props in between games, especially since they can't hear you during the game and are therefore unable to know if you are having a problem like that.
Be aware you are also in complete darkness at times!
Played: 18 Oct 2021Team size: 5Time taken: 50:20Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivengreat hostingintense🧟terrifying
Sinister Sleuthing!
This ominous-sounding room looked perfect for our
pre-Halloween escape.
Story
Head into the abandoned orphanage and evaluate its
potential as a new apartment block…sounds straightforward enough, right?
Puzzles
More than sufficient in both theming and quantity.
They require you to look, think and act!
Mise-en-scene
Gloomy and forsaken surroundings sustain a tense
atmosphere throughout. There are surprises and some bone-chilling twists that
punish you whenever you let your guard down.
Final Comments
I had a lot of fun in this one. Our host did a
great job keeping us immersed in the story. We got out alive with 10 minutes to
spare. Phew!
Played: 7 Nov 2021Team size: 2Outcome: Successful escape!
originalgreat hostingquite easy👻scary
Managed to play as a team of two. As experienced players, we found some puzzles simplistic. - Still enjoyed the journey.
Anonymous experienced rated this:
Team size: 5Outcome: Failed 🙁
originalfunnygreat hosting😨creepy
I really enjoyed this game. We really over thought a very simple puzzle (the floor game), we lost a lot of time and didn't get out. Apart from this puzzle I think the room was challenging and had some really good puzzles, without being too hard. I'm not a fan of using walkie talkies for clues, but I actually didn't mind it in this game. I loved the jump scares! They were really subtle which is so much better/creepier than someone just screaming at you in the dark (which I've experienced with other live actor escape rooms)
A creepy room with some fun puzzles that may have younger players scratching their heads as they have never heard of them! It is dark but there is enough light to play the game as you progress in a roughly linear manner. There’s a couple of puzzles that were slightly ambiguous in nature but we were clued effectively with just enough to nudge us in the right direction. Your party is forced to split up at one point in one of the more atmospheric moments of the game. Ultimately nothing here will surprise you but it’s a fun game to play none the less.
Played: 18 Mar 2022Team size: 2Time taken: 56Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-driven😨creepy
A great game to play for two enthusiasts as there is plenty for two to do. Wonderfully creepy (for me) and if you're that way inclined there are points where you'll scream. The production is great, and the puzzles are very well-themed for an orphanage, with maximum creepiness factor throughout. A great adventure!
Played: 20 Aug 2021Team size: 2Time taken: 59:51Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersiveintense👻scary
#17
Brilliant experience at Lucardo! The whole time we were in this room we were laughing and having fun, (mostly due to my partner getting so freaked out!). Once again the game hosts were fantastic, and my partner in particular was terrified (in a good way!). Creepy story and very enjoyable.
Played: 4 Dec 2021Team size: 2Time taken: 54:00Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-driven👻scary
A 4 star room, let down by the company experience. The creepiness and scare factor are the best element of this room and it's executed cleverly with suggestive components. The lighting is used to good effect as well as non intrusive interaction with the room by the GM. The storyline and narration are used to good effect and builds the room towards it's climax. The puzzles are fitting with the theme but there was one that we never would've got without the clue/solution. We felt rushed through in terms of interaction with the staff and owner, my partner commenting that it felt more like a factory to churn players through. We weren't offered the standard team photo either. The personal touch for me is part of the experience and this was missing. A good room, just a shame there was no personal touch.
Reviews by escape room review sites
Someday I’ll play a game set in an orphanage that’s about toys and laughter and children playing happily, but not this one: Lucardo’s latest is of course a horror game, set in a derelict orphanage with a dark past.
The design gets a lot out of a relatively modest sized space. The beginning in particular would feel cramped for any team larger than three, though it soon opens up somewhat. Some quality set design helps suspension of disbelief, and the game felt increasingly immersive as it went o...
The Orphanage was just perfectly creepy, dilapidated and atmospheric
