by Escapologic (website)
21 Castle Gate, NG1 7AQ
2-5 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
Your Great Uncle was once a leading scientist known for developing state of the art nuclear technology. In central Europe, during the late 1970ās, one of his experimental reactors went into meltdown as soon as it was activated, causing one of the most catastrophic disasters in modern history.
The government blamed him for the event, stating that his reactors were not safe to begin with, he was imprisoned for life and remains locked up to this day.
After receiving a letter from prison you have reason to believe he was framed by a fellow scientist and that the original reactor was tampered with.
Overall rating
based on ratings from 31 users
combined with 8 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
My least favourite of our ten rooms in Nottingham.
Hard to say anything without spoiling it anything that uses the lack of light as the main "puzzle" for half of the experience is not for me. Years ago we did an escape room that was designed to show fully-sighted people what it was like to be blind - that was a good room. It's a nice gimmick in some rooms but here it was too long and in the end frustrated and bored me.
Way too much reading and I'm the one in the group that likes to read. I had no idea what was going on towards the end, I'd checked out. Escaped by the skin of our teeth. Story and hosting were fine.
We played this room when it relatively new and didn't really know what to expect. It is a very physical room with theming that really makes you believe you are in a reactor. Mix this with impressive special effects and you are immersed in a panic to fix the reactor in the middle of Russia.
There are some elements of darkness in this game but it is short and very much part of the story, so we didn't mind this too much.
This was the type of game that you feel you've taken forever and lost all concept of time, so we were very surprised to find that we had topped the leaderboard for our time (albeit this was towards the opening so hadn't been played hundreds of times). We felt challenged as a 2 and had lots to do. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the phsyical elements, even though we are not usually fans.
Loved the theming of this room and the physicality of some of the puzzles.
Unfortunately, some broken props/buttons and a solution that doesnāt fit the criteria we let downs
After playing "The Gateway" at the same venue, which is the best room I've ever played, I was excited to head back to Escapologic a few days later to try Reactorvate.
Frankly I didn't enjoy it very much.
The theming is first class, not quite "Gateway" standard but still excellent, and the hosting was just as impressive (seems to be a running theme at Escapologic).
The actual room itself (theming aside) was quite dull and 20 minutes were spent with the two of us split up, trying to solve one single puzzle. When we were back in group, we ended up stuck on another puzzle that resulted in myself sitting in a corner of the room and waiting for my partner to solve it. I really don't like puzzles that take a long time to solve as if you struggle with it, it ruins the rest of the experience. Those who enjoy these heavily logical style type of puzzles would really enjoy this room, but it just really wasn't for me.
My partner also left feeling a little disappointed and said she'd give it a 6/10, which added to my 4/10, isn't great.
Again, I must mention the hosting. The guys here are amazing and without doubt the best hosts I've come across. Alex was excellent, giving us hints at just the right time, and even some encouragement when he could see we were getting frustrated.
While we did escape, it certainly wouldn't have been possible without the hints we received.
You will be split up and spend some time in the dark. Final words of advice; read all of the material in the room! Also, you are given a hint before you enter. LISTEN TO THIS HINT AND REMEMBER IT!
I'm still giving three stars as this is still a good room. The puzzles just didn't hit the sweet spot for me personally. But theming, hosting and the story are great. I can see why a lot of people love this room, it just wasn't for me.
The room has great theming and all the puzzles fit nicely, a lot of them are more physical style puzzles and the first task had us stumped for quite a while, but overall a fun game to play.
Easier than Gateway or Chronos, but a really fun and immersive room in its own right with the same level of clever little tricks you'd expect of this company.
Played this as a pair which was quite challenging but we managed it! There was one puzzle at the start which felt slightly illogical, but after that the game flow was very effective. The set build is impressive and everything you need to do feels like a feasible step in operating a nuclear reactor rather than a puzzle.
Escapologic is always a great venue to visit with friendly staff and great decor.
Reviews by escape room review sites
Reactorvate eschews the obvious plot for a game set in a nuclear power station in favour of a more complicated premise: your great uncle was blamed for a catastrophic meltdown, and your aim is to sneak into the abandoned station, find data to clear his name, and get out before youāre caught.
This gameās most controversial decision is that one sequence leaves you in more or less total darkness. That initially seemed like a terrible idea, reducing us to fumbling our way around a large and complic...
The technology Reactorvate uses is great. You get to do physical puzzles, mental puzzle, observation puzzlesā¦and you get to DO so much. We love a room that offers players the opportunity to really feel as though you are ādoingā the puzzling, rather than simply solving notes scribbled on a page. The whole thing had such a tactile feel as we lifted heavy objects and manipulated strange contraptions weāre all too young to know the true purpose of.
See also
- Escapologic Leicester: Reactorvate (Leicester) (closed)