LevelUp Escapes: Operation: Overload

First of two we played at LevelUp and I absolutely loved this one. 
The use of space in this room is really impressive and makes for some unique moments.  It can be easy to ignore tech in a room themed to WWII but this room managed to incorporate some exciting elements without breaking the immersion. Another stand out in this game is the clue system which allowed for the GM to really have fun and immerse us in the storyline which I always appreciate. 

Finally, the ending of this game was just unbelievable! I won't spoil it but I would be surprised if any team could predict what was coming for them in the last moments before game end.

We really felt this room delivered at LevelUp, taking us back to the streets of the 1940s. 

The game flow was smooth, with some carefully considered puzzles for the time period, I really enjoyed the clue system in this game.

And the ending had my jaw on the floor….. I just didn’t see that coming. 

The use of space was impressive, and we loved the variety throughout the game. The special effects were brilliantly executed, creating an immersive atmosphere that truly captured the WWII theme—definitely one of the best we’ve experienced! The hosting was top-notch, and we had a fantastic chat with our Games Master, Nye, after the game before moving on to our next adventure. Highly recommended!

This is a lovely room with wonderful theming and a great use of space. There are some physical elements to this room so it isn't advised for anyone with mobility issues. We really enjoyed the variety of puzzles and the room kept us all fairly busy the whole time. There was a lovely flow to it and a good sense of progression due to the clever layout. 

There were some really nice effects used in the room.... and one not-so-nice one. We were warned about said effect at the beginning and asked if we were happy, however, what was described wasn't really how it was at all. I don't know if it was a bit broken but it ended up just being unpleasant and annoying. This could be utilised really well but for us it was not.

However, my main issue with this room was a GM issue. There was a certain puzzle where we completed it pretty quickly and received a code, tried it in all available padlocks to no avail. We even had multiple team members try the locks just in case, but nothing. So we began spiraling, searching everywhere for a different code or a different way to interpret the information around us. We must have spent the best part of 15 minutes believing we were wrong. Eventually giving in and doing what we never do... asking for a hint. To which we were given the response "You have the right code, you just need to give the lock a really strong pull". In the pre-room briefing we were told; no excessive force was needed. They really should have mentioned how that doesn't include padlocks, because some of them really did need some force. Also, not letting us stew for 15 minutes and just a polite hint to give the lock a strong pull would have been appreciated.

Overall, it's a really nice room with great potential. It has some lovely puzzles, great theming and is really family-friendly. With some fine-tuning, it would be a fantastic room. The small issues were annoying but not enough to spoil the fun.

We had a fantastic time playing Overload at LevelUp Escapes, the host was super helpful and we enjoyed chatting in character. As others have said we thought this was a top tier WW2 game, there are some great effects, throughout, and a few things we have not seen before. 

Look forward to returning to the venue.

Really enjoyable room. Not usually a great fan of WW2 games but this was very good. Excellent use of space and some funny moments. Excellent hosting added to the experience. Worth a visit. 

A nice, easy-going room with a range of puzzle types. A variation between padlocks and maglocks but leaning more towards padlocks. Fun use of ‘levels’ but felt like there were some missed opportunities for using this unique space for puzzles. Nice use of tech. Puzzles were simple to solve. Lost a chunk of time (twice) due to something opening and not hearing anything/being signalled or signposted. With a few tweaks this could be a strong room. It was good fun for a Saturday day out and a good excuse to visit Shrewsbury. We were a bit gutted for the GM to open the door to the room to show us the ‘obstacle’ before we even started and were told lots of details about the rooms’ features before we even started. It would be better to just experience it rather than be told about it as it takes away that magic moment.