Lockhill: The House on the Hill

When you have high expectations for an experience, there’s always a significant fear of being disappointed. And if you’ve already played other rooms by Lockhill, your expectations are bound to be high. In this case, however, my expectations weren’t just met—they were exceeded. Lockhill has created an incredibly well-crafted set that brings the story to life in a vivid way. While I initially underestimated the "scare factor" at the beginning of the experience, the room ultimately managed to push me to my limits in several moments. The characters in the narrative are portrayed so fittingly that the core theme becomes exceptionally clear—a theme that carries immense relevance in our society today. With this, Lockhill has created not just an intense new escape room, but an absolute masterpiece. I am deeply impressed.! 

As it happens, my fellow players had already experienced the room, but they were willing to play it again for my sake. Even on this second run, they were just as impressed and thoroughly enjoyed it!

• Expectations were high going into this experience following Chapel & Catacombs and while House on the Hill doesn’t have the wow factor or varied scenic landscape of their previous game it still remains very entertaining with a strong and well developed story. The space itself was quite compact but still maintained a good sense of exploration, with a number of common house settings being revealed. Room spaces were on the small side so best advised for 2-3 player teams. The acting was done well and the story flowed as you progressed through the house uncovering more information regarding characters encountered previously in Chapel & Catacombs. However storylines involving grief, mental illness and domestic abuse aren’t particularly unique in Athens and personally I felt some other companies (Obsessed/Der Soloist) had more powerful acting sequences to display this topic. As regards puzzles they flowed well and helped develop the story although there were relatively few and most were on the easy side. One particular personal highlight was a small area in which you felt like you were inside your own head dealing with negative thoughts - this was done really well and quite unique. The scare factor starts slow and builds up as the game progresses culminating in the standout moment of the experience as you meet the larger than life baddie and sets up a frantic end sequence. It was always going to be difficult to follow up on the heady success of Chapel&C but overall House on the Hill is a great standalone game and a worthy addition to the Lockhill universe.