Bury St Edmunds, Jul 2024
This game is not located within the building signposted Escape Rooms Suffolk – you’ll need to follow the signs to The Church down the path alongside. The location clearly gives them the luxury of space, and even so there’s a TARDIS effect where the game space appears to be larger when you’re in it than seems possible from the exterior.
We were exploring a graveyard, with a spooky locked church adjacent. It was immediately impressive both for the scale of the room and also for how well-built it was. The same design could be implemented in a considerably smaller area, but here I guess they have the luxury of a bigger building, and have taken advantage of it. And it’s not just more spread out, but decorated with care and skill throughout.
Of their two current games, The Church is more experiential and less focused on the puzzles. I didn’t feel in any way short-changed there, and there was plenty to do – that just means that it put a bit more emphasis on the atmosphere and physical interactions with the environment. The style of game uses hidden mechanisms rather than padlocks, and generally does so in ways that make sense within the game world.
While the atmosphere is creepy, this isn’t a scary game; if you’re unsure about whether you’ll find it too frightening it’s likely that you won’t. It’s macabre but also beautiful, as well as spacious, with excellent hosting. I now understand why Escape Rooms Suffolk has been getting such enthusiastic reviews recently; I had a great time in both their rooms, and would eagerly return to play whatever they open next.
Disclaimer: We played this game on a complementary basis. This does not influence the review or rating.