robasmith

Pretty basic escape room flawed by the hint delivery system.

Escape Reality's hint system is bad. Really bad. There's no walkie talkies or audio feed into the room. I don't even think the games master can hear you! 

Instead you are given an iPad and asked to scan a QR code attached to the puzzles for hints. This used to give you a 5 minute penalty but they have supposedly removed this penalty now, however when we went to scan a QR code we were informed there would indeed be a penalty and so we didn't use it. Broken iPad maybe?

Because there's no audio feed into the room, the games master actually enters the room to give you hints! This totally ruins the entire experience and all feeling of being immersed in the theming is thrown out of the window. 

The room itself is fine. There's nothing special about it but also nothing overly negative. Count some objects here, put a code into here, rinse and repeat. 

We have played all but 1 of the rooms here now, but hadn't been at this venue for a long time as we were trying out other companies. Now that I have seen how a lot of other companies deliver hints, I can safely say that Escape Reality needs a total overhaul. Honestly I don't want to return for the final room until the hints delivery system is fixed. 

This is no reflection on the games master. They are working with what they have, it's such a shame they aren't given the tools needed to deliver the experience that I'm sure they want to deliver. 

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. 

I've just got home after experiencing "The Gateway" and in the two hours it's taken me to drive home, I haven't stopped thinking about it.

My partner and I consider ourselves relatively experienced escape room players and have played somewhere in the region of 30-40 of them, but nothing has come anywhere close to being as impressive as this one!

Not only is the theming the best I have ever experienced, but the atmosphere was mind-blowing. I genuinely felt terrified for the full 52 minutes it took us to escape. I have never been so scared in my life. The puzzles were excellent and allowed the room to flow perfectly. Each puzzle was relatively simple and ensured that we were fully immersed in the horrifying story.

I have never seen theming like it. Every other escape room should have "The Gateway" as the benchmark. I'm actually a little lost for words while writing this review as I don't know quite how to do Escapologic justice, words simply cannot explain just how phenomenal this escape room is. Without doubt the best I've ever played and I suspect it may remain that way forever.

Shout-out to the staff too. Our Games Master (Courtney) was amazing and gave hints at just the right times. Plus she was VERY inventive with the way the hints were delivered.

We're coming back to play the rest of the rooms here. Escapologic have absolutely smashed it out of the park!

Games master was good but this escape room was awful from start to finish. Seriously terrible. 

No logic behind any of the puzzles, half the theming was broken with switches coming off the walls and even part of the wall felt like it was about to fall over. 

One of the puzzles literally has you asking the AI computer the same question 20 times before it says "yes". 

Without doubt the worst escape room I've ever played and it's honestly put me off every trying another game at Escape Hunt. 

The theming is great and and the hint delivery system is decent. Our host was attentive and delivered hints at the right times. One of the puzzles, however, was very illogical. We figured out what we had to do very quickly but there were several ways to interpret the pattern which resulted in us taking 15 minutes to solve a puzzle that should have taken 3 or 4. "Escape" seem to like these kinds of puzzles which is a real shame as it ruins the flow of the game. 

Very well themed, especially at the beginning. Scary! The puzzles were a little unoriginal though especially towards the end. We failed but they let us have an extra 10 minutes to complete. 

My favourite escape room. Very traditional with lots of locks and codes which is right up my street. Superb hosting!