benny1664

This is a good solid collection style game.  The set isnt ground breaking but there are some nice little touches and its all bang on theme.  A good variety of puzzles.  Enjoyed it.

This game is a serious step up from their first game The Vault.  Its very immersive and love the theming/set/build quality.  Its very story driven and has an ingenious ending.  Its generally very good and well worth a try.  It sounds like there may be some updates in the pipeline too so it may even get better and better with time!

This is a solid basic room.  Nothing outstanding or groundbreaking on the tech front but it all worked as it should and all made sense and fitted with the theme.  Reasonable range of puzzles.  You can definitely see how the games have progressed when you compare this one (their first game) to Alien (their newest game)

This is a good solid room.  Its nicely themed and very playable.  Everything fits in and makes sense how its done.  Its quite linear so sometimes there is a little wait if your group is any bigger than 3 or 4, I definitely would'nt advise it for bigger groups.  Gary was a great GM. 

My major gripe was that its just too easy/short, you don't expect to leave a 90min game in 31 mins, even a 60min game would annoy me if I left half way through it.  I expect to be entertained or the full slot not to be all done really early, especially as we had driven for 2hrs for it!

This is quite a quirky game.  Its light hearted and flows nicely.  Its nothing ground breaking in terms of set or too challenging but its a good solid game and did keep us busy.  Its also not too linear which is nice so even a group of 3 or 4 can be all involved at once.  Thanks for hosting us Simon!

This is a good solid game.  Nice theming inside and a wide range of puzzles.  Don't think its a room for a big group though so would'nt do it with more than 4 people at most.  It all made sense and worked well.  I still prefer Crabheel the most from these guys but its up there with Aviary of Spies as one of their best rooms.

I liked this game.  Its nothing ground breaking but its a good solid game and fun to play.  The puzzles are a good variety and it all flows really nicely.  It just seemed to make sense and work really well which is pretty standard for Pressure Point games.  I don't think its quite so pretty and well themed as their previous rooms but its still very playable and well worth giving a try.  Need to get back ASAP for the new Monkey game!

This is a decent room but I left feeling quite underwhelmed I am afraid.  Its about the most expensive room I have done and I left feeling dissapointed.  Theres truly lovely scenery and theming as usual for Darkmaster.  I just did'nt feel that the puzzles clicked at all with us and the fact its so linear meant at times I felt like a spare part. We had a fair bit of interaction with the GM which we never ever need!  Compared to Shamleys which had us all going the whole time (and which is really great!) I just did'nt get this game and did'nt really feel it was a proper 90min game either.  

This is quite a unique room, very well thought out and sticks to the story well, everything feels in keeping.  Some really nice touches/novel ideas and a variety of tasks to do.  I must admit it didnt gel with my brain but the rest of my group loved it.  Its definitely on the harder end of the scale I would say but for experienced groups its a good challenge.  Great hosting by Roo too, thanks!

I loved this game!  Its a bit cheap and cheerful in construction and has'nt been put together with a huge budget or a massive venue space but its really clever and very different to anything else we have done.  There is just soooooo much to do and so much variety its great.  We did 78% of the puzzles and thought we were going pretty well so it shows that it will keep even the best groups in there until the end of the hour.  Great fun, well recommended!  Slightly annoying you don't see or do everything in your hour slot but I guess thats the point, there is just far too much to possibly do in the time unless you are superhuman!  We did it as a 3 but I believe that it would easily handle bigger groups than most rooms due to the sheer volume of puzzles (36 of them!)..

I have done all 3 of the other rooms at Clue Crackers and we LOVE them all!  2 of them are in my top 5 rooms from the 75 that we have done so I expected big things from this new room.  We waited a month from opening for everything to bed in and sadly I felt a little underwhelmed.  Don't get me wrong the build quality and set is amazing and very different but the room just did'nt seem to work properly. 

The whole start section seemed to be awkward and we did'nt understand if it was broken or designed like that and then a few minutes in we definitely had broken tech that the gamesmaster had to over ride to get us out of level 1.  The very final game I again did'nt think worked very well, the aiming was horrendous and it just seemed to drag without really understanding what was happening as what I think we had to do did'nt really seem to do much with the targets.

If they iron out the tweeks I am sure it will be good but at the moment it sadly does'nt quite live up to the high standards of the other games.  Its a solid game but not a top drawer one.

We have waited years to play this game and finally the stars aligned. 

The GM was great on briefing and fully into character.  The room seemed good when we were inside and we were flying along but then we got completely stumped and could'nt for the life of us work out what to do.  We spent 5mins going around and around and nothing so we asked for some clues.  Nothing at all from the GM.. so we asked some more and some more and after 5mins we finally had a response from her!  It turns out the previous reset had'nt put something back into the room that we needed.  As soon as we got that missing part we flew along again but multiple times after that it as like the GM could'nt see properly as she asked us what was happening or what we had done and she should know surely?  Very frustrating in that we literally lost 10mins faffing around through no fault of our own and you really expect a GM to be on the ball.  There seemed a few other little tech hiccups later on as she asked us to do things multiple times.  Otherwise we really enjoyed the room, 2 puzzles (the 2 right hand silver box challenges) were definitely not our thing but all in all it was a good mix of types of task and nice theming.    Loved the GM character, just wish she had been more present when needed.

So all in all, a good room but just feel like it was let down by the poor reset/GM'ing. 

This is a nice solid game.  Really liked the theming, range of puzzles, clue delivery and the GM in character was great.  Nowhere near the level of Loot the Lanes but a good room none the less.

I am in 2 minds with this game.  Its very unique.  There are 2 parts to the game and we theoretically got out in 43mins but to get out you only have to do 1/3 of the puzzles.  To finish it all is a crazy amount of work and some of the puzzles really did seem a bit out there to comprehend even with an explanation at the end.  We got out in a supposedly quick time but I left feeling very deflated with how many of the puzzles we had actually finished.  It did improve slightly when she said she had only seen 3 teams in 2 years finish it all but I definitely left without a sense of achievement. 

I also think briefings should really clearly say that things are used more than once as most games are one use only but in this game many things all link together and get used over and over. 

So its worth doing but don't be surprised if you do not finish everything as we have pretty much finished all rooms we have done in the 70 games played so far and we got spanked by it!  I think we did around 2/3 of the puzzles.

This is the 4th Escapement game we have played and I'm afraid we really did'nt gel with it at all.  I rated the other Escapement games all between 4 and 5 but this one was very small in comparison, the puzzles seemed very illogical and there were not that many at all to do.  We struggled so much to get off the starting blocks taking 35mins to do the first puzzle but then we did the whole of the rest of it in 24mins.  The final puzzle to get out is'nt really even a puzzle its so easy which was a big anti climax?  Usually a room with some sand on the floor and temple/tomb themes and we love it but we did'nt really enjoy this one at all I am afraid, sorry.

This was the 3rd game we played with Escapement and again as per the first 2 the set is truly fantastic.  Its a really interesting use of the space and has a wide variety of puzzles which flowed well with our style/brains.  I think the set is better than the gameplay with a slight sense of let down at starting the core again but its a really good fun game.

This is a fairly tricky room compared to the others at this venue.  We had one piece of broken tech which did hamper us a bit but otherwise its quite a good room and well worth playing.  It definitely didnt come easy to us but we made it through to the end.  Was knackered by the end of it!

This room is generally very good and you can see a big step up in room design from their older ones.  The theming is great.  We enjoyed it but we just felt it lacked some puzzles and was too easy.  Playing as a pair we were a bit disappointed to get out in only 35mins as it makes it a very expensive night out for a small group.. If there was more of the same inside then it would have scored much higher.

I quite enjoyed this what or at least what there was of it.  There were quite a few puzzles but it really did'nt take us that long, especially considering the 3 people I played with were all novices in the world of escape rooms.  I liked it but definitely wanted more for the money..  and there were 2 puzzles that were trickier and we got hints straight away on those which basically instantly showed us what to do which was a bit of a shame.  We had 20 mins spare at the end so letting us try and solve the 2 puzzles would have been my suggestion before giving us big clues without us asking for any. 

For anyone worried about the scare factor, its not that bad, theres a couple of jumps but its more of a laugh than anyway outright scary.

This is a very quirky game and it definitely has some interesting concepts.  Its not bad at all but a few things let it down for me which would be easy fixes.  

Waiting in reception at the arrival time mean you hear things/noises from the group before that are finishing off which is a bit of a spoiler.

I did'nt really gel with the room and I think that is because there is only 1 torch and I never had control of that and without it there is'nt that much you can do as its all so dark.  I feel its very limiting on what can be done making everyone stay as a group.  I really think more torches are needed to allow more people to explore and get into the game fully.

Finally, I am not a fan of rooms where you have to act or do the thing you needed to do to get the discount on the food order, sorry but I am not a fan of the role play/acting side of it.

But in general its not a bad room, decent mix of tasks to complete.  Would'nt suggest having more than 4 people at most as I just don't think theres the space or light for anymore to get involved, even as a 3 it felt about the right number.

This is a very clever idea.  I don't think its as good as Candyland 1 but its worth doing nontheless.  Solid theming and story with another great range of puzzles to deal with.  Didnt feel like there was as much to do in the original Candyland or maybe we were just up to speed by then.  

We loved both the Pressure Point games we have done previously so this one had a lot to live up to and it did not dissappoint.  Really clever and a massive range of puzzles to try.  In fact I am not sure I have done any room with so much to do!  Great theming and a very clever idea.

We came with high hopes for this room but sadly we were really dissapointed.  Found the GM'ing very poor quality and not usual panic rooms quality but he was obviously very new.

I thought it was a horror room but theres nothing even vaguely jumpy or horror about the room.  Theres more skeletons in an average aztec/jungle themed room and it really lacked the scare factor.  Dollshouse made us jump far more and the Happy Institute too!

There was broken tech in the game too which let us into an area too early and I think wasted quite a lot of time.

It is an expansive set but for me it was ruined by the new areas being very obvious where they were.  Its amazing when you are surprised by a new room or tunnel but here you could pretty much see where the next area would be coming from which was a shame. ie: from lights under the floorboards before you get in there showing there was going to be a downstairs area, etc.

Puzzles were ok but hard to do with a lack of lighting.  One lantern for a team in the first half of the game slows you down massively as you have to stay together or you cannot see anything.  Even with 3 novices and the single light it was a 62min escape so I think this is done to slow times down and fill the 75min slot as I cannot see any other reason for making it so dark and limiting lighting.

Panic rooms hosted me on some of my first ever games 5yrs or so ago but sadly they just dont seem to have moved on since then like everyone else has.  The GM/staff quality is lower and so is the game quality/building in my view.  Its a shame but I think they are overstretching and need to concentrate on doing what they do best with their old games that I enjoyed so much more than the recent ones.. 

I had heard a lot of great things about this game but came away very underwhelmed.  Whilst its a very novel idea I really did'nt think that much of it.  There were not that many puzzles at all and even playing with 3 novices we still did a 45min escape so I think with regular players it would be done very fast.  Really felt a bit budget, especially the middle section which could easily be spiced up with some smoke/light effects, etc.  The hand held screen had faulty LED readouts meaning its hard to read and it just generally felt very average.  

Timequest doesnt spend the big bucks on set design and theming but the puzzles are all solid and at a fair price.  We quite enjoyed this game, there was a good variety of puzzles around and an expansive set too.  Definitely aiming more at playability/puzzles than making it look beautiful but I would rather it that way round if there was a choice!

This is a great room.  Really quirky and lots of "ooo" moments.  Lots of back and forth and exploring. 

The only thing I didnt enjoy was the taste puzzle as we all found it really hard to taste what we are supposed to taste to complete the puzzle, the same as some of Tulley other rooms that have sniff tests which again are very hard to do.  I really wish they wouldnt include these sort of puzzles in the rooms.  But otherwise it was all good and quite a wide variety of puzzles..

Look forward to the next room they open!

This is by far the best room at Darkmaster.  We loved it, great puzzles and amazing theming too.  Really really enjoyable although not one I would recommend for new players as there is a LOT to do in it!  So much better than the airline game and I much preferred it to the Relinquary as everyone in the ground sees everying in the game rather than missing out on some of the special features like they do in the relinquary.  Really well done, look forward to the Ice Station game now!

Quartz is great.  Its got some fairly tough puzzles but overall its really good and fun with amazing set design.  Very unique.  I felt the final room lasted a bit too long but all in all its a stunning room.  Definitely up there in my top 10 rooms!  

Atlantis is great!  The theming is out of this world and gameplay is pretty good too.  Only niggles were slightly hard to hear audio in the final escape and the videos in the middle are quite long but its an exceptional game inside.  The set is right up there with the best!

This is the 2nd room we tried here and its ok but very punchy on price for what you get.  We preferred it to Espionage but its still a bit behind the times in terms of set build, etc.

The guys running it are very friendly and enthusiatic so it seems harsh to give a low score but I just think the price does'nt compare to other rooms around for far more immersive rooms with massive varieties of clues/puzzles, sets, etc.

I feel this game is about 5yrs behind the times. I havent seen anything so basic for a very long time in terms of set and budget for build. Its the same price as most games around but the theming, etc is very low budget. Its their first room and first month of trading and we will try another one but I think it will really struggle if all games are pitched at this level considering the local competition is so high. Theres nothing in it but padlocks, no electronics or tech of any real kind. It needs a lot more variety to rival other games around. But the guys running it are friendly and enthusiatic enough.

To be honest we were a little disappointed with this. Nice reception lobby and themed build but a few things that let the game down.

The games master wasnt as engaging and on the ball as we would like. The torches in the room were pretty useless and one had an intermittent fault and flashed on and off as it had a loose connection. We continually moaned about it and light levels yet nothing was done. At the end she said it was because we pressed the on/off button too many times but why not say that in the game and it also wasnt that, it was definitely a faulty torch as she couldnt get it to work when she showed us.

In one part there is audio played but we couldnt hear it as its fairly quiet and right by the corridor leading to another game so all we could hear was people outside talking.

Just left a bit flat esp as these are all easy to fix. Torches not working is a basic and players shouldnt have issues seeing what they are doing.

Would prob try their other games and just hope to have more of an engaged games master. Feel really rude saying it as she seemed like she may be new but its an honest feedback and it really does make a lot of difference to the experience.

Much preferred this room to One Wing Airlines but still feel its very search heavy and lacking in quality puzzles.  Maybe my brain just doesnt work like theirs but never feel I gel with the puzzles like we do elsewhere.  The set/theming is beautiful and some very quirky unique ideas.  Unfortunately quite a few of the wow moments are only experienced by 1 person in the team so I would definitely prefer something that everyone experiences.  Its a reasonable room but amongst the most expensive around so would expect a bit more in quality of gameplay.

This was the 3rd of the Hounds rooms we have tried and wow, its amazing!  Its straight into my top 5 rooms.  Loved the design/theme/set and great choice of puzzzles.  Loads to do and definitely quite a bit harder than the other 2 rooms they have.  Genuinely brilliant game.  Thanks and look forward to the next one you open!

Right from the moment you open the front door Hounds shows just how serious an operation it is.  An amazing waiting room and check in area, great characterisation from the GM and a great room with lots of new puzzles and a brilliant variety of things to get your head around.  Found it a bit harder than Southern Discomfort but both were great.

Im afraid we didnt gel with this room at all but mainly due to the music that played the entire way through as it was so off putting.  Just made it hard to hear each other and concentrate.  Wasnt a massive fan of the puzzles either.  Just didnt really click with us I am afraid.

Loot the lanes was great all round.  Brilliant theming, good puzzles, great variety of tasks.  Couldnt knock it in any way.  Really enjoyed it!

I liked this game and it seemed to flow well.  Its a bit creepy so not one for small children or those easily frightened!  The puzzle all seemed to work well and it was a lot to do in 60mins so it definitely filled the time.  I don't feel we struggled on anything really and didnt have much time left at all.  Good solid game, nothing ground breaking but still a good one to play and I liked the set/theming.

This is a very interesting room and a totally different theme to anything else we have seen.  It didnt 100% click with our brains and game play for some reason but there are lots of novel ideas and theming is good.  Not sure why I didnt love it, I just didnt feel we got it 100% for some reason.  But it was still enjoyable enough.

We have done Titanic and Escape from Alcatraz (this is my favourite Houdinis one) before and were really looking forward to this one but sadly it fell well short of the games we have played so far in 2022.  It all just felt very tired and 2nd hand.  There was an issue with the bonnet of the jeep, the only dinosaur in the game was broken, the games in reception were missing parts and armchairs have seen better days, and in the game itself we were given 3 torches for a group of 4 but only 2 worked.  I mentioned it was so dark and they said they couldnt charge the torches overnight so always had issues with them.  Maybe invest in a 2nd set of batteries and charge them alternate days then as its rubbish playing a room thats dark without any proper lights!  I felt I missed most of the first room as I didnt have a working torch at that point.

We didnt feel the puzzles worked very well, they were pretty convoluted, mostly of a very similar style and some of the links seemed very tenuous.  It was mediocre but doesnt make me want to rush back to the franchise again Im afraid.