Breathtaker is truly one of the most unique experiences I've ever come across within the escape room industry. A multi-level, actor-led immersive horror narrative that spans across 2 full hours and accommodates up to 15 players? Unheard of.
It's kind of hard to know where to begin with this because as soon as you step inside the building there's a startling amount of things to take in and a mountain of backstory to sift through. The physical space itself is wonderful, Dr Q are lucky enough to have an entire venue dedicated to one room which acts as an absolute labyrinth for players to open up and explore as each story beat unfolds. A very welcome and immersive feature that I found really added to the cinematic nature of the whole thing.
The actors were awesome, fully committed to their (multiple) roles and would constantly go out of their way to emphasise the seriousness of the situation, as a massive group of players this helped us stay on track narratively and gave us a sense of purpose. Very cool.
There was a lot of moving around, navigating back and forth between different areas, collecting information and solving puzzles; which worked for the most part but could feel tedious around the 90-minute mark. While I found the space to be expansive and intricate, unfortunately given the nature of the storytelling every new area became accessible relatively quickly which I felt limited opportunities for moments of tension, bigger set pieces, and player-led exploration. Not the end of the world but I think when you've got 2 full hours to play with, leaning into more of the puzzle-solving and away from the exposition could help pad out time spent in each area before progressing. Granted, playing with 15 people was entirely too chaotic but for a nice little group of 4-6 this would be electric.
I found Breathtaker's strongest moments of horror to be found in the uncertainty of the world around you. Those instances where you didn't know what abomination lay around each corner or what diabolical experiments these evil doctors are actually running. And those moments for me were best experienced when my friends and I were in the driver's seat, making the decisions, uncovering the atrocities and communicating our findings. I think finding a nice balance between player autonomy and actor-led objectives would make this room even better, even if it means cutting it down to a cool 70-90-minute experience.
All in all, a batshit crazy adventure and one that I still talk about today. It brings me joy that places like Dr Q are still pushing the boundaries of what an escape room can be and I hope they keep trying new things and tweaking the formula.
Massive shoutout to Ben and the other performers who were outstanding all night, we had such a spooky, wonderful and ridiculous time from start to finish!
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
A lot of running around, traversing stairs and crouching.
Unlimited parking available on Plenty Rd after 6pm.
