Contacted by a mysterious benefactor, you’re tasked with a perilous mission: track down his life’s work, the legendary Golden Idol, hidden deep within the heart of a treacherous jungle and concealed inside an ancient temple. Many have embarked on this quest before you, but none have returned, swallowed by the secrets of the dark temple. 

The Golden Idol is said to be worth a fortune, and the promised profits will be split between you. But beware—the guardians of the idol, ancient demons that lurk within, do not take kindly to thieves. Their wrath is swift and merciless. 

Will you navigate the jungle’s dangers, solve the temple’s deadly traps, and emerge victorious with the idol in hand? Time is running out, and the shadows are closing in. Will you make it out alive?

Houdini's Escape Room Experience

Temple Raider Curse of the Golden Idol

Escape room

We were informed the game was linear & that we wouldn't need to take anything with us or go back to the previous zone.
Turned out we did need to take something with us to solve a clue in the next area -fortunately we ignored instructions & took it with us anyway just in case.
I accidentally solved a clue but wasted another 5 mins trying to work out that same clue I'd randomly solved - in the end we asked to clarify what had opened the door. Even after trying to solve the puzzle the solution wasn't clear - I just randomly pressed some bricks 
Another "safe-style lock" was a bit ambiguous (for a start the knobs just pulled off) - it felt that it relied on the GM hearing us saying the code out loud as we set the numbers because nothing happened initially....
In the second zone we actually solved the clue to get us into the final zone bypassing another puzzle - the door was remotely locked again by the GM & we were told we needed to go back & solve another puzzle - we then spent 10 mins solving a puzzle whereby the padlock was broken so the code didn't work just to get a clue that led us to the puzzle we'd solved 10 mins earlier - that solution didn't really give us the answer to the puzzle we'd already solved either.
In the final zone, once again a dodgy padlock (cheap & overused) wasted time as we thought our correct answer was incorrect as the lock wouldn't open - more time wasted & so with 2 puzzles to go (which we would've easily solved if we had 5 more minutes) the GM entered to say we'd not been successful.

Now - we don't mind not escaping - but in a linear game, it seemed silly to make us go back & solve a "pointless" puzzle 😑
Also padlocks should be regularly checked - if they require a bit of fiddling - they need to be replaced.

There are no countdown screens so you have no idea how much time has progressed.
Even so a sound effect or a "bake-off style countdown" announcement "you're halfway through - you've got 10 mins left etc" would've been helpful 
There are no whiteboards/led boards to make notes
The staging was atmospheric and detailed but the room felt overused & tired as things wobbled or were chipped, worn etc 
Team photo was taken against a plain background in reception area with no props/times/captions etc 

Value for money? - we've played better value rooms

We whizzed through it. Left wanting more.

Temple Raider Curse of the Golden Idol

Houdini's Escape Room Experience - Exeter

Ratings

Reviews

Carollolinoleum

mdelcoate

Scary