This will be a spoiler-free review covering what we liked, what worked well, and a few things that felt a little out of place. I also want to point out that this is a very high-tech room, driven by technology we really haven't seen used this way in other escape rooms. Much of it is immersive and well integrated into the experience. However, there were a few moments where certain puzzles pulled us out of that immersion.
The décor was appropriate for the space and captured the feeling of a lighthouse keeper's quarters very well. From the moment we entered, we were immersed in the world of a haunted lighthouse. There were a few jump scares and even a visit from some ghostly apparitions. The special effects, sound design, and lighting effects were excellent and really helped pull you into the paranormal atmosphere. I won't spoil any of them—you'll just have to experience those for yourself.
At one end of this room is a computer console where you stay in contact with headquarters. They monitor your progress and provide guidance on the enigmas you need to solve. The actress appearing on screen did a fantastic job and added a lot to both the story and the overall immersion. The video segments are fantastic, and the actress is phenomenal in her part, top notch production.
The game play centers around solving puzzles and making connections. There are a few traditional physical locks. While they didn't detract from the experience, they did feel slightly out of place considering that other doors and mechanisms were being opened through supernatural means.
One puzzle involved restoring a computer system by playing four video games. Without spoiling anything, this felt a bit odd in a game centered around a paranormal investigation. For me, this was one of the moments that broke the immersion and pulled us out of the story.
Eventually, we gained access to the lighthouse itself, which genuinely looked the part and was decorated accordingly. Inside, we found a data pad, EMF recorder, digital thermometer, laser grid projector, and a monitor for communicating with headquarters. We also found a video camera earlier in the game. However, we never really figured out what several of these devices were intended for, as we never actually used them. It's possible they may be integrated more fully in a future version of the room or we misunderstood their intended use. At one point, you need information such as the lowest temperature, highest EMF reading, and evidence of orbs captured on camera. The temperature and EMF information ended up being displayed on the main computer rather than gathered through the equipment we had found.
Because this is such a technology-heavy room, we encountered quite a few technical glitches during our play-through. Right at the start, our game master had to reset the room because a video failed to trigger after we solved a puzzle. Similar issues occurred several more times throughout the game, requiring puzzle resets when videos or special effects failed to activate. Most of the problems involved videos not playing or effects not triggering when they should have. I am sure the temperamental nature of these gremlins will be ironed out in the coming days or weeks
Overall, this is a very ambitious room with some genuinely impressive ideas. The technology, effects, story presentation, and atmosphere show a lot of promise, honestly some of the best we have seen. At the moment, it feels like the room needs a bit more tweaking, bug fixing, and perhaps some reconsideration of a few puzzles that don't quite fit the paranormal investigation theme.
That said, we had fun investigating the mystery, and despite its rough edges, this is still a great room with the potential to become a phenomenal. The tech is truly impressive
Game play was fun, however the video games felt out of place and were very small on the screen. Our understanding is that the screen resolution did not trigger properly as the games should have displayed much bigger then they did
Atmosphere was very spooky and gave off a great paranormal vibe
Our GM was fantastic, gave clues when we needed them as was on the spot when glitches happened
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
the game is very well themed and the story really takes front and center
the tech is well integrated and helps the immersion of being a paranormal investigation team
medium but up the upper end
one of t he must tech heavy rooms we have done
Was anything broken?
some of the puzzles did not trigger room had to be reset