Escapologic: Violet (Nottingham)

Horror-lite

A little over 3 centuries ago Elizabeth Leven was falsely accused of witchcraft by the people of Stokes County. She was sentenced to death by hanging. Moments before she was killed, Elizabeth vowed to take revenge and terrorise the folk of Stokes County, even from beyond the grave.

Hundreds of years later historian James and his daughter Violet disappear from their holiday cabin under mysterious circumstances. The cabin that once belonged to Elizabeth Leven…

Ever since the disappearances, anyone who enters the cabin speaks of strange phenomena and claim that they can hear the voice of the departed Violet. Visitors do not stay for long.

Now it’s up to you and your team of fellow paranormal investigators to discover what is happening in the cabin and if there is any way to stop it.

It had been almost four years since we were last at Escapologic, and in that time they had opened up a new horror game that we’d been hearing about, Violet. So after a couple of days in Brighton, we hopped on a train up to Nottingham (why not?). We love visiting Nottingham. Other than the fact that it’s a lovely city, there are also lots of great escape room companies there, so we’re never short of games to play.

We had already played two games at Break Escape (Sorcerer’s Sword, and Chocolate Factory) and managed to squeeze in a Violet sandwich before we went back to Break Escape for Dead Man’s Chest.

Because we visited on a Saturday, the Escapologic basement/waiting area felt like quite the place to be. I would assume it was a hen-do going on, and space was at a premium (great for Escapologic). We didn’t have to wait long before we were greeted by our host. We followed him back up the stairs and over the road to the other Escapologic building, where Violet (as well as Butcher, and Curio) is located.

Once we got to the room, we received our health and safety and mission briefings, and then we were left on our own, in this dark and creepy area outside an old cabin in the woods…

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

The set for Violet was an interesting one as it felt like we were starting off outside a small cabin in the woods, but this game twisted and turned so much that it was clear it was not an ordinary cabin.

At times, Violet was a very dark game and it did become challenging to see what we needed. But generally, light was provided when it was needed and the darkness only caused minor frustrations.

We’ve played some world class horror experiences which always makes it hard to compare other games in terms of if they’re scary or not. I’d probably quantify this game by saying that it’s not got the scares of European escape rooms, but it certainly does have a VERY dark (and potentially triggering) theme, and with a number of jump scares to boot.

Elaborating on the above, if you think you could be potentially triggered by escape room themes, it’s probably worth reading the warning that comes direct from Escapologic:

This room contains the following effects/themes:
Flashing Lights, Smoke effects, Tight spaces, prolonged periods of darkness, a small coffin, illustrative imagery of execution, satanic imagery and incantations.

PUZZLES

As I previously mentioned, one of the challenges in Violet was seeing what we needed, but it was never overly dark that it became too annoying. Outside of the darkness; logic, observation, searching, wordplay, and generally following directions were the main puzzles involved.

We found the puzzles to be fair and fit the narrative well – although this game certainly takes a turn later on! There was one puzzle that got our attention pretty early in the game and we tried to solve it before we had all the information, which delayed us a little, but thanks to timely intervention from the GM, we weren’t off-path for long.

Solving the puzzles resulted in a mix of codes/combinations for padlocks, or tech triggering – a good mix. It was also one of those games where you were never quite sure where you were going to go next, or where you may ‘pop out’ when you go through a passage.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Our GM gave a wonderfully enthusiastic welcome and opening and helped set the tone for the entire game. I don’t recall needing much help, but as I mentioned above, he did manage to get us back on track when we got hung out on a puzzle which didn’t come into play until later in the game.

Any clues/help that was needed came through the speaker system in the room, in the voice of our ‘helper’, Violet. I seem to recall that Violet would also chime in now-and-again to drive the narrative forward.

ANYTHING ELSE

Violet is a decent offering as a horror game in Nottingham. It’s not at the same intensity level of ‘Butcher’, but for those of a nervous disposition, it’s probably a safer choice. The set is decent, the puzzles were fair, and we had a good time.

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 43 minutes

Address: 21-23 Castle Gate, Nottingham NG1 7AQ

Website: https://www.escapologic.com/