We have been hot on the trail of the elusive and notorious gem thief for a while now. They just keep slipping through our fingers. New intel believes that this is their exclusive hideout.
Teams before you have tried to catch the perpetrator and…failed. Room 118 has gone unnoticed before now. Is this the breakthrough your department have been waiting for? Will this be the success to make you part of the Elite team?
You have no idea of the thief’s name or identity and we currently have no solid evidence that links them to the thefts. We hope so much is to be discovered from this find.
Can you use clues and solve the puzzles to locate the evidence and finally catch this perpetrator before they strike again. This is the biggest case in your career but could be your last if you don’t succeed.
The clock is ticking we have no idea when they may return or what could be in store for you if they do.
First things first, Beverley Breakout is not named after a person called Beverly, it is actually a small town just north of Hull in Yorkshire, UK (I know this because I just looked it up on a map). We haven’t really made it that far up north to play escape rooms just yet so we had no hesitation in playing their digitised ‘Room 118’ game. When I say ‘digitised’, I mean exactly that, they’ve taken 360 degree photos of the room and make it work in an online environment called Telescape. This means if you’ve played the real-life Room 118 then this game will probably feel very familiar.
We actually played a test version of Room 118 prior to it’s official release and from speaking with the owners we know that a number of things were changed and tweaked before it went live, so your experience will likely be slightly different to ours, if anything it should be even better.
We managed to carve out some time on a day when it was slightly overcast outside, perfect online escaping weather, and we’d heard this game was a bit of a beast so we wanted to make sure we gave it the attention it deserved. We played from two laptops, both in the same room, this meant we could test out the collaborative functionality of the game. Also worth noting that you need at least two devices connected to play this game.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
Room 118 is built on the Telescape platform which has become a bit of a phenomenon in the online escape room world since the pandemic began. Telescape is great as it has enabled escape room owners to either create completely new games online or simply digitise their real life games, opening them up to a worldwide audience.
If you’ve not come across Telescape before, it will enable you and your teammates to all login in and see the same thing, including each other’s cursors. If one player finds an item then it is added to everyone’s inventory, and when a puzzle is solved, it is solved for everyone – perfect for an online Zoom party.
We’ve played a lot of Telescape rooms over the past year, and I’m pretty sure that Room 118 easily wins the award for the biggest that we’ve played, this game just keeps going and going. Ok, the game isn’t the most visually stunning room that you’ll ever play, but if you’re looking for an online game that is rammed full of puzzles and will keep you occupied for a while, then look no further.
This game surprisingly has a twist at the end that we didn’t expect, and I must admit, we didn’t really like. After speaking with the owners we understand that it has been changed slightly and it sounds like it should improve it. Like Marmite, you’ll either love or hate it, but it’s certainly a way to get your adrenaline going.
PUZZLES
This game has a lot of puzzles and they seemed to cover a bit of everything, some we liked, some we didn’t, but that’s personal preference. The types of puzzles you’ll encounter are; logic, observation, wordplay, maths, teamwork and pattern recognition. Surprisingly this game was also very search heavy and some of the searching was very sneaky, a bit too sneaky for our liking. This type of searching would be fine in the real life room but we felt it didn’t translate that well into a digital version.
One thing that we haven’t seen much of in Telescape rooms lately is the need for cooperation on puzzles, so when we came across it here it kinda took us by surprise. You’ll find there is more than one occasion where you will need to work with your teammates to solve a puzzle. One such collaborative puzzle was quite fiddly and I’d imagine if you’re doing this over zoom then it could be even more fiddly, so be prepared to bring your communication A-game!
In a real-life room, you are able to pick up things and play with them to work out how they function, online that is much trickier as often you will be confronted with just an image. My favourite functionality with an online game is when you can manipulate what is in front of you, like a jigsaw puzzle where you can actually move the pieces. Beverley Breakout obviously liked this functionality too as there were many puzzles that involved ‘physical’ manipulation, making the puzzles all the more satisfying to solve.
CLUE SYSTEM
We didn’t click with a number of puzzles in this game so we actually became pretty reliant on the clue system, fortunately it was decent. The clue system was always accessible and Beverley Breakout tried to make it feel as natural as possible, so the clue system was a mobile phone that was always accessible by looking down (well you don’t have in game pockets).
If you clicked on the phone it seemed to have a good idea of where you were in the game and what you may be stuck on. The first clue would be a gentle nudge, followed by a couple more that gave more insights into what you needed to look at next. If these clues didn’t get you back on track it would then give you the solution just to ensure that you can carry on and enjoy the game.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Possibly the biggest Telescape game we’ve played so far, it really just kept on going. There is a do-or-die ending to the game but one way or another, you will be able to finish. This game won’t blow you away with the visuals, but it is well put together and credit to Beverley Breakout for trying something different.
TOOLS REQUIRED
- Laptop/Desktop computer
- Notepad for note taking
Final Rating:
Puzzles | |
Concept/Execution | |
Clue System | |
Value for Money | |
Enjoyment |
Team: 2 players
Time Taken: 1hr 42 mins
Website: https://beverleybreakout.co.uk/
*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review.
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