Break Escape: Chocolate Factory (Nottingham)

Lots of Fun!

The Famous Chocolate Factory hid 5 Golden Tickets inside chocolate bars around the globe, if you found a ticket you’d be allowed to enter the factory and see the magic at work.

Sadly… You were not one of the lucky five.

Fortunately, the mysterious owner of a rival chocolate company managed to acquire one, but it would be too suspicious if he went inside. Therefore he has offered to give the ticket over to you… only if you agree to steal the secrets held within…

Our first experience with Break Escape occurred back in 2021, when we paid a visit to the company’s original Loughborough location. We had a great time in their games there, most notably, The Enchanted Forest, so we had no hesitations at all in booking all of their games (along with a few others at Cryptology, Cave Escape, and Escapologic) when we discovered that the company had expanded, opening a second branch in Nottingham.

Our little weekend of escaping in Nottingham started at Break Escape, with Sorcerer’s Sword, and followed immediately by Chocolate Factory. Fortunately, Chocolate Factory is on the same level as Sorcerer’s Sword, and since we went straight from one to the other, we didn’t have to tackle the stairs again (FYI, there are quite a few, and there is no lift). Our lovely GM gave us a few moments after our successful retrieval of the legendary Sorcerer’s Sword to have a few sips of water, and then we were ready to investigate a chocolate factory!

Since the Health and Safety information hadn’t changed since we began our first game,  we got to skip that part of the briefing, and instead launched straight onto a confirmation of our mission! It was time to enter The Chocolate Factory.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

If you haven’t guessed already, Chocolate Factory is loosely inspired by the beloved children’s classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have always found Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory somewhat disturbing, whether it’s reading Roald Dahl’s novel, or watching one of the many film or stage adaptations of the story, so I was slightly apprehensive about playing a game where I would be immersing myself in a world inspired by one that gave me nightmares as a child. Fortunately for me, Chocolate Factory wasn’t nearly as creepy to me as the original source material. Instead, it was a whimsical romp through an eccentric chocolate factory. And while there were moments in  the game that sometimes gave me the feeling that I’d fallen into a vat of LSD, the pervading feeling throughout was just ‘FUN.’

The set is robust, and brightly coloured, with plenty of things to grab your attention, but nothing that would distract you from your main purpose. The Chocolate Factory holds many secrets, and as you journey through, prepare for those secrets to surprise and delight you. The game is well paced, steadily pushing players forward, flowing easily from one thing to the next, with a surprising, but delightful conclusion.

PUZZLES

The puzzles throughout Chocolate Factory were a pleasure to solve. Both fair, and logical, we rarely found ourselves stumbling. The game structure often allowed us to diverge onto our own paths, but then come back to solve things together as necessary. The puzzles fit their surroundings, and required a wide variety of skills to complete them, with plenty of things to test your logic and team work. On top of the more cerebral challenges, there were also any number of tasks that were more physical and tactile in nature, giving the game plenty of variety.

All of the games we played at Break Escape had a family friendly feel to them, but Chocolate Factory is probably the best choice if your team will contain players in a younger age bracket. For one thing, the set lends itself to it very well, but there is a search element that is sure to give littles tons of fun if they’re not up to complex puzzling.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Clues came from the inhabitants of the chocolate factory, who could be spotted around the space. If you’re at all familiar with the story that is very clearly the inspiration behind Break Escape’s Chocolate Factory, it will leave you with little doubt as to exactly who (or what) those inhabitants are, but needless to say, they brought some extra levity to an already incredibly whimsical game.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t catch our GM’s name, but she was a delight from start to finish. Chiming in with a nudge or even a clue when necessary, but never over doing it, she struck the balance just right between allowing us to puzzle things out on our own, but not allowing us to get frustrated.

ANYTHING ELSE

Chocolate Factory wasn’t my favourite game at Break Escape Nottingham, (I think that might be reserved for Orbital), but it was probably the one I had the most fun in. There were plenty of satisfying puzzles, combined with a weirdly quirky atmosphere. I still find Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory intensely creepy, but Break Escape’s Chocolate Factory is delightful.

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players

Address: 9a Market St, Nottingham NG1 6HY

Website: https://breakescape.co.uk/nottingham