Clockwork Escapes: The Creep (Telford)

An Interesting Game

“And we danced, on the brink of an unknown future, to an echo from a vanished past.”

An unstoppable menace could mean the end of the world. Can you control your fear long enough to bring it to an end?

Telford has been a hot bed of escape rooms for quite a while, at least we certainly keep hearing it mentioned; Xscape Now and Clockwork Escapes are names we were familiar with, but we had only played one game at Xscape now up until this point, Sweeney Todd. Deciding to fix our large void of Telford games we planned a roadtrip, and got games booked in. First up at Clockwork Escapes was Creep, swiftly followed by The Legend of Foole’s Gold.

Clockwork Escapes are located on an industrial escape just outside of town. It could be because we visited on a weekend, but despite investigating the area between games, we didn’t really find anything of use that was open (no food) and walkable from the venue. The good thing about being on an industrial estate though – plenty of free parking right outside the venue.

When we arrived we were greeted by our host, simply known as ‘The Professor’. We had a little sit down in the remarkably large waiting area while the professor got things set up, and then he returned, with some theatrics to deliver our health and safety and mission briefings. We then followed him down the corridor to the entrance to ‘The Creep’. Once inside the room, we got a little extra briefing and then we were on our own.

This game was potentially accessible for the most part, but there are some steps and also some ‘obstacles’ in the game which could make it more challenging for those who are less mobile.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

I had no idea what to expect when we booked this game, ‘The Creep’ could lend itself to many different themes! So I was both surprised and not surprised when we entered the game and found what can be best described as a post-apocalyptic lab-like setup. In terms of set design, it was really rather good, just dark enough to be creepy (no pun intended), but light enough to be able to see what we needed and move around.

The first space we encountered was on the cosier side, which was fine as a team of two, but if you had more players, you may be a little more constrained. As the game progressed, the space opened up and we could split up, quite significantly. Ambient noises were being played at all times, which again helped with the immersion and the creepy vibe.

For the theme, the set design was spot on. It was enjoyable to explore the spaces we found, and even moving around those spaces became a challenge thanks to one extra rule (more on that later), but probably the smartest thing they did with the design in The Creep was to end on a high note. The ending boosted both the fun, and the adrenaline, and gave us an enjoyable moment to end on.

PUZZLES

It’s not often that one of the puzzles in a game is simply moving around the space, but thanks to a special rule with this game, it was. Essentially the ‘creep’ is taking over, and if you touch it, or it touches you, for more than one second, then you lose one minute of time. I’m ok with this in principle as it adds that extra element to the game, but escape rooms are not a cheap hobby, so when you lose time for something like this and it legitimately takes away time that you have paid for, then I’m not ok with it and it feels rather harsh.

Other than dodging the creep, there was a decent variety of puzzles that felt diegetic to the space and blended in pretty well. Observation, searching, teamwork, skill, basic maths, wordplay, and perhaps ‘coordination’ made up the bulk of the puzzles, and they were satisfying to solve.

Really, other than the penalty mechanism, we enjoyed the puzzles in this game. Even one puzzle type that we generally hate and believe should have no place in an escape room, was set at a level where it was achievable and minimised the frustration – so we were ok with that one too, just.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

It would have been nice to have been able to have a conversation after the game with our host out of his character as ‘The Professor’, but this seems to be one of those venues where they’re in character throughout. It’s fine, and a choice they made, but the enthusiast in us just likes to have a good old chat about escape rooms.

The professor gave us an enthusiastic briefing and obviously knew the game well. If we needed clues, they came over a walkie-talkie that we were given. Sadly they were given when the professor felt like it, rather than when we actively needed them. We always say that we want clues as/when the GM sees fit as they know the game better than us, but on this occasion he was just a bit too clue-happy. There were numerous occasions where we had just moved on to a puzzle and before we had a chance to get solving, a clue came in telling us what to do – that really dampened the enjoyment for us. I could understand if we were being slow, but we finished with around 15 mins left, so I don’t think that was an issue. It just felt like we were being rushed through so the next team could get in.

ANYTHING ELSE

This was a fun game with an interesting concept, but for us, it was let down by a harsh penalty mechanism and a clue-happy GM. Is it still a good game and worth playing? Yes, if you’re in the area, it is a fun game and we would say to play it, but just be careful what you touch and what touches you…

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – 46 minutes

Address: Unit F5, F Block, Halesfield 23, Telford TF7 4NY

Website: https://www.clockworkescapes.co.uk