Clue Cracker: Dino Kingdom (Tunbridge Wells)

Dinosaurs? Yes please!

You’ve been specially invited to Dino Kingdom – the world’s first dinosaur-inhabited park – for an exclusive VIP behind-the-scenes experience. But beyond the gates, something has gone terribly wrong…

Deep inside the restricted Raptor Centre, scientists have achieved the impossible: bringing dinosaurs back to life. Now alarms are blaring, systems are failing and a violent storm is closing in on the island.

With the park on the brink of disaster, the fate of Dino Kingdom is in your hands.

Explore the Professor’s abandoned research cabin, uncover hidden secrets, solve cryptic puzzles, crack complex codes and restore power before it’s too late.

Because if you fail, the dinosaurs won’t stay contained for long…

Despite Royal Tunbridge Wells being a lovely town, we only seem to visit every few years, specifically when Clue Cracker opens a new game (like a moth to a flame). We were last in town nearly three years ago when we played Mega Bite, a few years prior when we played Temple Quest, and a few years prior to that when we played Jail Break and Diamond Dogs (both now sadly closed).

The opening of Dino Kingdom coincided well with us already being in London, so we moved things around and managed to get a slot booked. Despite the country melting/burning and this having a huge knock-on effect with the trains, we somehow made it to Tunbridge Wells station, and after a brisk walk, we made it to the venue with minutes to spare.

After lurking like weirdos outside the venue for a few minutes (they did say to arrive at our time), we were greeted by a lovely member of staff that we sadly missed the name of, who showed us inside, directed us to the toilets and our lockers, and explained that our host Georgia would be along shortly.

Indeed, in no time at all, Georgia appeared and greeted us with the enthusiasm and passion that we’ve now come to expect from Clue Cracker. Georgia was lovely and welcoming, and we had a little chat before she disappeared and our actual GM returned, Phoenix. Oddly, Phoenix looked and sounded remarkably similar to Georgia…

With our possessions safely locked away, and a bit of health and safety out of the way, we were rushed down the corridor to the entrance to Dino Kingdom – rushed because there was of course a big storm on the way!

Inside the room there was time for some more theatrics before our mission briefing played on the screen. So with no questions or confusions, Georgia Phoenix wished us good luck, and we were on our own.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Clue Cracker is one of those venues who have never ‘half-arsed’ anything. Even their jail break game, that could have had a really simple set (it’s a prison after all) felt more refined than it had any right to be. In fact, every game we’ve played at Clue Cracker has felt like they’ve pushed their design team hard to make the set as beautiful as possible.

One thing worth noting is that this game did feel like it had a smaller footprint than some of their other games. We played as a team of two and had plenty to keep us going, but I probably wouldn’t want to play with a team bigger than four, and definitely not at the max capacity of six players (but who ever wants to play as a team of six, right?).

The set was great, really it was. We were perhaps expecting a few more dinosaurs to make an appearance, but the set was suitably dino-fied, and all of the spaces we encountered felt like they could have been right out of Jurassic Park. Speaking of Jurassic Park, it was clear that this game was inspired by that franchise, and there were a few nods to it, but it was nice to see they didn’t just rip it off.

Each space we encountered felt like a unique and distinct space that helped drive the story forward, and despite some of the spaces being a bit cosier, we didn’t really get in the way of each other too much. With the usual dino/jungle related ambient noises, the whole experience just felt refined and immersive.

PUZZLES

Part of the challenge in this game was working out what buttons and items we could interact with, and what was just set dressing, but definitely nothing that could be classed as a red herring. There was an element of linearity to the puzzles, with one leading on to the next, but there were definitely things that could be solved in a different order. We split up for the most part and were able to work on things independently, and I think larger teams would still be able to do this too.

The puzzles were all very fair, although one or two were certainly very sneaky, relying on; observation, logic, teamwork, spatial relations/skill, pattern recognition, following directions, searching, not to mention a few that were a bit more physical and tactile.

Going into Dino Kingdom I had seen some of the social media posts advertising it, and there was one puzzle that I noticed and was dreading. It’s a type of puzzle that often causes nothing but frustration and anger (with us at least), so when we encountered it in the game I was ready to drop 30 mins on it and want to break things. However, that didn’t happen. Instead, what we found was a puzzle that was cleverly designed and was completed in no time at all, with no frustration – top marks for that Clue Cracker (and thank you)!

Solving the puzzles gave a mixture of combinations or keys for padlocks, but tech was also used to great effect.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Our host, Phoenix/Georgia was wonderfully enthusiastic and I would guess is someone who loves her job. Her intro was spot on, and her hosting was equally so. I don’t recall ever actually needing to ask for help, as she read the room perfectly and could see when we had exhausted our mental capacity and were clearly missing something, something obvious normally. One particular puzzle was something I’m not sure we’d have spotted in a million years, as it was rather sneaky!

When we did need help, it came through the retro-tastic computer screen – just cryptic enough to get us back on track, without giving us the answer. There was also a large TV screen in the room that was used for character interactions and more exposition on the story.

ANYTHING ELSE

Dino Kingdom is surely another hit game for Clue Cracker. It’s not a big game, but they’ve crammed in a lot of puzzles, and I can see this being one of those games that inexperienced people will play, love, and make them want to play more – perfect.

As much as we enjoyed our experience, I don’t think it’s our favourite game by Clue Cracker, but that bar has been set high by their other games. If you’re visiting to play their other games, then you really do need to play this just to complete the set.

We played this game not too long after it opened, and from speaking with the owners, it sounds like there are going to be more tweaks/modifications made to it, so your experience may differ slightly to ours. But really, our experience was pretty great as it was, so it’s hard to see how they can make it even better!

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players (escaped in 47:35 minutes)

Address: Clue Cracker, 59 St Johns Road, TN4 9TT

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

*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review