Clue Cracker have levelled up!
Yo dudes and dudettes! Put down your Boom Box and step into a world beyond your wildest imagination, where the lines between reality and the virtual world blur. You’ll be transported through a Zombie arcade game and thrown into a carbonic, mad-capped world that will have you on the edge of your seat.
MEGA BITE is not your average escape game. It’s a multi-dimensional experience that will push you to your limits. You’ll have to use your wits, skills and teamwork to escape this fantastical world and make it back to reality.
Escape Reality Now (but try to make it back again after…)
I must admit, it’s been a while since I actually wrote a review. Work and life have gotten in the way lately and although we’ve still been playing games, our ‘to review’ backlog has just grown and grown. As it would turn out it seems like I have been saving up my limited blogging capacity for something special, and a new game at Clue Cracker is certainly something special – or we hoped it would be. We’re yet to have a bad experience at Clue Cracker; Diamond Dogs, Temple Quest, and Jail Break are all worth playing.
As seems to be tradition for when we play a Clue Cracker game, we stopped off at the Shuffle House for a pre-game meal, and then headed over the road to the other Clue Cracker venue.
When we arrived we were greeted by our GM, Zac, who directed us to put anything we wanted into the lockers provided (and we swiftly used the restrooms just to be safe). After a lovely little chat, it was finally time to play the game, and we were certainly beyond excited.
Zac led us down the familiar corridor and we stopped outside the entrance to Mega Bite. I love it when companies take the theming for their games into the entrance way, and that’s what Clue Cracker did, can’t beat a bit of neon! While standing outside the entrance and admiring the art work, I was doing my best to focus on the game briefing that Zac was delivering but I must confess, my mind was certainly elsewhere – one thing I did pick up though, this game was set in 1983 – hooray! With the briefing complete, Zac accompanied us into the room and before we knew it we were on our own and ready to roll!
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
It’s true that puzzles, set design, and game play really make an escape room. But for me, music can elevate it to the next level. I loved the first music played in this room, it was possibly synthwave/retrowave which is my jam (if you haven’t checked out Gunship, you really should). Other than the awesome opening music, there were ambient noises and upbeat music playing throughout the entire experience.
Music aside, this room was beautiful. It was as if Dr Seuss and the Simpsons had a weird zombie themed baby. And don’t worry, just because this is zombie themed, it is 100% family friendly – the room was a true joy to be in.
Set design was spot on. Everything felt like it belonged in this world and not a thing felt out of place. The journey we took through this game was equally well thought out and each space we encountered was just as wondrous as the previous. Think chunky, over-the-top props and bright colours and you’ll have a good idea of what you’ll find (yes, even the note taking implements).
Just when we thought we knew the types of puzzles and interactions we could expect from this game, Clue Cracker threw a curveball and the final area was something very different and a cracking way to end our time in Mega Bite.
Probably worth noting that at one point we had to crawl, there may be a work around but if anyone on your team struggles with mobility, it could be worth reaching out to Clue Cracker directly to check.
PUZZLES
As a team of two we completed Mega Bite in just under 40 minutes. I would say that’s mostly due to our experience but also that this game is probably slightly easier than some of the others on offer at Clue Cracker. This feels like a strategic choice, as although you could play any of their games as a family, this one feels like it was designed specifically for that purpose – don’t get me wrong, it is totally a game for enthusiasts too!
At the start and end of the game, things were very linear with one puzzle leading on to the next, but in other parts of the game there were parallel puzzle paths so things could be solved however you pleased.
Puzzles were varied and generally involved; searching (we failed a little on that as some of it was sneaky), observation, decoding, following directions, colours, audio, light maths, and then there was the ‘last puzzle’. I’m not sure what I’d class that as, coordination perhaps? Either way it was 100% fun.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Zac was the perfect host and on the occasions where we needed help, he was ready. Yes, we needed help but that’s not because of the puzzles, they all made perfect sense. The only help we needed was for a couple of search fails when we couldn’t find something. When we needed the clues, they came in character and in a way that kept the immersion intact.
Ok, it wasn’t all plain sailing as we did experience a couple of tech fails in our game. The first Zac handled in the only way possible, but he did it well (and quickly). The second just seemed like it needed some tweaks to make it less glitchy, but this one Zac dealt with behind the scenes. This game has a lot of tech, and tech fails happen. Knowing Clue Cracker they’ll be working their socks off to eliminate these niggling issues – but even with the minor glitches, we had a great time.
Oh, and this game had a timer but not in the traditional sense. It was designed to keep the immersion intact while giving you an idea of how long you had left to complete your mission.
ANYTHING ELSE
Clue Cracker keep pushing themselves with each game they release. Temple Quest is still probably our favourite game of theirs, but Mega Bite was still something special. Grab the family, grab your friends, grab a random person off the street – whoever you play this game with, you’ll have fun – guaranteed.
Success / Failure
Final Rating:
Operation | |
Puzzles | |
Room Design | |
GM/Clues | |
Excitement |
Team: 2 players (escaped in 39:39 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
Leave a Reply