Compendium: Wrong Turn (Bury)   

“You got a purdy mouth”

You and your friends are driving along route 66 when you notice your gas running low, a friend suggests to make a turn at the next set of crossroads to see if there is a gas station…

You don’t find a gas station but decide to look for gas in the one place you have discovered by taking that WRONG TURN…. Will you escape or regret that wrong turn?

Like most of the games/companies on our escape room roadtrip, we’ve been hearing about Compendium Bury for a long time so knew that we’d have to make sure we checked out their games when we were in the area. The room that they seem to be most ‘famous’ for is Wrong Turn (although having also played UI-55, I think that will become the new stars of their venue), and Wrong Turn was the room we were to start our day with.

It’s probably worth noting that the games at Compendium are up a few flights of stairs, so if stairs are an issue for you, then that’s your first challenge to overcome (there is also some crawling needed in this game too). Once we ascended the stairs (adorned with photos of previous escapees), we were welcomed by a comfortable and eclectically styled waiting room, and our hosts (and owners) Jen and Alex.

I love it when you find a venue that is run by people who are genuine enthusiasts, and that is what Jen and Alex were. Talking to them about the industry, and their games, it was clear that they love what they do and want to keep pushing boundaries (did I mention UI-55 already?). We could have chatted for hours, but obviously we were there to play games! Alex gave us the health and safety briefing, followed by our mission briefing then we stashed our personal gear in the lockers and headed into the room.

We had two missions for this game, to find the phones of the missing people, and get gas so we can get home. Of course, one mission is never enough! Actually, we had to escape too, so technically three missions.

Covid-19 Procedures: Excellent Covid precautions – masks required by players, and staff wore masks at all times. There was sanitiser everywhere for us to use and track and trace was implemented. They also switch out props between games (they have duplicates) to allow for extra cleaning. Multiple (cleaned) torches and pads/pens were provided.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

I’ve got to admit, Compendium nailed it with the set design in this room, particularly in the first half of the game. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know what the inside of a creepy house in rural America is supposed to look like, and this fitted that bill perfectly – straight out of a classic American horror film. Although this has a horror theme, how we played the game I would say it was more creepy than scary, even with the ambient noises/music.

I understand that in non-COVID times this game can incorporate a live actor which changes the feel and challenges of the game. Fortunately for us, there was no-one else in the room with us, but from what Alex was saying, it sounds like it is quite an intense horror experience when the live actor is in the mix.

There was a lot to take in when you first enter Wrong Turn, and because of this we were very slow to get going. A number of items in the room are simply there for set dressing, so it took us a little while to work out what was needed and what wasn’t. I believe that in non-COVID times there are even more items in there to sift through.

There was a good flow to the game and had the sorts of twists and turns that you would expect if you suddenly found yourself in one of those classic American horror movies. Rocking the ‘creepy’ vibe, as you’d expect the room was darkened, but it was never too dark to see and the torches that were provided were powerful and useful.

PUZZLES

As I mentioned, we took a little while to get going as we weren’t sure what was set dressing and what was needed for puzzles, so arguably this would be your first puzzle. Even though a number of items were removed due to COVID, there was still quite a lot to get through.  Once you know where you’re going, you’ll find the usual puzzle types; observation, memory, searching, basic maths and logic.

The puzzles all suited the creepy feel of the game and fitted well into the theme. Just make sure you take in everything around you, we spotted something and discounted it (well I did, Liz didn’t see it) and this meant when we got something else later we were a little delayed and needed a hint to get us back on track.

I’ve not been to too many redneck cabins in rural America but I would assume that they would likely lock up personal possessions using padlocks rather than maglocks, and that is what we found here. Most of the puzzles we solved resulted in a combination for a padlock, and although at times we had a number of padlocks to unlock, it was never too overwhelming.

Actually, thinking about it, we were definitely stumped on two puzzles that we really shouldn’t have been. One puzzle was so very obvious once it was explained, but for some reason we just didn’t twig – we’re all wired differently I guess?

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Ok, not the most immersive of clue systems, but Compendium have gone for the tried and tested system of putting a screen in the room.  If we needed a clue, we could simply ask and one would be provided on the screen in text format. As it happened, we needed two clues in this room due to being a bit dim. When we requested clues, they were delivered quickly and were cryptic enough to get us back on track without giving too much away.

The screen did have a double use and was also used for showing the timer so we knew how long we had left to make our escape.

ANYTHING ELSE

A creepy room with good set design and some nicely challenging puzzles. Perhaps a bit gruesome for the family, but those of you who seek out horror rooms will likely enjoy (especially if you get the live actor version)

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 42 minutes

Address: 1a Crompton Street, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 0AD

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