Crypto Escape: Cursed Temple (Newmarket, ON)

We love a good temple game!

After an incident at his newest expedition, a famed explorer has sent you and your crew to Amon Kha’s plagued temple. Your goal is simple – break into the expedition and find the root of the curse for unimaginable fortune!

I love roller coasters almost as much as I love escape rooms, so on a recent trip to the greater Toronto area, I managed to convince Gordon and our Canadian host to travel to the other side of the city and pay a visit to Canada’s Wonderland. But let’s face it, it would be criminal to miss out on adding an escape room (or three) to our travel day, especially since our only other plan was to stop off for a visit with family and  an excellent lunch. It would be especially criminal when you hear that our accommodation was located in Newmarket, the home of Crypto Escape – a venue with multiple TERPECA finalists, and even one TERPECA Top Room Award back in 2019. (Not to mention a TERPECA Top Company Award in 2021).

We didn’t want to break our friend’s brain with too many puzzles, so we only planned to play three games. First up would be my favourite theme: A temple! Surprisingly, this game is not one that was on the receiving end of the TERPECA nominations or REA’s Golden Lock Awards (Unlike Extraction or Below Zero). But regardless, we were excited to get going, and made our way inside and up the stairs to do just that.

Crypto Escape has a massive venue, with a spacious reception area, complete with drinks available to purchase alongside some Exit boxes and other table top puzzle games. When we arrived we were warmly welcomed inside, and enjoyed a bit of friendly banter as we prepared ourselves mentally for the three games ahead. It didn’t take long, and once we were all properly hydrated (I can’t resist a cold can of ginger ale), it was time to go through the door and down the hall to the Cursed Temple.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

First impressions of the set were good, and we settled in to watch the screen in the room to receive our briefings. It wasn’t long though, before the video ended, the lighting changed, and we were quickly immersed in another world.

The games at Crypto Escape are highly narrative-driven, and Cursed Temple is no exception. The puzzle solving almost became secondary, as the tasks fit so well in to that story and were punctuated by dramatic, almost cinematic events, to increase the immersion and further drive the narrative forward.

As with most narrative games, the puzzles followed a linear path, with one thing leading on to the next seamlessly. The game provided a clear journey from space to space, building up to the climax of the story, and then making its way to the finale in dramatic fashion.

PUZZLES

Cursed Temple was missing one thing: padlocks. This meant that the locking mechanisms were much chunkier, and worked in much more interesting and exciting ways. It also meant that often puzzles were much more tactile, and involved playing with chunky props and manipulating the set to figure out how things worked and just exactly what it was we were doing.

Being able to think logically is a massive asset in Cursed Temple, as many puzzles relied on deductive reasoning, but we used plenty of other skills, including pattern recognition, observation, and codebreaking. But whatever the puzzle type, they were all immensely satisfying to solve and provided some really wonderful “ah-ha!” moments when we finally realised what we were doing. Each puzzle fit in perfectly with its surroundings, giving this game a very cohesive feel with the puzzles supporting and emerging from the narrative as each task flowed from one to the next.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Hosting and clues here at Crypto Escape take a slightly more hands off approach. I never actually got the name of our GM, and while she did give a bit of extra briefing herself en route to the entrance of the game, and was clearly paying attention throughout our time inside, the main H&S/rules brief was taken care of with a video, as was the backstory of Cursed Temple once we were situated inside the room.

Not only that, but clues had a somewhat automated feel. Should a clue be needed, we were to press a button on the wall and a video clue would be played based on where we were in the game. Should further help be needed we could always flip a switch for further assistance from our GM. We didn’t need to test out the clue system in Cursed Temple, but the system is replicated throughout the venue. As we did need a clue in another game I can confirm that although it isn’t perfectly tailored to what you might need, if you’re well and truly stuck the clues do eventually get you the help you need.

ANYTHING ELSE

Although Cursed Temple isn’t as highly decorated with awards as some of the other games at Crypto Escape, this was my favourite of the three games we were able to fit into our visit. Of course, I might be biased thanks to my love of temple raiding games, but I think it had more to do with the solid, satisfying game play, underpinned by a decent storyline.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 3 players – escaped in 28mins

Address: 1220 Stellar Dr, Newmarket, ON L3Y 7B9, Canada

Website: https://cryptoescape.com/