Escape Rooms Cardiff: The Tomb 2 (Cardiff)

A solid sequel/rebirth

Professor Delores O’Connell and their team of archaeologists welcome you to the dig site as the last team have all mysteriously disappeared! We assume they found some treasure to sell on the black market and ran off. No matter, we are people of science and will persevere!

We are searching for the Mejan Diamond, commonly known as ‘The Serpent Jewel’. We believe it’s here, in the Tomb of an ancient pharaoh. We have around 60 minutes before this structure becomes unsound. The team mentioned they gained entrance to a large chamber using an artefact. I’m sure they’ve left it around here somewhere.

Good Luck!!

It had been a while since we’d played at Escape Rooms Cardiff (ERC), but an event in the city finally gave us an excuse to book in for a couple of games, The 13th Floor and The Tomb 2. Still not quite a complete set at ERC but we’re not far off now, we’ve played; Astro Quest, Cardiff Castle, Press Start, Z Room, The Tomb, The Heist.

ERC is in a great location in the centre of Cardiff so it’s very easy to get to and plenty of parking options nearby. When we arrived we were greeted by a friendly host and couldn’t help but notice how every time we visit, something seems to have changed. This time there was a little area set aside where merch was for sale, and just down the corridor was a comfortable couch where we waited for our GM to arrive.

First things first, we scanned the QR code on the wall and filled in the waivers. Shortly after that, our host, Jo arrived. Jo was as happy and enthusiastic as seems to be the norm for staff at ERC and we had a lovely little chat before receiving the health and safety briefing. With that out of the way we ascended the stairs and stopped outside the entrance to The Tomb. Here we received a brief mission briefing (followed by a more detailed audio one in the room as part of the game), then Jo wished us luck and we were on our own.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

The main thing that I remember from the original Tomb was the sand, lots and lots of sand. I was pleased (I think) to see that sand played a part in Tomb 2. Although I must admit it felt much more contained than before and I didn’t end up with my shoes filled up as if I just had a day rolling in sand dunes.

Set design, like all games at ERC, was decent and despite being atmospherically dark in places, the lighting was decent and enough torches and lanterns were provided for our team (of two). To help with the immersion there were plenty of ambient noises and atmospheric effects – something I appreciated as it helps to shut off the outside world.

The rooms we encountered in The Tomb 2 followed the logical progress one would expect if one was going into an ancient tomb (from my extensive experience of watching the History, and Discovery Channel). Saying that, there were plenty of twists and turns and surprises along the way.

PUZZLES

One thing we enjoyed about this game was that the puzzles all felt like they belonged in the story. This wasn’t the tomb being explored for the first time, no, a team had gone before us (and things went a bit wrong for them), so we were there following their tracks. This meant the tech and padlocks that we found along the way all made sense with the story. Things that weren’t left by the previous team were much more tactile and had that ‘tomb-raiding’ feel about them.

The Tomb 2 played out in quite a linear manner so there weren’t many opportunities for us to split up and solve things independently. We could split up to investigate items so we knew where we were going, but generally one puzzle led on to the next. We had a few quick wins but there was one puzzle that really slowed us down, and I imagine would be a bit of a buzz killer for larger teams as really only one or two people can work on it at a time so others would just be standing around watching for what could be quite a while.

The puzzles we encountered, like I mentioned earlier, were quite tactile; searching, observation, decoding and physical covered most of them, and colours also played a part at times. The puzzles were fair and satisfying to complete and the tech seemed to work as it should, although we did need a hint at one point as we thought we needed something else but apparently that wasn’t the case.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Jo did a great job of making us feel welcome and performed equally well as a GM during our game. If we needed any clues we could simply ask for it, or we could just wait for Jo to chime in and nudge us along if we were looking dim (our preferred approach). Of course, the clues didn’t come from Jo, no they came from the Professor. Clues were delivered via audio or they could also be displayed on a (themed) screen in the room. This screen, when not delivering clues was also used to show a countdown timer.

ANYTHING ELSE

It was a long time ago that we played the precursor to The Tomb 2, The Tomb (original naming), and I’d say this game was an improvement on the first. Great set design, good immersion, and fun puzzles (well all except one).

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 26:44

Address:119 St Mary St, Cardiff CF10 1DY

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