A Wonderful Journey
Inspired by the myths of Ancient Greece, our first game invites explorers to uncover the mystery of what appears to be a dormant temple, but are there secrets to uncover?
We transport you to Greece where a hotel development has been halted allowing you and your crack team access to what you believe to be a site of cultural significance.
Can you use your surroundings and skill to gain entrance to the mountainside? Will you face and conquer trials set by the God’s or even Zeus himself? Kudos awaits the brave.
Everyone in the Escape Room world knows that Nottingham is a must-play destination, with the likes of Cave Escapes, Escapologic and Cryptology to name but-a-few, there are some top quality companies there offering amazing experiences. We’d played games in Nottingham before, but made sure we popped back on day six of our escape room road trip to play a few more, first up for the day was Escape Stations.
Escape Stations are one of the new companies in town and are run by an enthusiast called Tom. Tom is clearly passionate about what he does and I’m sure that this will be a venue to watch in future. Right now, they are a bit of a work in progress in the lobby so don’t be alarmed if you see a drill or table saw lying around (safely). Personally, if you’re going to create an escape room company I think it makes sense to put your efforts into the room rather than the lobby, that’s what people pay for.
Thanks to being ‘under construction’, the lobby wasn’t the most comfortable of areas to be in, but there were lockers and toilets for us to use. It’s actually a really interesting space as it used to be a Greek restaurant so it already has a Mediterranean feel about it – perfect considering we were shortly to be transported to Greece! I’m sure when Tom finishes getting the lobby tidied up it will be quite impressive.
Tom gave both the health and safety briefing and the room specific briefing outside the room. So with our mission fresh in our mind, we were ready to be transported to Greece.
Covid-19 Procedures: We played in May 2021 and there was plentiful hand sanitiser in reception and in the game. Tom wore a mask, as did we and we didn’t see any other teams while we were on site. We understand that the room is deep cleaned between teams
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
You could look at this room in two different ways, one; you could say it is basic and feels unfinished, or two; you could realise that the whole point of this game is that you’re supposed to be entering an archaeological dig so of course it would feel a bit ‘rough’. We actually really liked the journey of this game and how the feel of the game changed from one room to the next as we progressed through the story.
I’ve not actually made it to Greece yet (it’s on the list), nor have I been on any archaeological digs so I can’t comment on the authenticity of this game, but considering this is the first escape room by Escape Stations, we think they’ve done a decent job and should be considered a venue worthy of a visit when in Nottingham.
The story of the game was well thought out and the puzzles matched the settings according to the area you were in. Items that you would expect to see in an archaeological dig were present in that section, and those items didn’t appear later in the game when the theming changed. Nearly everything in the game served a purpose, and it’s quite possible that the items we didn’t use, we just didn’t work out what to do with them.
The addition of an ambient soundtrack playing throughout the game was another nice touch that made Prometheus quite a pleasant place to be. Zeus made a nice auditory appearance which, for us at least, added an element of humour to the game.
PUZZLES
We always like it when a company finds a way to make the puzzle match the story, and that’s exactly what Escape Stations have done with Prometheus. One particular puzzle stands out for how well it fitted with the theme, and it was one we haven’t seen anywhere else – was it hard? No, was it enjoyable? Yes. If I was a parent and had a child who wanted to learn about Greek mythology/history, I’d totally take them to play this game, but then again, I’m biased because I love escape rooms.
The puzzles in Prometheus were a game of two halves, the first half resulted in more padlock combinations, while the second half was more tactile and utilised hidden tech or ‘mechanical’ methods to progress. We didn’t really appreciate this until after the game but it was a clever design choice and really helped with the immersion.
The puzzles in Prometheus clicked with us and one puzzle early on we managed to solve using a tool that wasn’t supposed to work in that way (I gather it is being removed now). No puzzle frustrated us and they were well signposted so we knew where to go next and what to do with what we had just found.
The puzzles were varied in their type and generally fitted; observation, searching, pattern recognition and a bit of a physical task or two – perfect for the whole family. We played as a team of two and found there was enough to keep us going but I probably wouldn’t recommend playing with more than four people.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
As I mentioned earlier, the puzzles in Prometheus generally clicked with us so we didn’t actually need much assistance from our GM, Tom. All we needed were a couple of nudges to let us know that we had done something right, we just needed to continue what we were doing a bit longer.
Tom was clearly watching our progress as when he could see we had got the right solution, but were perhaps not applying it in the correct way, he chimed in right away to guide us, long before any frustrations set in. You can’t beat an attentive GM!
When Tom delivered these nudges they were over a small screen in the room. The screen was quite hidden away so when a clue came through, it was announced by the sound of thunder. I believe this screen was just used for clues, but it may have had a timer on it? I can’t actually remember.
ANYTHING ELSE
If you’re booking a trip to Nottingham, make sure you don’t miss out Escape Stations. Their lobby may not yet be as refined as other venues in the city, but their first game is solid and is an enjoyable experience.
We’ve been keeping an eye on Tom’s twitter feed and it looks like their next game is going to be quite sweet. They’ve got a massive space to work with, and we look forward to coming back for our next adventure with them.
Success/Failed
Final Rating:
Operation Puzzles Room Design GM/Clues Excitement
Team: 2 players – escaped in 29 minutes
Address:The Basement, Gothic House, Barker Gate, Nottingham, NG1 1JU
Website: https://www.escapestations.co.uk
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