Fox in a Box: Virtual Bunker Experience (Play at Home)

We ARE the heroes the world needs!

You wake up to disaster all around you, but there is no time to wallow and feel sorry for yourself. You’re the only person who can stop this deadly pathogen being released.

A 60 min launch sequence provides just enough time to ravage the bunker looking for clues and solving puzzles in order to deactivate the launch sequence.

Are YOU the hero the world needs?

Fox in a Box is one of those companies who we’ve heard about but for some reason we are yet to make it to any of their physical locations. Thanks to the pandemic, Fox in a Box have finally made the move to virtual rooms so we can enjoy their games without having to leave the comfort of our own home.

Fox in a Box (London) invited us to play the Virtual Bunker Experience and said that we would be paired up with another team they had invited. Online games can be made or broken by your team so we were a bit unsure what we had let us in for, fortunately for us we were teamed up with The Heist Girls, who were a delight to play with.

After a minor hiccup with the link to join the game (sorry teammates), we joined the call and were greeted by our host before being sent off on our mission. One thing I should point out now, is that we had previously played the Fox in a Box digital game, ‘A Perfect Day to Save the World’. We thought this may spoil the game but actually despite sharing similar aesthetics, they were very different games.

CONCEPT/EXECUTION

This game takes place over both Zoom and Telescape which now seems to be a pretty standard way of hosting these games, and why not? It works. We had no issues with shaky camera work or lagging so it was just as good as being there in real life (well not quite, but it was still good).

The inventory system worked well and was administered by someone behind the scenes which was good. Items were added or removed from the inventory as we found or used them which meant it didn’t get congested with lots of stuff that we then had to sift through. Some companies will give you codes to enter to add items yourself, which is fine, but this system feels much slicker and more intuitive.

Telescape is a great platform and if used right it can really be a great addition to the game. Fox in a Box have set their system up to enable you to have 360 degree views of the rooms that you enter. They have also set it up so that you can listen to audio through it which comes in handy for solving some of the puzzles. I’m not really sure where it fits, but with one of the audio puzzles they added an extra visual prompt that made it both easier to solve and more accessible. I can’t really talk about it too much without giving it away, but we certainly appreciated it.

If I had one gripe with this game it would probably be that the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Now it was a very distinct ending and we knew it was the ending, but it just felt a bit flat to us. I just feel like stopping a deadly pandemic perhaps deserves a little more fanfare?

PUZZLES

First things first, this isn’t a hard room, we completed it in around 30 minutes. But we were a very experienced team so that could be why we didn’t struggle. Even though it was on the easier side, it was still an enjoyable experience and the puzzles were solid and fun to solve. They also played out in a relatively linear fashion but there were a few places where we branched off a little and solved puzzles simultaneously.

We also may have blitzed this room because the signposting in it was very good. Items were labelled well so that we knew if we found a code doing one thing then it likely went to that specific place. Signposting is hard to get right, if you make it too easy then the room feels like the Early Learning Centre, but if they do it wrong then you could spend five minutes trying a four digit code in twenty different padlocks. The signposting in this room made it enjoyable to go from one puzzle to the next.

There were a number of different puzzle types in the Virtual Bunker Experience including logic, wordplay, maths (minor) observation, and some physical tasks that the avatar needed to complete on our behalf. A lot of this room was ‘see a code, put it in the lock’, but there was a good use of technology to keep us on our toes, and I particularly enjoyed how the integrated the audio puzzles into the game.

The game also had a number of minor search elements, which were aided by Telescape and how things had been labelled by Fox in a Box. We were able to find items that were hidden in the room simply by investigating thoroughly using Telescape – make sure you look everywhere!

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

I think our avatar was called Alex, so that is what I shall call him from now. Alex did a good job as our eyes/hands on the ground and remained in character at all times. With a friendly manner and steady camera work, he did everything we could have asked of him (even when some of our requests may have been a little dim).

Alex obviously had his hands full doing everything that we asked, but the person behind the scenes adding and removing items to the inventory was also on the ball. No big delays and everything was there when we needed it.

Really there’s not much to say here, it worked and the fact that I have nothing else to say is probably a positive.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Fox in a Box exceeded our expectations with this room and we had an enjoyable experience. Probably a great room for those new to online escape rooms, but those who have played a few may find this on the easier side.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Number of connections: Up to 8 players
• Price: £80 (2 players) to £140 (8 players)
• Devices: Laptop/PC
• Platform: Zoom / Telescape (browser)
• Inventory: Yes
• 360º View: Yes
• Time Zone: London, UK (GMT)

Final Rating:

Team: 5 players

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Website: https://www.foxinaboxlondon.uk

*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review.