Paradox Parlours: The Case of the Missing Gun

A good room with a great clue system

Vince Baxter, New York’s infamous crime boss, is on trial for the murder of Roxanne’s brother, Stanley Steele and with only an hour left in the case, the prosecution really need Larry’s evidence to finally convince the judge of Vince’s guilt.

The only problem is that Private Investigator Larry Maxwell is unconscious in hospital, caused by a mysterious ‘accident’ yesterday. Only Larry knows the whereabouts of the gun that ties Vince to the murder.

Can you find the missing evidence to send Vince down?

We’d had our eyes on Guildford Escapes (now Paradox Parlours) for a while so it was great we were finally able to get the group together to do ‘The Case of the Missing Gun’. Tucked down a small alleyway (Guildford has many of those) you have to climb a few flights of stairs to get to the venue, but once you arrive there is a comfortable waiting area.

We were fortunate that our GM was one of the owners so it was great to spend some time talking to him before the game, he’s a true enthusiast (I gather both the owners are) and their passion really comes out when they are talking about escape rooms and also the rooms they have created.

After a wonderful chat with the owner we were given our briefing and then shown into the room. First impressions of this room were great, although it was a tad cosy for 5 people, and there was a good amount of puzzles to keep us entertained.

Guildford Escapes have done a good job with this room and even managed to cram in a couple of things that we really weren’t expecting, the final gun reveal was a nice touch that we didn’t see coming. Now we just need to get the gang together to go back and do their other room, Venus.

PUZZLES

This wasn’t a linear room which was good as it meant everyone on our team had something to do and no one was left standing like a lemon. They did a great job to make pretty much everything into a clue and one of the latter puzzles has you thinking logically to solve the case.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

This room did a good job of setting the decor perfectly for the era, it just needed the smoke of stale cigarettes and it would have been 100% authentic. Even the puzzles fitted well with the theme and didn’t feel out of place.

There was more to this room than we first expected when we walked in and, without giving anything away, there is more to this room than you may first think, so play the game and enjoy the little surprise that awaits.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Exceptional! The GM was, we assume attentive, and clues were delivered by a small printer in the room that fitted the decoration perfectly. We didn’t actually need any clues so we didn’t see it in action during the game, but the GM was kind enough to show us how it worked after the game.

ANYTHING ELSE

This isn’t a hard room but it is a fun room and even though we escaped in just over 33 minutes we still felt like we got value for money.

Success / Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 5 people (escaped in 33:15 with no clues)

Address: Jeffries House, Jeffries Passage, Guildford GU1 4AP

Website: https://paradoxparlours.com