Are we still on a boat?!
I am no longer master of my own time,” people say. The months pass so much faster than before, one day has only 10 hours and before summer has started, the trees lose their leaves. Nobody knows the origin of this development and so people rush through life.
One day you come across the secret access to underground chambers by accident. On a dusty door you read the inscription “To the Master of Time” and your curiosity seizes you… Can you penetrate into the chambers of the lost master, slow down time and give it back to mankind?
Cheap flights for us and a fancy cruise for our teammates saw us heading to Hamburg for a couple of nights. Pretty much the only thing on the agenda…escape rooms. There were a few companies that have a solid reputation so we made sure to get them booked in and maximise our short amount of time in town.
First up, Hidden in Hamburg. We booked four games with this company: Master of Time, Golden Skull, Forbidden Game, and Neptune’s Curse. What was cool about Hidden in Hamburg is that their games take place on actual ships – Cap San Diego, and Rickmer Rickmers.
We arrived at the Cap San Diego and descended down the stairs and through a large museum/theatre type area and found ourselves standing at a bookcase. As an added extra, when you play at Hidden in Hamburg, you can visit the Cap San Diego museum for free! Fortunately this bookcase was the entry into the escape room part of the ship and we soon found ourselves being greeted by our GM, Jessica
Jessica warmly welcomed us, and as we were a little early she invited us to wait in their waiting area. There was plenty of space and seating for us to wait, and we could also purchase drinks to keep us going (Bonus tip: Fritz Cola is rather tasty). After not too long, Jessica returned and gave us our mission briefing, then it was time to get on with our mission.
Hidden in Hamburg actually has two copies of this game, so if you want to do a little head-to-head with friends, or if you have a larger group, these games can host up to 14 people between them!
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
The oddest thing about Hidden in Hamburg on the Cap San Diego is that it is very easy to forget that you’re on a boat, this thing is huge and we didn’t notice any movement. Because of this, Hidden in Hamburg created a game that doesn’t use the boat’s features at all, and it worked. We found a good sense of adventure and it was one of those games where the space just seemed to keep going.
Master of Time was a very pretty, steam-punk inspired set, and had plenty of hidden tech to keep the surprises coming. I would guess that a few things in this game were manually triggered, but it all worked so smoothly that it didn’t detract from the experience.
With ambient noises playing at all times, and lots of darkness and theatrics to break up ‘the scenes’, there was plenty going on and this made us forget we were on a boat. Probably the only let down was the ending which felt a bit anticlimactic, but I guess you can’t have everything, right?
PUZZLES
There’s no getting around it, Master of Time is a very linear game where one thing led on to the next and there wasn’t really much chance to deviate from this path. Saying that, the puzzles were enjoyable and our entire team were included in most of the puzzles with minimal standing around time.
The game utilised a lot of tech but also some good old fashioned numbered padlocks, although we found that these worked in the opposite way to which we were used to, which could be a cultural thing. So if you play, and your solution doesn’t work, perhaps try it ‘backwards’.
The game had a good flow to it and signposting kept us on track well. The puzzles generally revolved around; logic, observation, feel, spatial relations, searching, and one good chunky physical type puzzle.
One thing we did notice in all the games we played at Hidden in Hamburg was that they seem to have their favourite puzzle types and they generally make an appearance in all their games – great if you like them, not so much if you don’t.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
The clues for Master of Time came over a speaker system hidden in the room, via an in-character voice. Probably worth pointing out now that despite this game being in Germany, it is playable in English and we had no issues with the translations; everything went smoothly.
Jessica was on the ball and keeping a close eye on us, and at one point we did need a clue because we wrongly assumed that items should only be used once – whoops.
ANYTHING ELSE
Master of Time was a good start to our Hamburg experience and had a good mix of tech and physical interactions. If you’re unsure on playing because it’s on a boat, then don’t worry, the boat is so big that you’ll soon find yourself forgetting that you’re not on dry land.
Success/Failed
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team Size: 4 people – 35 minutes
Address: Cap San Diego – Museumsschiff Überseebrücke, 20459 Hamburg, Germany
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