Hysteria: Survival (Chatham)

Save the dinos!

A major incident at Triassic Park has led to an evacuation of the island.  Nato has deemed it a global emergency and plan to Napalm the island.   You have 1 hour to attempt to collect 15 dinosaurs embryos before they go extinct again.

The survival of these dinosaurs depends on you.

Our first visit to Hysteria was way back in January of 2020, when we played Motel California and Aftermath. We did manage to make it to their sister venue, Unsolved Mysteries, in July 2022, but didn’t have time to fit in the latest game at Hysteria on that trip, so we were well overdue for another visit to Chatham. But when the stars finally aligned for another trip out, it was well worth the journey, as they’ve been busy and we had four new games to play between the two companies!

Hysteria’s High Street venue is conveniently located less than a ten minute walk from Chatham Station, which was convenient since we were taking a day trip out from London. Our morning started taking on Citizen Erased, and after a short break to go for a walk (and cool down a bit after being locked up in Space Jail), we made our way back to Hysteria for Survival.

This time, Charlotte greeted us at the door, and we settled into the comfy sofa for a bit of a chat, not to mention the requisite health and safety/room specific rules of Survival. With the formalities out of the way, Charlotte excused herself for a moment, only to be replaced by an employee of Triassic Park! (Okay yes, it was Charlotte in disguise.)

Now, I almost never know the themes of the games that we play until we’re playing them, so you can imagine my nerdy, dinosaur-loving delight when I realised that Survival wouldn’t be about our survival, but rather the survival of the dinosaurs. With no time to waste, we followed Charlotte to the entrance to Survival.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Hysteria’s sets are always well built, and Survival is no exception to that. From the moment we stepped through the door into Triassic Park, it was plain we were leaving Chatham behind. The sounds of the dinosaur park filtered through the air, and it was easy to tune out the outside world and get on with the serious business of recovering the missing dinosaur embryos. The space isn’t enormous (although it would be comfortable enough for a team of four), but what they’ve created makes up for that with plenty of things to uncover, and secrets to explore.

The nonlinear game design meant that Gord and I quickly separated, following separate puzzle paths. The open game play gave the game an almost frantic pace, for as soon as one puzzle was solved it was straight on to another, and another.

PUZZLES

Although escape room experiences in general seem to be evolving from their initial concept into more immersive narrative-driven adventures that happen to have puzzles, the “Collection Room” seems to be becoming the most popular game style amongst UK enthusiasts (No really, six of the Top Ten games in the UK on Escape the Review are collection games *at time of writing) But it’s not hard to see why; People like puzzles. And there was certainly no shortage of puzzles to be found in Survival. With fifteen embryos to collect (And if you’re wondering, yes, it is possible to collect them all, even as a team of two), there is plenty for everyone on the team to be getting on with.

Spatial relations, communication and  teamwork, logical deduction, observation – even simple scavenging – if you can think of a puzzle, Survival probably has a variation on it. Blending traditional locks, both keyed and coded, with tech, and the variation in puzzle types means there is something to suit everyone on a team. Regardless of the puzzle type, the theming was solid throughout, with puzzles evolving organically out of their surroundings, and fitting the setting perfectly.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Whether we are playing at Hysteria or Unsolved Mysteries, the GMs have always been fantastic: friendly, welcoming, and most importantly, on top of their game with hosting. Charlotte was no exception to this, and was absolutely brilliant during our visit, bursting with energy for her briefing, and a pleasure to talk to during our post-game debrief.

One thing I appreciate about Hysteria is that they always integrate the clue system with the theming of the game, regardless of whether clues are delivered using screens, walkie talkies, or just voice over, and Survival was no exception to this. Not only that, Charlotte knew exactly when to hold back and let us puzzle something out, or when it was time to chime in to stop us from heading down a rabbit hole.

ANYTHING ELSE

While my favourite “classic” escape room theme may be raiding a temple, I do have a soft spot for anything dinosaur related. With Survival, Hysteria have created a fantastic, family-friendly puzzle-palooza, with a few nods to a certain dinosaur film franchise for fans.

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 54:59 (with all embryos)

Address: 38A High St, Chatham ME4 4EA

Website: https://hysteriaescaperooms.com