One for all the family!
SAD NEWS! DJ MEGA MONKEY HAS BEEN CANCELLED!
He was due to perform today for the most bananas party, but the monkeys have caused MAYHEM and the show can’t go on.
Can you help DJ Mega MonKEY perform again? Fix the mayhem created by following the trail of wild puzzles to help him throw the party of a lifetime!
You have one hour before his set is due to start. Come on party people, we can do this!
We’ve always enjoyed our visits to Pressure Point. Our first visit was back in 2019 and it’s pretty terrible that it took us nearly six years to get back there. In our defence, since we moved out of London it’s been more of a challenge to get anywhere. Still, thanks to some house-sitting in London, we managed to work out a plan to get back down to Ashford to see what Keri and the team had been up to.
Short answer: they had been very busy! As we had left it so long, we had a load of new games to play; Candyland 1 and 2 (now closed, and the reason we rushed to get a visit in), Mayflower Dagger, and Monkey Mayhem.
We arrived at the familiar location for our day of escaping and were greeted by our host for all of our games, Alisha. Alisha was lovely, welcoming, and very enthusiastic – everything we’ve come to expect from Pressure Point. On arrival we had a little chat and then stored our belongings away and we were ready to get down to business.
Our first game of the day was Candyland 1, swiftly followed by Candyland 2. That was an epic two-parter game, and at times we were certainly struggling, so we were looking forward to what we hoped would be an easier outing. Pressure Point stated this was their easiest game, so that was promising (although we were actually quicker in Mayflower Dagger).
Because we had just come out of the Candyland saga we were able to skip the health and safety briefing for the most part and just get straight down to business with Monkey Mayhem.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
We’ve played a fair few games now, many with serious themes and many horror games, but I must admit that I always enjoy games that are just a bit whimsical and fun. Ok so monkey mayhem is clearly a game aimed at family groups, but I don’t care, it was just silly and fun.
Just look at any team photos from this game and you’ll see a giant monkey head and that really does set the tone. This is a game you really should take the whole family to, and there’s plenty of room to move around so you won’t be getting in each other’s way.
The music being played throughout helped set the scene and kept the tempo (and fun) upbeat throughout. Lighting was also never an issue as it was always easy to see what we needed thanks to some solid lighting choices by Pressure Point.
Although this is a great game for the whole family, if anyone in your group has accessibility issues, then you may want to check with the venue first as there is some crawling needed at one point (although not by the whole team). The venue is also above a Cafe Nero and up a number of stairs – something to bear in mind.
Escape rooms often make a big deal out of the story of the game and then it fizzles to nothing when you get to the end. Monkey Mayhem certainly didn’t fizzle and the ending ensured we finished on a high.
PUZZLES
According to Pressure Point, Monkey Mayhem is their easiest game, and I can see that. As I said, we were quicker in Mayflower Dagger, but generally we seem to have a habit of overcomplicating games that kids fly through!
As you may expect from an ‘easy’ family friendly game, the puzzles were varied and very well signposted, searching, directions, physical tasks, colours, teamwork and communication.
Solving the puzzles resulted mostly in combinations for padlocks but there was also some tech (and some manual triggers). Many people don’t like padlocks (I do), but as a game for perhaps more inexperienced players, they can be a great way to teach people what escape rooms are all about.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
We’ve only visited Pressure Point twice now, but both times we’ve had a great experience with our host – a 100% record! Alisha was lovely and genuinely seemed happy we were there (she may just be a good actor though…).
I can’t recall if we needed any help, but knowing us we probably did because we were being particularly dim or just massively overcomplicating something. Because of this I can’t remember the clue system, so I’m going to go on the assumption that the screen showing the timer would have also displayed help if we had needed it.
ANYTHING ELSE
Supposedly the easiest game at Pressure Point, but I can’t comment on that (difficulty is subjective), but it certainly felt like a game you should take people to play so they can learn the ropes, and start them off on that road to ER addiction.
It’s not just a game for newbies though, experienced teams will likely still have a good time (we did). But perhaps if you are experienced, don’t play in a larger team or you may get through it a bit too quickly.
Success / Failure
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team: Two Players – escaped in 30:00
Address: 1st Floor Offices, 2C New Rents, Ashford TN23 1JH
Leave a Reply