The Panic Room: Dino Land (Gravesend)

“Quiet, all of you! They’re approaching the Tyrannosaur paddock.”

It’s instinct or extinct at Gravesend’s biggest award-winning Cretaceous creation! Make your way through Dino Land headquarters, and come eye to eye with Prehistoric Predators from the past!

Our state-of-the-art facility is looking for new Rangers! However, it seems you may have a tough first day of work… The Dinosaurs have escaped! Time for drastic Jurassic measures! Can you get to safety and restore the park’s security? Or will it be a Triassic triumph for these rampaging reptiles?

As a birthday treat for me, Gord booked an enthusiasts package at The Panic Room. Perhaps it was a bit ambitious of us to take on ten full length games, plus two shorter experiences, (we would have done  them all, but the timings weren’t quite right) having only done three rooms previously with just the two of us, but we were up for the challenge – and what better way to start than with Dinosaurs!?

The Panic Room is certainly a massive operation, with four locations (at the time of writing this) and no less than 60 employees, but we still received a personal and very warm welcome when we arrived on a Friday evening to become Dino Land Rangers. Our Senior Ranger, Jordan, met us in the lobby (just in front of the ginormous T-Rex) to take us through the basic health and safety video, and then we were in the park.  Within moments, the sirens blared, and we were off; the dinosaurs were loose, and it was up to Dino Land’s newest recruits (us) to restore order!

Dino Land was an epic adventure, from start to finish, and occasionally a bit bonkers! I am pleased to say we successfully managed to navigate our time as Dino Land Park Rangers, and managed to escape with all our limbs intact in just under 50 minutes – not bad for a team of two!

PUZZLES

Puzzles in Dino Land are on the easier side, and there aren’t many of them, but each is in keeping with the theme, with nothing feeling out of place. Game play is very linear; you will work on one puzzle at a time as you restore the park’s security and return the dinosaurs to their rightful place, guided from one puzzle to the next. There was never really any moment where we though “I don’t know what to do.” There seemed to be an average of two to three puzzles per section of the park, but sometimes more and sometimes less, so larger teams of very experienced players may feel that there isn’t much to do, but in Dino Land, it’s really more about the experience than complex puzzles.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Dino Land is a fully immersive adventure, rather than your traditional escape room, using everything from full sized cars and live actors to Willy Wonka-style elevators and actual dinosaurs to pull you into the experience. The space is enormous (2000 square feet!), so there is a lot to take in, and each section of the park was completely different from the next.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

You are guided through the park by your Ranger. Because they are in the park with you at various points, your ranger can really make or break your experience.  In our case, Jordan really did help to make it. Even when your ranger isn’t in the room with you, however, if you’re struggling, you can always radio through for help. I have played other games where the GM was in the room with us, and hated it, but in this context it did work, and certainly added to the drama.

ANYTHING ELSE

Dino Land was our first experience with rooms that are more Experience than Escape oriented. There is really no other word to describe this room than simply FUN. It was one of those rooms where, once you’ve finished, you feel a bit bereft, because you can really only do it once to get the real experience. Dino Land was the perfect way to kick off an entire weekend of escapes, and lived up to all of my childhood dreams of visiting Jurassic Park.

Success / Failed

Final Rating: 

Team: 2 people

Address: 23a St Georges Centre, Princes Street, Gravesend, DA11 0TB

Website: https://www.thepanicroom.net