The Panic Room: Old Father Time (Gravesend)

Can we do this again, please?

It’s New Year’s Eve and Old Father Time – The master of the most powerful force of nature – has gone missing! Without him, the clocks won’t reset at midnight and the sands of time will run out – permanently!

The effects have already started – the forest creatures have started turning to stone, and in 60 minutes, the waves of time will cease to ripple and the rest of the world will follow suit! Start a new chapter and work together to explore a beautiful tree cabin straight from the pages of a fantasy novel to discover the secrets inside. A mystical fairy tale escape room awaits where time is more important than ever!

Following our escape from Enigma, we were off to the next location for our penultimate room of the day: Old Father Time. Throughout the day, we continued to hear the same thing from everyone we spoke to, “You will love Old Father Time.” With expectations high, we were greeted by our GM and after a brief chat where it was reiterated how much we would love this room, we were led down the stairs to a beautiful doorway. We stepped through the door, and were in…a Disney movie.

The room was simply beautiful. I felt as though there should be little woodland creatures that would pop out to help me on my quest to restore time, and that they should be singing while they did so. (Actually, there was a secondary clue system in the room that wasn’t far off singing creatures…). Like any good fairy tale, there was of course, a story book, and we set about unlocking the secrets of time.

Old Father Time is a room that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The difficulty of the puzzles, as well as the setting, lends itself to being a wonderful family adventure. However, anyone that just want to get lost in the magic of it all, will love it just as much. Given the size of the space, it was perfectly suited for our team of two, and I really wouldn’t have wanted to do it with more than four people.

The Panic Room have managed to create something special with Old Father Time, with a beautiful take on the classic escape room, and I wish I could turn back the clock and experience the joy all over again.

PUZZLES

Puzzles were a mix of easy and mildly difficult, with a range of different types of puzzles, some of which were unique to the room, and others which fell back on escape room classics. Some of the puzzles tested your powers of observation, and your senses; one of these was incredibly frustrating (for us), and we did require a clue to get us heading back in the correct direction. Once we saw the solution though, we were hanging our heads in shame.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Of the rooms that we completed at The Panic Room, this was (in my opinion) the most beautifully designed room. From the moment we stepped over the threshold, we were immediately immersed in the room. The staging was so beautiful, and it felt so incredibly cosy, that it was tempting to just lie down and enjoy the ambiance. There was nothing in the room that didn’t fit; even the padlocks were beautiful.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

As with other rooms at The Panic Room, you receive your clues via a screen in a clock, inset into a stump. In this instance, since time is the theme, this worked, and didn’t detract from the magic at all. You may also receive additional help from within the room if you listen closely; an added bonus to the experience that made me smile. I do have to mention our GM, Ewan. He has worked for the Panic Room since he was 17, and clearly loves his job. He was attentive, and helpful throughout, providing nudges at just the right moments, and on the one occasion we needed a clue (due to being unobservant, as per usual), it was just enough to get us back on track.

ANYTHING ELSE

I loved everything about this room, from the music to the set, the puzzles, and the feel of the entire experience. We actually took a few moments to turn out the lights and just enjoy the ambiance (do it, it’s beautiful); in a way, I’m disappointed we finished the room in only 36 minutes and 7 seconds, because that was 23 minutes and 53 seconds of my life that we didn’t get to spend in the room. When I am asked what my favourite rooms are, Old Father Time will rank among them for some time, and it would take something really special to knock it out of my top ten all time favourites.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 people – saved time in 36:07

Address: 7 Berkley Crescent, Gravesend, DA12 2AH

Website: https://www.thepanicroom.net