A fun and well thought out room, with a great soundtrack!
Due to a freak lightning strike on your game night, you are transported into the console itself. Now you must escape by playing the game, fix the console before the back-up battery dies or will you be trapped inside forever.
There’s no hiding it, I have a huge weak spot for anything retro, my collection of old Nintendo consoles is testament to this. So when I saw there was a Retro themed room I simply had to do it.
We were greeted very warmly by our GM (and owner) and seated in their comfortable waiting area filled with handmade puzzles and free water. The owner is passionate about what he does and we had a nice chat before the games about all things escape rooms.
We had actually planned to do Retro followed by Magician’s Apprentice but he asked us if we wouldn’t mind switching the order. The gods must have been looking down on us that day as I had said to Liz earlier that I would have liked to have finished the day with Retro. It was meant to be!
A theatrical start to the game saw us waiting in a living room when the computer crashed due to a lighting storm! Our GM went off to try and solve the problem and that is where the fun begins. I won’t give it away but this wow moment at the start instantly immerses you in this digital world.
The room itself is large and could easily accommodate larger groups or families so I wouldn’t worry about space. We found the room to be non-linear and Liz and I were able to work on different things simultaneously.
There was a really good flow to the room and everything in there served a purpose (even if it was just a hat to make you look like a ghost from Pac-Man, even the puzzles fitted perfectly in the theme.
I loved this room, I really did. Retro gaming memories are my weakness and this room exploited them to the max. The soundtrack in the room found the perfect balance of adding pressure and bringing back fond memories of 8-bit madness.
If you’re like me and listen to the Street Fighter 2 soundtrack on Spotify and own a few retro consoles then you’ll love this room. If you’re not, then do it anyway! It’s a fun room and so, so enjoyable.
PUZZLES
Like all good rooms every you need to succeed in this room is in the room, the only exception to that is that you’ll need to do some basic maths to solve a couple of puzzles. But as the GM is a nice guy, they kindly provide an etch-a-sketch style device for jotting down notes.
There are even a couple of physical challenges in the room which fit perfectly with the theme once again. One was obvious what needed to be done, the other not so much as it felt like it went against escape room rules – but a friendly nudge from the GM gave us the confidence to do what needed to be done.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
This room is not built by a large team of builders and set designers, it’s built by the owner using his experience and passion. So don’t expect to see a shining thing of beauty, it’s rough around the edges but this adds to the quirk of the room.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
A good room can be let down by a terrible GM, that was most definitely not the case here and the GM was part of the experience. The intro and briefing blurred the lines of reality and fiction and we weren’t sure when he was acting or just being himself.
Clues were delivered by a ticker screen in the room that fit perfectly with the theming and there was never any delay in getting clues if requested. This screen also displayed your time in a unique way which was a nice touch.
ANYTHING ELSE
We turned up early to this venue and we’re glad we did as there is so much to do before you go in the room. The owner used to be a teacher and he seems to have another passion of making wooden puzzles, which fill the waiting area so make sure you play some of his handmade games while you’re there.
Success/Failure
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team: 2 players
Address: 4 Cattle Market Road, Peterborough, PE1 1TW
Website: https://totbescaperooms.com
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