Santa + Body Parts + Jimmy Savile = A slightly different Christmas room
You wouldn’t expect a place with a name like XScream Escapes to do a family friendly Christmas room, of course not, welcome to Satan’s Grotto. A room that starts so innocently suddenly descends into chaos when you start finding body parts and solving unusual Christmas themed puzzles.
We had just done their other two rooms, Bedlam and Corpsewood and because we blitzed them in record time the owner kindly asked us if we would like to try this room for free – we never turn down free rooms so why not?! Apparently he thought we would be out in no time at all, and despite this being a 45 minute room we struggled, oh how we struggled!
This room starts in a very confined area where we were struggling a bit as a team of five, but it soon opens up in to a bigger space, which although still small was ok for our team size.
Other than the obvious undertone of evil this felt like a typical Christmas room, with appropriate decor and Christmas music that made it feel quite cosy and nice. Actually thinking about it, for some reason it reminded me of the film ‘Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale’ – check it out, it’s a wonderful alternative Christmas film!
The first ‘puzzle’ is simple and we were in the main cabin in no time and felt like we were going to impress the owner once again, oh how wrong we were. A room that apparently kids fly through really stumped us. Perhaps it was the pressure of a 45 minute room, or we were tired from having done two other rooms back-to-back, but this room was not our finest hour.
PUZZLES
In hindsight the puzzles in this room weren’t hard, but at the time they felt nearly impossible to us. Most of the puzzles were somehow themed accordingly with it being Christmas but at times we had trouble differentiating between what was simply set design and what was part of the game and needed to solve puzzles.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
They have done a good job in making a nice feeling Christmas cabin in what is obviously limited space. For a normal Christmas room there were some things that didn’t really fit, but this isn’t a normal Christmas room so that picture of Jimmy Savile actually felt strangely well placed.
The limited space they had was used well and even though it was only a 45 minute room we were kept busy throughout and if there was anything else in there then I doubt we would have got out in time!
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Clues were delivered via a TV screen in the room. The GM was very attentive and gave us nudges when we couldn’t see the wood for the trees (which was often) and he ensured that we didn’t get too frustrated.
ANYTHING ELSE
This shouldn’t be a hard room, but for us it was. If you’re looking for a slightly different Christmas room then this one is a lot of fun.
Success / Failed
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team: 5 players
Address: Enterprise House, Ashford Rd, Ashford TW15 1XG
Website: https://xscream-escapes.com
Leave a Reply