Room Story - from The Escaporium
Enter the newly discovered private Halifax museum of Mr. P. Saul and find out what he has been the guardian of all this time!
Key Stats
Review
We played Operation Moonshine at The Escaporium a short time ago. We really enjoyed that game so knew we had to go back and play their other game soon. The Haligonian is located in a different building just across the road from Operation Moonshine in the historic Piece Hall. On the day we visited, there was a food festival (Chow Down) taking place in the centre of The Piece Hall with lots of different food and drink on offer. This is taking place on different weekends throughout the summer so it’s a great day out for food and escape room fans.
The Haligonian (which means somebody who comes from Halifax) is a game all about the history of Halifax. In what I believe is a first for us, the game is physically located in The Piece Hall and the story is also set in The Piece Hall. It’s a really great location for an escape room and feels like the perfect setting for the content of the game.
After a short briefing, we entered the room and immediately began to explore. The room can be described as museum-like with glass display cabinets filled with various items and lots of information on the walls around the room. Despite all the information and items you see, the game is constructed in a way that doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed. It’s quite a large room so it gives you plenty of room to explore separately and make good progress.
There are some really great puzzles in the room. I immediately got stuck into a large puzzle that you instantly notice when you enter the room – it’s a great puzzle that gets you looking around the room in search of facts and clues. As I worked on this, my teammates went about searching the room and solved a couple of nice observational puzzles. All of the puzzles in the game are really well thought through and logical, with no frustrating moments or red herrings to catch you out.
We required a few clues as the game progressed (mainly down to poor observation and searching as usual!), these are delivered via a screen with a Yorkshire “ay up!” playing to grab your attention.
When we reached the final part of the game, we felt like we still had a lot left to do with a very short amount of time remaining. When this happens, we typically develop the ability to operate at twice the speed. This is what was necessary here as there was a time consuming multi-part puzzle we needed to work through. We found a nice chocolate treat along the way to help fuel our sprint through the final part of the game!
We really enjoyed this game. Typically the games we’ve enjoyed the most have a really immersive setting and storyline, but this game was a little bit different and really captured our imaginations. The key strength of this game is the puzzles as there are lots to solve and a great deal of variety. It was also really interesting to find out lots about the history of Halifax in the museum like setting. This is a very good game that we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
Ratings
Enter the newly discovered private Halifax museum of Mr. P. Saul and find out what he has been the guardian of all this time!
Key Stats
| Room Name | The Haligonian |
| Venue | The Escaporium |
| Location | Halifax, UK |
| Date | 22/07/2018 |
| Escape Time | 53:17 |
| Team Size | 3 |
| My Recommended Team Size | 3 - 6 |
Review
We played Operation Moonshine at The Escaporium a short time ago. We really enjoyed that game so knew we had to go back and play their other game soon. The Haligonian is located in a different building just across the road from Operation Moonshine in the historic Piece Hall. On the day we visited, there was a food festival (Chow Down) taking place in the centre of The Piece Hall with lots of different food and drink on offer. This is taking place on different weekends throughout the summer so it’s a great day out for food and escape room fans.
The Haligonian (which means somebody who comes from Halifax) is a game all about the history of Halifax. In what I believe is a first for us, the game is physically located in The Piece Hall and the story is also set in The Piece Hall. It’s a really great location for an escape room and feels like the perfect setting for the content of the game.
After a short briefing, we entered the room and immediately began to explore. The room can be described as museum-like with glass display cabinets filled with various items and lots of information on the walls around the room. Despite all the information and items you see, the game is constructed in a way that doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed. It’s quite a large room so it gives you plenty of room to explore separately and make good progress.
There are some really great puzzles in the room. I immediately got stuck into a large puzzle that you instantly notice when you enter the room – it’s a great puzzle that gets you looking around the room in search of facts and clues. As I worked on this, my teammates went about searching the room and solved a couple of nice observational puzzles. All of the puzzles in the game are really well thought through and logical, with no frustrating moments or red herrings to catch you out.
We required a few clues as the game progressed (mainly down to poor observation and searching as usual!), these are delivered via a screen with a Yorkshire “ay up!” playing to grab your attention.
When we reached the final part of the game, we felt like we still had a lot left to do with a very short amount of time remaining. When this happens, we typically develop the ability to operate at twice the speed. This is what was necessary here as there was a time consuming multi-part puzzle we needed to work through. We found a nice chocolate treat along the way to help fuel our sprint through the final part of the game!
We really enjoyed this game. Typically the games we’ve enjoyed the most have a really immersive setting and storyline, but this game was a little bit different and really captured our imaginations. The key strength of this game is the puzzles as there are lots to solve and a great deal of variety. It was also really interesting to find out lots about the history of Halifax in the museum like setting. This is a very good game that we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
Ratings
| Overall |  | A game very much focused on puzzles, with a museum like setting that gives it a very different feel. Lots of fun and an interesting insight into the history of Halifax. |
| Difficulty | | Everything flows well in the game, however, there are quite a few puzzles to get through which ramps up the difficulty. |
| Fun |  | We love solving puzzles and this room is packed with them. The museum-like setting gives you lots of information to filter through and lots of things to explore. We had a lot of fun. |
| Puzzles |  | This game is all about puzzles. The room is full of a variety of different puzzles requiring acute observation and searching skills. All the puzzles are logical and flow together brilliantly. |
| Immersion |  | The room is nicely themed and well put together. The game has a storyline, but it’s not big on story and feels very much focused on the puzzles. The unusual thing about this game is that the physical location and the setting of the game are actually the same! |
| Surprises |  | This isn’t a game that’s big on surprise moments, but there are a few nice little surprises on the way (one of which is edible!). |