My usual posts are reviews of escape rooms I've researched, booked, paid for and then played - but today's post is one that's a little bit different...
After just over a year in my current job, I made the decision to apply for a role in a different part of the company I work for and successfully got it. Today was my final day before I start my new role next week. And I was in for a bit of a surprise.
My colleagues know of my love for escape rooms and on a couple of occasions we've even had a work night out where we've all got together and played some games as a team. So my boss decided to use this knowledge to construct an unusual leaving ceremony.
Returning from a meeting, people started to swarm around my desk in the familiar fashion I've experienced when I've left my previous roles. But all was not right. Strange items had appeared on the desks and walls. One of my colleagues was chained to a chair with IT paraphernalia. And I looked around to see knowing smiles that something was afoot.
The standard leaving speech of your achievements and memorable mishaps quickly descended into riddles of the supernatural and I found myself unexpectedly thrust into an escape room scenario - a quest for a secret code to allow me to move on to "the other side". At first I panicked. I wasn't prepared for such a feat. And all those eyes. Watching, staring, waiting.
I asked for a clue, dismissing the crowds to focus on my task. After a few short moments, I found the code to release my stricken colleague who quickly whisked me away to a store of weapons to continue my quest. I found a cross, a bible and a strange disc of letters - surely there must have been some clue among these items? (caveat: it took me two attempts to find the strange disc of letters as I never search the back of doors!)
Returning to my desk, the demons had been at work. More strange objects and an eerie board of letters to match the strange disc! I assembled the objects - but to what end? A sideways glance from a colleague sent me in the direction of the noticeboard where I came across a strange code. With code in hand, the eerie board and a little bit of puzzle solving, I set about decoding the message and alas - a new code! A gift voucher code for a game for 3 people at Lucardo Manchester.
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| Some of the objects I collected as I played through the game. |
I just had to share this as it's one of the kindest and most thoughtful things that somebody has ever done for me. My boss had gone to so much effort to plan, write and build his puzzles - all completely of his own invention. It was such a clever way to present me with a leaving gift - and certainly meant I had to work for it! You only need to look at the image above to see the time and effort that that went into it.
It was such a great idea, complete with in-jokes, the opportunity for me to make a bit of a fool of myself and a transformation that made the office the most interesting it has ever been to my escape room obsessed mind! A massive thanks to my boss and my colleagues for a brilliant send off.