Room Story - from iLocked
A team of intrepid researchers has discovered a pyramid in the golden sands of the Egyptian desert. Nobody has been here for more than 3000 years. They will be the first to see the burial chambers and other secrets of the pyramid. IF they can survive. The explorers need to make sure to solve all the riddles of the pyramid: the wily Egyptians have set plenty of traps.
Key Stats
Review
I’ve had a small collection of past reviews that have been on my to-do list for nearly a year and this is one of those reviews. We played this game in October 2017, but amazingly I still remember this game really well. I will caveat this review with the fact it is already a year out of date at the time of posting so there may be elements which no longer hold true.
We’d heard some positive things about iLocked and seen that they emphasise their “no padlocks” design approach to rooms, so we were keen to give their games a go and see their use of technology.
We received our briefing and one of us had to volunteer to wear a strange leather and metal device on our arm. I drew the short straw. I won’t say more about the device, except to say that if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of feeling trapped – let somebody else in your team wear it. It’s also quite a heavy thing!
The game starts in a large tomb complete with an elaborate sarcophagus in the centre of the room and plenty of hieroglyphics and Egyptian style murals on the walls. It’s a really nicely decorated space, but following an initial look around, there didn’t seem to be a lot in there in terms of objects. Without the typical visual cues of keyholes and locks, it was difficult at first to know where to get started.
We eventually got into a good flow and objects began to appear as we completed actions, often accompanied with a nice “magical” sound to give you solid confirmation you’d correctly completed an action. The puzzles were largely in the style of “find an object and ensure it’s in the correct place” which fit really nicely with the exploration of an ancient tomb theme.
When we’d completed a series of puzzles in the tomb room, a large door opened at the end of the room leading off to further parts of the room to explore. Once we entered, there was a great surprise moment with lots of drama and tension that was really well executed.
I think the use of technology in the room is generally very good, but we came across a couple of puzzles that also reveal some of the downsides of using so much technology. One puzzle we knew exactly how to solve but it required a frustrating amount of precision in order to succeed. This was followed by another puzzle that didn’t make a great deal of sense without an explanation from the host via the walkie-talkie.
For a room that’s really immersive, I was a little disappointed with the walkie-talkie clue system as at times it broke some of the immersion in the room. The walkie-talkie could have been integrated into the story of the room if combined with a bit of acting from the host, but it often felt very instructional. There were a couple of moments in the room where I also felt the walkie-talkie was used to provide information to the player that could have been communicated in a more effective and immersive way within the room.
We proceeded to the game’s finale that separated the team and required a great amount of communication and team work to complete. It was a fun finale that made good use of the spaces you’ve already discovered. Once the team were reunited, we completed the final action in the game to unlock the door and claim our victory.
This is a good room that uses technology to offer a somewhat different escape room experience. The sense of exploration was one of my favourite parts of this room – there were a number of different spaces to discover and explore with a few surprises on the way. My only real criticism was the clue system - I felt it spoiled the immersion a little in a game that I’d otherwise consider to be quite an immersive experience.
Ratings
A team of intrepid researchers has discovered a pyramid in the golden sands of the Egyptian desert. Nobody has been here for more than 3000 years. They will be the first to see the burial chambers and other secrets of the pyramid. IF they can survive. The explorers need to make sure to solve all the riddles of the pyramid: the wily Egyptians have set plenty of traps.
Key Stats
| Room Name | The Mummy |
| Venue | iLocked |
| Location | Nottingham, UK |
| Date | 28/10/2017 |
| Escape Time | 54:00 |
| Team Size | 3 |
| My Recommended Team Size | 3 - 4 |
Review
I’ve had a small collection of past reviews that have been on my to-do list for nearly a year and this is one of those reviews. We played this game in October 2017, but amazingly I still remember this game really well. I will caveat this review with the fact it is already a year out of date at the time of posting so there may be elements which no longer hold true.
We’d heard some positive things about iLocked and seen that they emphasise their “no padlocks” design approach to rooms, so we were keen to give their games a go and see their use of technology.
We received our briefing and one of us had to volunteer to wear a strange leather and metal device on our arm. I drew the short straw. I won’t say more about the device, except to say that if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of feeling trapped – let somebody else in your team wear it. It’s also quite a heavy thing!
The game starts in a large tomb complete with an elaborate sarcophagus in the centre of the room and plenty of hieroglyphics and Egyptian style murals on the walls. It’s a really nicely decorated space, but following an initial look around, there didn’t seem to be a lot in there in terms of objects. Without the typical visual cues of keyholes and locks, it was difficult at first to know where to get started.
We eventually got into a good flow and objects began to appear as we completed actions, often accompanied with a nice “magical” sound to give you solid confirmation you’d correctly completed an action. The puzzles were largely in the style of “find an object and ensure it’s in the correct place” which fit really nicely with the exploration of an ancient tomb theme.
When we’d completed a series of puzzles in the tomb room, a large door opened at the end of the room leading off to further parts of the room to explore. Once we entered, there was a great surprise moment with lots of drama and tension that was really well executed.
I think the use of technology in the room is generally very good, but we came across a couple of puzzles that also reveal some of the downsides of using so much technology. One puzzle we knew exactly how to solve but it required a frustrating amount of precision in order to succeed. This was followed by another puzzle that didn’t make a great deal of sense without an explanation from the host via the walkie-talkie.
For a room that’s really immersive, I was a little disappointed with the walkie-talkie clue system as at times it broke some of the immersion in the room. The walkie-talkie could have been integrated into the story of the room if combined with a bit of acting from the host, but it often felt very instructional. There were a couple of moments in the room where I also felt the walkie-talkie was used to provide information to the player that could have been communicated in a more effective and immersive way within the room.
We proceeded to the game’s finale that separated the team and required a great amount of communication and team work to complete. It was a fun finale that made good use of the spaces you’ve already discovered. Once the team were reunited, we completed the final action in the game to unlock the door and claim our victory.
This is a good room that uses technology to offer a somewhat different escape room experience. The sense of exploration was one of my favourite parts of this room – there were a number of different spaces to discover and explore with a few surprises on the way. My only real criticism was the clue system - I felt it spoiled the immersion a little in a game that I’d otherwise consider to be quite an immersive experience.
Ratings
| Overall |  | It’s a game that makes clever use of technology to deliver an adventure with a great sense of exploration. The game doesn’t use a single padlock and this makes for some interesting and different puzzles. |
| Difficulty | | There’s quite a lot to do in a short space of time and sometimes there aren’t a lot of clear indicators about what you should do next which ups the difficulty. |
| Fun | | There are some really fun and satisfying moments in the game. Exploring the different parts of the room was a key highlight. |
| Puzzles | | The puzzles are all very much centred around finding and correctly placing items. It fits well with the Egyptian “artefacts” theming. |
| Immersion |  | The room is nicely decorated with some good props throughout the game. I think the use of a walkie-talkie based clue system doesn’t really suit the game well and spoils the immersion slightly. |
| Surprises | | There are quite a few surprises as you progress through this game, with one big and dramatic surprise moment that particularly stands out. |