The Cardiff branch of Escape Reality is advertised by a
discreet black sign next to a discreet black doorway. Although it’s in a central location in Cardiff
town centre, we actually managed to walk past the venue three times before we
noticed it. Once you make it inside,
it's a large venue spread across multiple floors of the building. You're directed by arrows up to the reception,
which was really more of a bar area. The
bar's fridge was well-stocked with prosecco for those teams who want to celebrate
their escape, and anyone who doesn't make it out in the time limit has a handy
place to drown their sorrows. Despite
this set-up, it didn't really feel like a comfortable area that you'd want to
spend time in, and the bar was really just a glorified waiting area.
Escape Reality is one of the larger escape room companies,
with six branches across the UK and a handful of locations abroad. At this branch at least, there was a wide
selection of games available, with most of their games getting their
inspiration from existing franchises. There
was Enigmista, which was a play
on the Saw films, and Fibonacci,
which was based off of every single Dan Brown novel ever (but more specifically
The Da Vinci Code). There was also a
game called Misery, for which they
didn't even bother to change the name. We
avoided that one, because personally I enjoy having both my ankles facing in
the right direction.
Little
Stephen King joke for you there.
We were booked in to play Jumangi. Excuse me - Jungala. We were there to play Jungala. As the title suggests, the room’s theme was
that you were transported into a jungle through a magical boardgame. I've read reviews before which suggested that
the decoration of the room was lacking, but that was based on an experience in
a different location and at Escape Room Cardiff the decoration was perfectly
serviceable. Admittedly it wasn't
particularly immersive, but then it's much harder to create a convincing jungle
than it is an office or laboratory.
Considering the theme, it's not surprising that this is
Escape Reality's family friendly game. Children
should enjoy the jungle theme, along with the animals and boardgame elements,
and adults can enjoy a little nostalgia for a childhood film. If there aren't any children involved, then
you'll only need a small team. However,
it is well designed to engage younger players. There's a fair amount of searching involved,
none of it particularly strenuous, and the mental puzzles have slightly more
direction provided than is usual in an escape room. For example, if a four digit padlock's combination
needs to be worked out through four related puzzles, then Jungala is
kind enough to demonstrate how to solve the puzzle by completing the first step
and providing the first digit of the combination for you. All these touches combine to create a room
which is accessible enough for children to really enjoy.
We sped through all of the puzzles, but did use a hint
towards the end, if only to experience the hint system which we had been warned
about by so many people. At the
beginning of the game, the team is provided with a tablet computer. This tablet is used as a timer (which is
fairly standard) but also as the entire hint system (which isn't). Every puzzle in the game has a QR code stuck nearby,
and scanning the code will bring up a hint on the tablet to help with that
puzzle. This gives teams full control
over when to get assistance when they're stuck. That’s the kindest thing that I can say about
it, because automating the process comes with a whole host of downsides. It's incredibly immersion breaking, for a
start, when there are black and white boxes plastered all over the jungle.
Exquisite.
When we requested our hint, what we received was less of a
clue and more of a full walkthrough of the initial part of the puzzle along
with a full step-by-step guide to completing the rest of it. The system isn’t
intelligent enough to know what part you need help with, so any time a hint is
requested, there’s a risk that what's provided might not have any bearing on
the part of the puzzle that's causing the difficulty. The guidance will either be far too detailed
or altogether irrelevant, and the app can’t react and provide help if the
puzzle is actually broken or not working as expected for any reason. A person monitoring the game would be able to
provide information tailored to the situation in order to get the team back on
track without feeling like they’ve been spoon-fed the solution.
There are also practical downsides to their system - once
you've requested a hint, you're locked out from requesting another for the next
ten minutes. Plus, every hint requested adds an extra 5 minutes to your total
escape time at the end. Considering that there's a button near the entrance
which can call a staff member for help without a penalty, why is there the need
for the automated system? Room Escape
Artist (no relation) covered the topic of QR Codes in escape rooms in
a recent article if you’re interested in reading more about this.
Considering
the article is called ‘How Escape Room Boss Destroys Fun in Escape Rooms’,
it’s safe to say they’re not a fan.
it’s safe to say they’re not a fan.
When you finish the game, the QR scanning system comes into
play again. Even though you've escaped,
the timer will keep counting down until you scan the final QR code to stop the
clock. After that... nothing. There’s no Escape Reality employee there to
congratulate you, go over the bits you enjoyed or debrief you on any of the
bits you didn't quite understand. It
turns out nothing makes that feeling of success deflate quicker than a lack of
post-game support. You're left to your
own devices to make your way back to the reception area where they'll take a
quick photo. This might be more
efficient for the company, but it makes for about as friendly and personalised
an experience as using a self-service checkout at the supermarket.
Don't get me wrong, Jungala is fun -
there was a point where I had to stop playing for a minute because I was
laughing too hard to carry on - it has a variety of puzzles and will be perfect
for a family team. But I still feel that
something important is lost from the escape room experience when customers
start to be treated as wallets being moved along a conveyer belt. Hopefully this business model isn't a sign of
what's to come as the escape room industry continues to grow and bigger
companies enter the market.
Price:
£20pp for a team of 2, decreasing from there
Players: 2 – 6
Strengths: Family friendly
Weaknesses: Automated hint system
Players: 2 – 6
Strengths: Family friendly
Weaknesses: Automated hint system
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