Emergency Exit Escape Rooms – Poltergeist

Emergency Exit Escape Rooms – Poltergeist.
Location: Ashton-Under-Lyne
Game Date 03/10/2017.
Team: Amy & Ian

Theme:
“Alice was always taught to hide secrets.  Using puzzles and logic You must escape this spooky place and unearth the mysteries of this haunted manor House.

Based in the same reality as our Exorcist game. You find yourself trapped in a little girls bedroom needing to solve puzzles to escape before the clock strikes Midnight.  Legend has it, this is when the spirits come to life.”

Theming, as we’ve come to expect from Emergency Exit Escape Rooms was excellent, creepy… unsettling… very immersive. The room was built out incredibly well, with all the things you’d expect in a kids room but without anything to create red herrings or confuse.
The room is dark, but this is not used to artificially inflate the difficulty in the room (as you’re provided with a good light source) but to create atmosphere and immersion. Something Emergency Exit Escape Rooms does incredibly well, we were set on edge before we entered the room by tales of a cursed doll… This doll is part of the story of the room, but the fact she is in a glass cabinet, padlocked away (you don’t need to open those padlocks) and with a copy of the lord’s prayer set on the cabinet too really sets the scene and is utterly creepy. For the first 10 minutes of the game Ian and I were thoroughly on edge… add to this some special effects in the room and Emergency Exit Escape Rooms have done a great job in creating an authentically creepy space! The use of lighting and sound also served to create a thoroughly spooky atmosphere… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t scream a couple of times throughout the game!
The room is large, and will comfortably fit the maximum group size of 8.

Game Play:
A linear game, with a good selection of puzzles, with a focus on observation and words, with a small amount of searching (which worked for us!) The puzzles are all incredibly logical with lovely ah-ha moments! There is one puzzle which we’ve never seen before, and was so delicate, but really worked well and surprised us! It needs a steady hand so let the most careful member of your team do that puzzle!
The flow was wonderful, each clue and puzzle leading seamlessly onto the next and it was almost like we just knew what to do (maybe that is because of playing Exorcist before we were well versed in Emergency Exit Escape Rooms game play!) but the game design is skilled and slick, everything makes perfect sense and that is one quality of Emergency Exit Escape Rooms games.
The puzzles are clear cut and in theme with the story.
We’ve come to expect DVDs within Emergency Exit Escape Rooms games (As they play an integral part in both the previous instalments) and I felt that we really missed these movies to drive the story along. The story is contained within the puzzles, but it didn’t feel quite as connected without the DVDs – they’re a great touch. I think they weren’t incorporated because of the time period the room was set in, which fits thematically. That being said, we still really enjoyed this room and the lack of DVDs is a minor thing and just something I really loved from the first 2 rooms and would have loved to have seen it continue on in this room too.
Poltergeist is truly a solid game, with excellent logic, sound, enjoyable puzzles and a brilliant atmosphere! Enthusiasts should take the smallest group they like to play in and newbies, a 4 or 5 will be plenty!
Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a disembodied voice!

Game Host:
Liam was our game host and he was great. Very friendly and delivered a good thorough brief and ran our game really well, delivering hints when we needed them (we did only need 1 for a search fail)

Did we escape?
Yes! In 40 minutes (and gaining the record for the room! Wahooo!)

Website: https://www.e-exit.co.uk
Price:
2 Players £40
3 Players £57
4 Players £72
5 Players £75
6 Players £84
7 Players £84
8 Players £88