Escape One Algarve – Atlantis

Location:  Algarve, Portugal – but we played it from the comfort of our couch!
Game Type: Live Avatar
Game Date: 13/07/2013
Team: Amy, Gordon & Liz

 

Theme:
“Modern drones are a marvellous thing, and some kid has managed to detect a massive energy pulse whilst playing with his birthday present off a cruise ship!
The powers-that-be are ALL over this and it’s remarkable how quickly they have set up a deep sea expedition to try to pinpoint the energy source. Experts have linked it to a possible location for the fabled city of Atlantis.
You’re part of the team selected to take the plunge in a state-of-the-art submarine adventure. You can hardly wait to see what you will find under there.
​Atlantis!
​2400 years under the waves…
What sleeps beneath?”

Atlantis looked great, and once again I found myself lamenting at the fact that I would have LOVED to have played this game “in the flesh” as it looked so good! Excellent decor, with a whimsical and playful feel. I can imagine this game being very immersive in the flesh!
Camera work was excellent, with a good stable connection, and our avatar highlighted exactly what we asked to look at, at all times.
There was an excellent sense of discovery an play in this room, with interactive elements used very well, given the restrictions of an avatar game!
Atlantis used and excellent inventory system, where high quality pictures of everything we needed popped up promptly (along with a chime to indicate their arrival) and dissapeared once we had used them! Very efficiant. Alongside a 360 of the room, this was a welcome addition to the game play.

Game Play:
A game which had a good balance of open and linear game play, with a wonderous selection of puzzles. Word, physical, math, logic, teamwork, codebreaking, riddles, interactivity, all the fundemental elements that make up a good room were present within Atlantis. A very “hands on” room, where padlocks weren’t the mainstay and puzzles were met with a little bit of magic!
Each and every puzzle was explicit in its logic with lovely clear ah-ha moments and absoloutely no ambiguity in the puzzles.
There was a real sense of achievement in solving all the puzzles and working our way through the game and discovering the secrets of Atlantis.
Signposting within the game was excellent, subtle yet guiding which gave us confidence in the room and our solving of the puzzles.
Flow was wonderful, and we were always moving forward, we didn’t come to any major standstills at the fault of the room (we did hit one rather long pause on a riddle however!) all the puzzles and pieces of the room fit together perfectly to create a coherant and slick experience.
I would wholelly recommend playing the avatar version of this room if you can’t get to the algarve (that’s everyone at the moment btw,… just PLAY THIS GAME!)

Clue System:
We didn’t use any clues but I would assume that clues would be subtly delivered in game by our “avatar”

Game Host:
David was our game host/avatar and he was wonderful, doing exactly what was asked, and not handholding us through the game or creating any distractions. He created a good character that engaged with us well throughout the game.

Did we escape?
Yes, in about 49 minutes

Website: https://escapeonealgarve.com/en/
Price:
50 Euros (£45) for up to 6 connections.