Location: Online
Game Date: 23/07/2020
Team: Amy & Ian
Theme:
“Could this terrifying copycat killer of the infamous 1977 Son of Sam murders be lurking now outside your own front door?”
Son of Sam is an Immersive Haunted Escape, which consists of the following according to their website:
IMMERSIVE
- Out of the Ordinary: gets you up out of your seat
- Game-play: interact with your own environment
- Dares: 4 Immersive Challenges
HAUNTED
- Horror: a terrifying mystery unfolds before you
- Scares: frightening sound & images, jumps scares
- Character Videos: listen, watch, interact, & learn
ESCAPE
- Search Rooms: point and click to explore
- Solve Puzzles & Quizzes: test your memory
- Examine Clues: messages, images, codes, & more
Son of Sam technically delivered on all points, The game would have been great for the teen market, with the immersive aspect being very interesting, the “dare” challenges that the game asks you to do were well in theme with the game and a truly unique aspect we’ve not seen before and encourage you to interact with not only the game but YOUR environment too. This interactivity was exciting and different and a stand out mechanic of the game.
The “Haunted” Aspect didn’t scare us as much as we liked, even though we played late at night, with the lights off and sound up, the production of the videos was decent but the scare aspect wasn’t there for us (this is purely subjective on our part – we are notoriously hard to scare, Ian especially and Amy only becomes a wuss within the confines of an escape room) I find “scary” is a lot like “difficulty” in that everyone’s tolerance is different, I know a few people who this game would have terrified and they would have been scared from the get-go.
The videos were acted well, with the characters speaking directly to you, the viewer and produced to a good standard.
The story was delivered throughout the 4 chapters and unfolded nicely through the duration of the game.
The puzzles within the game were not the main focus and leant a bit more to the more traditional point and click style, in a linear format and fairly straightforward in their design, which is totally understandable given the nature of the game. The point and click aspect felt a little clunky to use and the continual clicking felt a little bit obtrusive to the immersive nature of the game. (it would have been so much more interactive if the videos auto-played for instance)
A technically good game that did what it said on the tin, I think to a teen audience this would be great, and at the price point, it’s a really enjoyable and affordable hour of entertainment perfect for a sleepover!
Website: https://sonofsamescape.com/sonofsam-main
Price: £17
Brit of an Escape Habit 