CyberQ – Operation Deluge

CyberQ – Operation Deluge
Location: Worcester
Game Date: 28/08/2020
Team: Amy & Ian
Duration: 60 minutes

Theme:
“Interpol receive a worrying call from a man called Noah. He tells them that the biggest dams in the world are wired with explosives. His reason? He wants to punish mankind, however, he decided to give people a chance! He has built an Ark and inside, there is a hidden way to deactivate the explosives. You are Interpol’s agents. You have 60 minutes to stop the countdown.”

The room was decorated cleanly and simply and finished well. That being said there was not much more to the room other than the puzzles that adorned the walls, the space felt fairly stark and clinical.
A large space that would have no problem in holding 6 players, lighting was bright and never impacted gameplay.

Game Play:
A open game that consisted of mainly logic, observation and math puzzles and light searching.
Puzzles were loosely on theme (you were on an ark so the were centered around animals) however, they didn’t really tie into the story of the room and seemed tacked on to be there just to be solved.
The puzzles were for the most part incredibly ambigous, and some had large logic leaps to come to the conclusion for the puzzle (and even then we found ourselves doubting our answers to almost every puzzle) there were a couple of puzzles that were enjoyable to solve, but one of these had superfluous extra steps.
The main bone of contention for me with Operation Deluge was the use of a lock out safe.
The problem with lock out safe, that if the code is not CRYSTAL clear, it can lead to time wasting, frustration and a bad experience. If you design a room with a lock out safe, the puzzle that gives the code should have not one shred of ambiguity. Unfortunately the puzzles leading up to this code, and the puzzle for the safe itself were riddled with amibguity, which constantly undermined  trust in the room. Losing trust in a rooms gameplay, coupled with unfair and penalising game mechanics does not make for a fun experience.
Flow was ok, considering. There were a few sticky moments and some time sapping puzzles.
Signposting was nearly non-exsistent only being present in a small amount of puzzles.
Unfortunately this is a game that has some major design flaws, if there was some tweaking to flow and design it could be an enjoyable game.

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a walkie talkie

Game Host:
Our game host delivered a good brief, and they did help us with clues throughout the game, although I do suspect (and I might be wrong) that they couldn’t hear us as there were moments in the game where our clear frustration could have been abated by a well timed hint.

Covid19 Safety:
The room was clean and tidy, masks were required in communal areas but not in the room.

Did we escape?
No, we failed, on 1 incorrect digit of the final puzzle of the game.

Website: https://cyberq.co.uk
Price:
2 Players £36
3 Players £51
4 Players £64
5 Players £75
6 Players £84