The latest in our lockdown experiences was a virtual trip to Emergency Exit in Ashton-under-Lyne. They have recently adapted and opened up one of their real life escape rooms, Exorcist, for remote play through Zoom. As always we’ll try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, but apologies for any minor spoilers.
It’s worth noting that this was the first game that we played where we controlled a person in the room who was being watched over by another person controlling the camera. This worked really well for the story line and enhanced the immersive aspect of this virtual room.
Theme
We were impressed by the sets and design in the room itself and a nice additional touch was that we were introduced to our host from “outside” Crowley Manor before the action moved inside. Without wanting to spoil too much, the story plays an integral part of the game and it was vital that we found out about the historic events that had occurred here to the poor souls that had spent more than an hour and then vanished.
Puzzles
There were some fun puzzles, and nice use of technology. This was especially the case with the professional video recordings that we unlocked during the hour. They were seamless in the Zoom chat and again helped to progress the story. There were perhaps a few more padlocks than we were used to in recent virtual games, but it wasn’t an issue for us and wasn’t detrimental.
Host
Our host and cameraman were both brilliant, and really made a huge difference in the level of immersion that we felt during this game. The premise of virtually controlling this crew of our cancelled ghost tour was perfectly realized and the reactions and comments from our host felt real given the unnerving things that were occurring in the room. As mentioned previously the use of a third person view of the room through our cameraman made a massive difference and helped ‘hint’ in a much more natural way, so there was no need to break the immersion and ask for help.
Summary
We loved Virtual Exorcist from Emergency Exit and the way that the room has been adapted to a virtual one worked brilliantly and felt the most natural and immersive for a Zoom based game. The room had some fun puzzles, some genuinely scary moments and great hosts. We can’t wait to either try out the rooms in person when we’re able or in the meantime virtually explore Crowley Manor further if they become available.
Full details and booking can be found on the Emergency Exit Website
