Photo above is property of Amaze Escape 360
Company: Amaze Escape 360
Game: SDG Escape Room
Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱
Language: English, Dutch
Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻
Genre: Environmental Awareness, Educational
Date Played: September 17, 2022
Difficulty (based on 5 players): 6/10
Size of Team: Up to 7 Players (Ages 12+)
Time: Unlimited (Suggested 60-90 Mins)
Price: €12.00/ Team
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Climate change and environmental issues are on the rise. How much damage has been done and how can we do better for our future? Search through the nooks and crannies of this cardboard, plastic, and cloth-constructed room and gather information - all of which are important for taking action against environmental deterioration. If you can get out in the first place.
Video above is property of Amaze Escape 360
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Similar to a game formed using Telescape, it was a shared digital room where we could point and click to explore different corners of the room, pick up items, and interact with the room as needed. In order to progress the story, players had a virtual tablet with a list of questions that were meant to be answered after solving puzzles - with puzzle pieces, virtual puzzles, locks - around the room.
With a shared inventory, the experience was highly collaborative, with the entire team’s puzzles considered solved as long as one person in the team is able to do so. The hint system was similar, with the need for a consensus among the entire team before we had access to a hint.
However, do play this room with strong wifi or data connection, as we found ourselves in the middle of delayed frames and major lag at multiple points of the game.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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The point-n-click nature of this virtual room means being a thorough searcher is key to completing a good number of puzzles. For a majority of the game, we were searching for various components to put together with half-completed puzzles, before moving on to actual puzzles associated with the room itself.
Most of the puzzles were also visual and self-containing, depending on what players could see in the virtual room rather than personal knowledge. Despite the need to answer questions on climate change to progress the lore of the room, the room was designed such that cipher keys, visual puzzles, and lock keys were within the area. Listening to or reading clues given with each puzzle you click or each item you pick up will also give you hints to placing the correct items to complete the correct puzzle.
Photos above are property of Amaze Escape 360
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One of the aspects that can get overlooked in an Escape Room would either be the lore or the story holding the room together. While the theming for this room was strong, it played more like an educational experience than an escape room.
The puzzles and the technology definitely carried the room for this round, but I also appreciated the use of puzzles and personal interaction to educate audiences on the effects of climate change. Personalising such a major issue also gave players hope and a to-do list to think about after leaving the game itself.
At the end of it all, this experience definitely encapsulated the fundamental definition of an Escape Room, I just wished there was a stronger story tying everything together.
(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank Amaze Escape 360 for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
