Escape Fun - "Utopia Institute"

Updated: Apr 28

Videos/ Photos provided by Escape Fun

Game: Utopia Institute

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻

Genre: Adventure

Date Played: 3/26/2021

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4.5/10

Size of Team: 2-6 ppl

Time: Unlimited

Price: £7.99

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It is the year 2022. Scientists are working hard to make antidotes on the virus that's been killing a lot of people around the world. But there's been an attack in the facility and now the entire building is in lockdown mode. You're trapped in the building along with your colleagues. Will you be able to retrieve the antidote and escape in time?

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We organized our own virtual meetup and played this game as a group of four. The same code could be passed to all the teammates to login at the same time. This game was designed on Unity. For some of our players it took a pretty long time to load. I would suggest trying various browsers and open them at the same time to see which would load quicker. Make sure to start the videos at the same time with your team as the game is not synced so each player will have to activate the videos and enter the passwords on their own browsers.

The point-n-click interface also incorporated items that we're able to interact with. The graphics were great. We're able to roam around the facility from various offices to laboratories to central control stations. I found that it was helpful to take snapshots with my phone (of course deleting them after the game) on the various clues instead of clicking back and forth. At times it felt like certain members of our group was proceeding much quicker than others which distracted the flow of the game.

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We were able to work together as a team for most of the puzzles. There were search and find elements that we solved quite quickly because one person was in one room while the other was in another room. There were 7 puzzles in total and we finished around 27 minutes. The puzzles were all logical and some even took multiple steps to solve. I think it's because we all played way too many escape rooms and online games at this point. For beginner puzzlers it probably well take you longer to get through the game. If you need assistance, there's a detailed hint system build into the game.

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The only complaint I have was that there wasn't enough puzzles (at least for enthusiasts) ! For the price, I am pretty happy with what I received. The graphics were high quality, the interface was easy to use and the storyline was intriguing to follow. Hopefully Utopia Institute would develop a longer and more challenging game in the near future. I would definitely be interested in playing another game from them!

𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟❜𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

David M.

"Utopia Institute" is an interactive digital escape room with some neat puzzles, some interactions to insinuate actions as if you were there. There was also some clever hiding spots and puzzles. The game is linear and light on puzzles, but still designed well enough to encourage teamwork from looking around and multitasking.

This game uses the Unity engine, which can be hit and miss depending on the computer and browser you are on. It may or may not work, and I've seen the issue with someone else in another digital escape regarding this as well.

All in all, the game is not designed to be difficult, but solvable by everyone, a fun and beatable experience with the escape room touch of multitasking and going from room to room. Good job!

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Julene R.

“Oh, what could have been….” is what I keep thinking about when looking back at Escape Fun’s Utopia Institute point and click game. It had a lot of elements that I really enjoy in online escape experiences – a fun story line, high quality computer generated rooms, and cool opening and closing sequences. The major issue that I had is that the experience should and could be longer. The puzzles were fun but not that complex - which did not help with the length of the room and also made the room less enjoyable for our group of four. I felt like the first two rooms were designed well and made for a fun start… but it felt like they rushed to complete the ending. The game seemed to get easier and simpler as you moved through it, which did not add suspense to the story. You did not feel the pressure as you worked, and this meant I did not feel the “rush” it was completed. You know that more content is needed if someone has to ask “Is that all?”, at the end of the game. Utopia Institute has the bones of a good game, it just needs a little more muscle.

*** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors ***

Disclosure: We thank Escape Fun 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.