Photos above are property of Looking Glass Adventures
Company: Looking Glass Adventures
Game: Operation Flamingo
Country: Canada 🇨🇦
Language: English
Type of Game: Remote Escape Room 🗣
Genre: Secret Agent, Family-Friendly
Date Played: October 25, 2021
Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10
Size of Team: 2-10 Players
Time: 60 Minutes
Price: $28 CAD/ pp (must pay for 4 players)
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You are special agents helping your field agent break into the Floridian vacation home of a person-of-interest. You must find and secure some dangerous evidence of their crimes before their return at sunrise! And so you begin in the yard of this kitschy Florida home, complete with plenty of lawn flamingos, a BBQ, a giant American flag, and a white picket fence. The only things missing are some gators!
While the overall story is a little light on details, the set keeps you in the Florida vibe, and you receive periodic updates and instructions from your superior back at the agency to keep you on-mission.
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The GM gave a nice introduction to how everything would work and ground rules before the game began, which would be really helpful for newer players (or those unfamiliar with the remote avatar format). It was actually the first time for my GM to run this game (and I was very impressed, given that), so they did not play a character. However, I understand that in many cases the GMs do run the games in-character. This is a purely Zoom-based avatar game, without Telescape or an inventory system. Since it is quite linear, I found this worked well, and there was no real need for an inventory system that you might see in other games. There were a few times that a digital image of a note or item might have been nice, but I was able to read quite well via the camera and with the GM reading aloud as well. Not needing a second window also meant I could fully focus on Zoom, the camera, and what the GM was saying. With one exception, they also had most of the room sounds and audio tracks piped directly into Zoom, which was a nice touch and meant they came through loud and clear. Though be sure to pin the avatar’s window at the start, so that they don’t get displaced when a triggered communication comes through.
Photos above are property of Looking Glass Adventures
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This is a fairly linear game with a nice mix of accessible puzzles: logic, decryption, perspective, observation, etc. There are a number of traditional locks to open, as well as some creative entry mechanisms and reveals. There were a few small technical hiccups where the system didn’t quite respond as it should have, but these were quickly resolved, and things ran smoothly overall. They adapted the game well for the remote version, with at least one puzzle modification, but I could definitely imagine the fun of being there, particularly for the more physical and cooperative elements! It took me 55min, since I played this game solo and got stuck on two puzzles (one classic case of enthusiast-overthinking, and the other just a silly oversight that I’m sure would not have happened with a group). I never asked for any hints, but I did get a few subtle nudges and affirmations along the way. One amazing thing that Looking Glass Adventures does is that they have an extra set of “bonus” puzzles for each room that will get added (along with a little extra storyline) if a group finishes super early. While I did not get to see them myself, they explained how it worked to me afterwards, and I adore this idea. I feel like the extra puzzles would have blended in well with the overall experience, and their inclusion really helps to ensure that those super-quick groups not only “get their money’s worth” in terms of length, but also the joy and reward of extra puzzling!
Photos above are property of Looking Glass Adventures
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As someone who really appreciates more quirky and whimsical games, Operation Flamingo was right up my alley! I was in the midst of a stressful week, and this light-hearted experience was just what I needed. As with most avatar games, if you are able to play in person, you should totally do that. However, this one has been adapted quite well to the remote format, and (as someone unlikely to get there myself) I was very happy I had the chance to play it from afar! There’s a nice mix of puzzles that are well-tied to the theme, and I love that they have bonus puzzles kept in reserve for really fast teams! This really facilitates having a good chance for inexperienced players to be successful while also preventing enthusiasts from finishing ridiculously early. It’s also definitely family-friendly, so it’s really a great game for a wide variety of people. Dave and I had previously enjoyed the Mystery at Maryweather Mansion, and this just makes me want to play their last game (Walden’s Wizarding Shop) even more.
*** This game can no longer be booked as a remote game (call to see if they can for team building) but can still be booked as an in-person experience ***
(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 Looking Glass Adventures for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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