The Missing Link - "Till Death Do Us Part"

LOCATION:  Retie, Belgium

Photo above is property of The Missing Link

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Till Death Do Us Part
📅 DATE PLAYED: February 24, 2024
🎬 GENRE: Mystery, Light Horror 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 ppl): 5/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-6 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 75 Mins. 💰 PRICE: Є140
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes [42:00]

📖 THE STORY

Mrs. Brown is newly married and spends her wedding night in an old tavern with her new husband. The next day she disappears and before long the tavern is rumoured to be haunted. Now, you approach the deserted tavern to investigate what has happened to the poor young bride and to see if you can put her spirit to rest.

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

"Till Death Do Us Part" has a strong focus on storytelling and plot development. Our game begins in the stagecoach which takes us to the tavern and it is during this journey that the story of what happened to Mrs. Brown is narrated to us. Further information is learnt, particularly about the character’s backstory, through videos that are played at certain stages of the game. It wasn’t just the content of the videos that was interesting but also the creative manner in which they designed for them to be played, e.g. it wasn’t just a tv attached to the wall. Overall, this provided each of us an immersive experience and emotional connection to what happened to the young girl on her wedding night, with a twist that you perhaps didn’t see coming.
Although this is not an outright horror game, there were some spooky and heart racing moments in it. By creating an atmosphere of suspense; the threat of what might happen, rather than what does happen, they were effective in creating a thrilling environment.
Having puzzles which relate to the story is always an important part of any escape experience and we did find that here, particularly with several of the puzzles we encountered later in the game.
The Missing Link has one of my favourite lobby’s, not because it is overly thematic or tied to your experience, but because it is full of boardgames! I am a huge boardgame fan and luckily for us, having arrived about an hour before our allotted game time, we were able to sit down and play a couple of games from their expansive collection, of easily over 100. In addition to being able to play the games they also have many available for purchase.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

Although there was nothing wrong with any of the puzzles in terms of logic or functionality, we did find them a bit too basic for our liking, and we expect that other enthusiasts might feel the same. In an effort to utilize a lot of technology several of puzzles resulted in just putting objects in the right spot and in the right order, which feels similar to many other rooms.
Whilst the room does feature some great effects inside, such as the usage of light and sound, more could have been done at the very beginning of the game as we sat in the stage coach for several minutes. As it is, there were no sound effects for the horses or driver, and no hydraulics or vibrations to provide the feeling of movement. A small detail, but one which did distract our initial immersion.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

This is not just a game for people who love dark or horror games. The balance is just right that anyone who can take one of two jump scares will enjoy this thrilling game. We actually believe that this would be a good entry level room for people wishing to try their first scary game! If you can accept the scary theme and enjoy rooms with a strong storyline then this room is definitely worth a shot!

Photos above are property of The Missing Link

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

Parking is free onsite
There is a large lobby area for you to hang out before or after with drinks for purchase. As mentioned, they also have a large selection of board and card games for you to play or purchase.
Lockers are available
Not wheelchair accessible due to uneven surfaces and stair