LOCATION: Gravesend, Kent, United Kingdom
Photo above is property of The Panic Room Gravesend
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: Wizard of Oz
📅 DATE PLAYED: November 16, 2021
🎬 GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure, Family
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 3 ppl): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-8 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: £16-28/PP (pending on group size)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes
📖 THE STORY
This is your chance to go and explore the magical land of Oz . Fly in a hot air balloon to find the yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City where the Wizard has gone away and the City is being looked after by The Tinman, The Scarecrow and The Lion. They need a bit of assistance as they are lacking Courage, Heart and Brains. You need to help them find those and then fly your hot air balloon back to the real world in 60mins.
🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
This is a lovely themed room that does make you feel like you’re in Oz. It is magical and stays loyal to the classic story and has a very clear and relevant mission.
For a room aimed at families there are still some quite challenging puzzles, and one that has multiple layers so brains are definitely required. You are given writing materials which we didn’t use very much but I always really appreciate having them to help keep on track.
It is a well lit room with a few padlocks but the majority are physical puzzles to solve, it isn’t linear game play meaning that there is something for everyone to get involved with. The puzzles are mainly linked with the theme, some in a very quirky way that is delightful.
Photos were done at the end from within the room and efficiently emailed through to us along with our escape time. They also appeared on social media within a few hours.
Our Games Host clearly loved his job and is very proud of the room and what the company is achieving. After we had successfully completed our mission he spent time chatting through the puzzles with us pointing out where we had excelled… and where we hadn’t! It was so lovely to have a bit of extra time to appreciate the room and the attention to detail within it.
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
One puzzle didn’t work and the Games Host had to pop in to work his magic on it, it is a family room that I imagine is very popular and their props are most likely manhandled but that was the only one that needed a bit of love, the others, and the overall room is in great condition.
Time cards weren’t given and it was explained that they are trying to reduce the need to handle anything that is passed between people due to Covid.
Clues are delivered on a screen which is great but with the Games Host having such a great personality it would have been lovely to have had him chat with us to deliver the clues.
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
I took 2 friends who had done The Panic Rooms Dead Man’s Chest which is a puzzle box so it was wonderful seeing them immerse themselves in a more traditional escape room and watch them be astounded as the journey through Oz developed. I have done a lot of escape rooms by The Panic Rooms and this is up there in my favourites of theirs.
It is perfect for newbies, families and anyone with a love of the Wizard of Oz story - it has been created with courage, brains and heart and needs to be played to appreciate all those aspects!
It has been inspiring to watch this company grow over the years, they deserve the success they have due to the effort they put in to meet demand and their ability to adapt. They produced a lot of online games during Covid and recently opened a gift store, and added axe throwing to their offerings. It seems there is no limit to their talents, bring on whatever they can think of next, I know it’ll be great!
ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO
There are car parks nearby and all their venues are within walking distance from Gravesend train station with regular trains from London.
Do note that this company has multiple venues around Gravesend. This game is based within The Panic Room 2 (the second of their 4 locations around town), Milton Road, Gravesend, Kent.
There is hand sanitizer to use on the way in and the Games Master was wearing a mask so it felt very Covid safe. We were also asked to wear masks for the initial briefing.
They have a fancy waiting room with a water fountain and toilets available. Strangely they didn’t have any of their stock to sell within the venue but it is only 5 mins away to go to their shop where they sell a wide variety of puzzles and games.
You check into the room using a QR code that allows you to fill in all your details and sign a waiver form. They use these details to send your victory photo through to. Every person playing needed to do this so they know how many people are in the building for health and safety.
The room wouldn’t be accessible for wheelchair users but their website lists their rooms and experiences that are fully accessible. They cover accessibility for wheelchair users, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, those with epilepsy or light sensitivity and anyone with issues in low light or who have color blindness. There is a chair in the room if you do need a rest.
There is a lot of information on their website (that also has a chatbot) so answers to anything else you need will be found on there.
Photos above are property of The Panic Room Gravesend
(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 The Panic Room Gravesend for offering us a media discount for our tickets to this game. Although a media discount was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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