The Virtual Breakout - "Operation Apex"

Cici Cao

Mar 19, 20213 min read

Updated: Apr 28, 2024

Photos provided by The Virtual Breakout

Company: The Virtual Breakout

Game: Operation Apex

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Escape Game W/ GM 💻

Genre: Detective, Mission

Date Played: 3/4/2021

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 5/10

Size of Team: 2-8 Players

Time: 60 Minutes

Price: $15.00/PP

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It's always your dream to become a part of the agency. You just didn't expect your first mission to be saving the world! You're faced with the world's most dangerous hacker. He must be stopped before he detonates that bomb!

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We were welcomed by Agent Anita Knapp over Zoom. She was hilarious and used just the right amount of puns but also did not lose the seriousness of this mission. Anita also had us use a "codename" right at the beginning and assigned each of us a "specialty task" based our strength.

The actual game play was in a program called Telescape. All the puzzles were designed to be clickable and some were also interactive. Whenever we solved a puzzle, the live host would congratulate us with a quick victory skit and announce the next assignment. We quite liked this style as the host was not just servicing as a "hint giver" but also made us feel like we're part of a real mission.

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Since we were assigned various titles at the beginning, we were also given clues that only the individual with the assigned task could see through the private chat on Zoom. While we were solving puzzles together as a team, it felt good to also have certain puzzles that each of us were able to solve on our own. And if one of our teammates needed help, we were easily able to share our screens. It was a clever way to make each player felt like they've contributed something to the victory at the end.

They were a good amount of puzzles that might not be super difficult for enthusiasts but it had a nice flow. My favorite part was the silly charade moment!

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The cooperative game play style, synced interface, humorous storyline and interactive host made this game really enjoyable for us. You might also notice a few "special appearances" by the guys at Escape One Algarve as they were the designers of the digital interface for Telescape. This was a great team effort and we can't wait to see what their new game is going to be like!

𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

Jakal B. & Sarah S.

Operation Apex was a lighthearted game with a good storyline and fantastic characters. Our GM, EX-Agent Anita Knapp was very engaging and helped the story continue forward. The puzzles were fairly straightforward and may be on the easier side for a group of seasoned Telescape players. We do think they would be a great challenge for newer players. We really enjoyed the aspect of the team building exercise in the beginning to get our code names and jobs for use within the game. The game was a good mix of Telescape style search and find and tangible puzzles to play with, making for a very smooth game play experience.

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

Disclosure: We thank The Virtual Breakout for providing us with a sample of the game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.