Company: Virtual Escape Games
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Language: English
Type of Game: Live Stream Escape 💻
Time: 60 Minutes
Price: Email for price. Depending on the team size
Photo above is property of Virtual Escape Games
Game:. REC Escape the VHS
Genre: 80s
Date Played: 8/15/2020
Difficulty (based on 5 players): 5/10
Size of Team: 4-8 Players
Once our team got into the breakout room in Zoom, we were given instructions to the game with a link to a Dropbox Showcase. In the showcase, there were various puzzles presented in jpg files. It was definitely helpful with teammates as it saved us a lot of time toggling back and forth through the files. One teammate shared his screen so we were able to work on the puzzles together. We also used the Zoom drawing tools and "wrote" directly on the puzzles. Our mission was to figure out why Simon Richards (a prominent at-home workout video star) mysteriously vanished on New Years Eve in 1989. Our game master did not stay in the room with us the entire time. Every time when we figured out an answer to a puzzle, we would call him into our room to unlock a segment of a video tape. Since it does take him a bit of time to get back to us (as he has other groups he's assisting), we figured it would be more efficient to call him back when we had all the answers. This ultimately helped us retain a record for this game with 25 minutes remaining.
"Rec: Escape the 80's Workout VHS" really took us down the memory lane. It was nice to be able to reminisce about things that happened in the 80s. Virtual Escape Games did a great job incorporating them into the puzzles. The memorabilia and various song selections were a lot of fun to remember. I almost guarantee you that the ending would turn into a karaoke session!
Game: Cyberdox: Escape From Cyberspace
Genre: Sci-Fi
Date Played: 8/28/2020
Difficulty (based on 5 players): 7.5/10
Size of Team: 4-10 Players
We came back to try to break another record but this time Virtual Escape Games definitely upped the difficulty level! We recommend starting with "Rec: Escape the 80's Workout VHS" if you just started playing online games. Although, if you familiar with tech terms, you might have a slight upper hand in this game.
The platform was more automated for this game. As we entered in the breakout room, the game master informed us that when we know the answer, we could just enter it directly into the telescape portal. Our goal this time was to help Lenox get out of a chain letter curse and escape from cyberspace. The creator added a nice intro story and the narration throughout the game. My favorite puzzle was the one where you actually had to traverse outside of the platform. Our team did felt a bit frustrated with a puzzle that was too difficult to visualize but the creator is thinking of making it interactive. We did enjoy a particular puzzle that we were able to interact with the game pieces as a group. It was a nice collaborative moment.
This game could easily become a digital version but it was nice to be able to have that personal touch when we needed a hint. Since both games have been quite different so far and there was definitely a huge improvement in terms of production on the second game, we are excited to see what Virtual Escape Games will do for their next game which will be coming soon (The Artist and the Happy Little Accident) !
Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game:
Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
(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 Virtual Escape Games for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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