Breakout - A review

Do you secretly enjoy murder-mystery dinner parties but outwardly mock them? Do you love playing those (forgotten) online puzzle games that gives you a list of items to find in a messy, chaotic room? (Yahoo games, anyone?) Do you yearn to say “elementary, my dear Watson?”.

You should try Breakout.

This month, our department decided to organize one teambuilding event. Someone (a self elected leader) decided that the best way to encourage camaraderie was to to split us into groups (really?) to attempt several rooms that were available at Breakout Avenue K.

Being a person that was easily susceptible to shock and has refused to watch horror movies, you can imagine my hesitation (fine, I told my boss I felt sick so that I could potentially skipped the day). But I am also competitive.
After a little trash talk with other teams, I decided that this year was going to be the year that I would try to be fearless. So off I went to Avenue K, armed with my wit, my critical thinking and my pepper spray (nobody is going to jump out of the shadows without feeling a spicy kick)

I’m not going to reveal the room we went in because I feel that I might give away spoilers without meaning to.

Our Game Master (really?) briefed us on the ‘roles’ available and recommended a few that proved useful for our specific rom. Tip: Take their recommendation seriously. They are there to help you.
Once we were all ready, we were released into the room. Much to my relief, they immediately pointed out the button I could press if I needed to contact the Games Master (or if I needed to chicken out)

The moment we entered the room our team was go-go-go! We got right into the groove of things, the person with the flashlight leading the way (Tip: The room is dim and the flashlight really helps especially when you’re reading things) the last person running his hands on every surface to look for hidden compartments (yes there are!!!) or clues.
We were stuck at most of the roadblocks, sacrificing our ‘role’ to get help from the Game Master, but I’d say overall, we solved 60% of the riddles (which was so so fun and satisfying). Each of our team mates came up with incredulous solutions and ideas. Honestly I was blown away by the way they thought about the riddles. 
In the end we solved the puzzles and escaped the room, however we didn’t manage to ‘catch the culprit’ which to me sounds horrifying. Why?

Apparently there was an actual person (playing the role of the villain) hiding at the end of a dark maze. We had sacrificed our last role, the Flashlight, so we were basically surrounded by darkness. Can you imagine groping around in pitch blackness while someone waited for you to find them? Can you picture that scene the moment your fingers brushed against another living, breathing body that wasn’t your team mate?

I got shivers just by typing that.

So here’s the summary: 

This is very well thought out - when you complete the room (or if you can’t, the Game Master will tell you) you will have your mind blown. Mind. Blown.

This isn’t scary - there’s one room that is full of marionette and that scares the crap out of me, but I’m told they do not suddenly come to life or demand you saw your leg off.

This brings out unique problem solving skills - if you go in with a group of your close friends, you might even escape the room even faster. I believe each brain brings something different to the bottom-collapsing-secret-compartment table.

I truly believe that a group of 4 to 5 would be best. This is because the rooms are tiny but you need man-power for the hints you can get. More roles, more hints.

If you’re interested, contact me for a coupon/voucher for 25% off your total bill. This offer is valid until 20th February 2017.

Also (bummer) this deal can only be used on weekdays.