Clockwork Dog: Loop

I really enjoy escape rooms. Nonetheless, as I've played more and more of them, I get ever more picky. I see beginner teams come bundling out of a room flushed with excitement and happiness, where I emerge thinking, 'hmm, that was really very good - perhaps three and a half out of five'. Flaws in rooms become harder to ignore, and a game has to be something pretty special to recapture the thrill of my first few rooms.

All of which is important context when I say: Loop was amazing, and I came ou...

This room is genius. The gameplay starts off very typically, as you solve puzzles and progress through switching on the three lights required to start the ‘portal’. We settled into our puzzling, enjoying the range of both physical and technical puzzles on offer, and making steady progress through the room. Then, SOMETHING HAPPENED. We can’t say what, but what a twist! We spent the second half of the room feeling a huge time pressure, and infinitely more immersed than we spent the first half. The gameplay that has been set up by the Panic Rooms feels so simple, but it is so, so effective. On reflection, it’s interesting to think about how we performed and communicated differently in the first half of the room compared to the second – you could do some fun science experiments playing on this concept!

We didn’t really know what we were going to experience here. Basically, the first rule of Loop is that you can’t talk about Loop (this may be a short review).

Can you open your loop and get out before time catches up to you?