London, Sep 2021
Maze of Hakaina was for a time the well-reviewed flagship game at Komnata‘s New York branch, and was opened in London with a certain amount of fanfare. It’s easy to see how it could have caused some stir back when it was originally launched, with much that was striking and cool – but it ended up being a somewhat confusing experience for us. The middle of the road rating I’m giving it doesn’t represent a middle of the road game, but rather a cool and distinctive one let down in too many ways.
I’d previously visited Komnata‘s Drury Lane branch but not their Vauxhall location. You’ll find it under the railway arches, with intermittent rumblings of overhead trains that blended into the game’s background audio smoothly enough that at times I wasn’t sure which was which. Entering the welcome area, the quirky decorations and enthusiastic host made a good impression, not at all the bland branch of a multinational chain that I was half expecting.
One thing I immediately liked about Hakaina was its aesthetic style. The setting is inspired by Japanese culture and demonology, and the whole game has a consistent visual feel that helped lift the game throughout. The dim lighting was just bright enough for me; players who struggle with low light may find it too dark for them.
At the same time, the underlying walls are relatively flimsy dividers that I associate more with a convention hall than with an escape room. Since they’re in a space that already has completely authentic stonework, it seems a shame they couldn’t build that into the game – I suspect that’s a consequence of fitting existing game designs into the space rather than designing something based on their location.
Maze of Hakaina is a linear design, and each time you enter a new area there’s no way back to the earlier sections of the game. I belatedly realised why their website offers up to three slots per hour: multiple teams can play it in overlapping slots, with one group in the first area while another is in a later part, with staff quickly resetting the section in between. Because of this, and because the thin walls offered little soundproofing, it was fairly obvious when the group behind us started.
Many of Hakaina’s puzzles were enjoyable and logical. Others were not. At several points we tried things that seemed to have an effect, but left us uncertain whether we’d actually advanced or not; or where the same action initially did nothing and then later on worked. At least twice there were carelessly dangling wires in places where the game seemed to be instructing us to investigate. And the game’s conclusion combined what seemed to be a ghost puzzle with one of the more blatant examples of ‘read my mind’ logic.
Where the game components seemed to respond inconsistently, I don’t think that was tech failures as such; it seems possible that the game requires a minimum and/or maximum time in each area, to avoid groups clashing with each other. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but if so it’d explain some of the more confusing moments of our playthrough. Komnata also used a minimalistic way of hinting, where in the briefing they said not to ask for hints, and where I think hints were primarily given via changes in lighting: good for immersion, not so good for helping with confusion.
All of that might warrant a harsher rating than the one in giving here. But at the same time there was a lot that I unreservedly enjoyed. One moment in particular is the sort that could leave groups excitedly discussing it for long afterwards. Puzzles that are (mostly) free of numbers and codes are certainly no novelty these days, but still give a good physical feel to the game. I think there’s an impressive, cool escape room here – it’s just that all the frayed edges make it hard to appreciate. 