Kuala Lumpur, Sep 2024
Breakout has a reputation as the biggest and most sophisticated chain in Malaysia, so seemed an obvious choice to try when passing through Kuala Lumpur; and they were quite advanced in some ways, but also had some idiosyncrasies that I suspect will put most travelling enthusiasts off.
Mr Oswald is, broadly, a scary carnival theme, and we picked it mainly based on location and availability, and also because it was listed as one of the company’s harder games. My heart sank a little when the host gave us a single torch and commented on how dark it would be in the room – fortunately it turned out that it was reasonably well lit for the majority of the time. It does involve restraints for all players for part of the game; it does not involve live actors or anything that I’d rate as particularly scary.
This take on a scary carnival is based around dolls and marionettes, and I rather liked the way it was done – it was a nicely twisted concept that gave an interesting and memorable setting, particularly at the start. Despite a few quibbles I also liked most of the puzzles, which were quite original and satisfying to solve.
The biggest weakness was that there weren’t enough of them, and they were numbered. Each puzzle has a label next to it, from 1 to 7, and we were instructed to solve them strictly in order (though in fact two of them could be solved in parallel). This ties in with their clue system: at least one player needs to bring in their smartphone, and scan a QR code to access the game management system. For each puzzle you can tap to receive a hint (always the same hint for a particular puzzle) or the solution. There is also a slightly cumbersome option to type messages to the host. We tried that with one step to confirm that we were in fact allowed to interact with something marked with yellow and black tape; in response he came into the room to reply.
The total game time was 55 minutes, and we finished in a little over half an hour, so experienced players shouldn’t be too intimidated by the “20% escape rate” rating. One of the steps wasn’t really a puzzle, so there was only really six things to solve.
Although it was short of content, I did enjoy what there was. The game management system detracts from gameplay and immersion, and seems designed for the company’s convenience (in that they can have less skilled hosts running more games at once), not for the purpose of making a better game. At the end I commented that I didn’t like the numbered puzzles, and our host replied mournfully, “no one likes the numbered puzzles”. Still, it doesn’t ruin the experience. Mr Oswald would be a better game if run differently and with more puzzles added, but it was still a fun, if brief, bit of escaping. 
