Lincoln, Jul 2024
I have good memories of Deliverance from my previous trip to Lincoln some years earlier, and was curious to see how well a return visit lived up to those, particularly since Martha is currently the highest rated of their four rooms. The majority of their games have themes that are at least somewhat scary, and this one is a classic paranormal premise, with a sealed attic hiding a dark history.
You’re cast as paranormal investigators, and at the game start you’re given the kit to match – a whole toolbox of equipment to help in your investigation. This was an interestingly high tech way to kick things off, versus the more typical option of having us wander naively into the haunted room and close the door behind us. The downside was that I found myself trying to second-guess when and where we should be trying to use each piece of equipment; much like having a small UV torch in a large room, where you hope for some signposting to nudge you into using it at the right time so that you don’t have to laboriously try it on everything. But fortunately most of the starting kit was used early on, meaning we didn’t spend half the game trying to use it in wrong places.
This is a game with a narrative, in two senses. One is the backstory, which unfolds via written notes – these are fine, though reading text in escape rooms can be a bit of a distraction from actually playing it. The other is what unfolds through the game, via events and the players’ actions. Martha includes several memorable set-piece moments, and at its best it manages to go beyond a puzzle game to a convincingly immersive experience.
Working against that is the way the game is quite dim and mostly linear. The low lighting builds atmosphere, but with fewer torches than players we tended to bottleneck and end up waiting for the chance to see something. We played as a four, and it would have been a significantly more effective experience for a team of two, entirely because of that.
At Deliverance, if you’re looking for a game with plenty of puzzle solving, I’d point you to The Assassin’s Hideaway; but Martha is stronger on story, atmosphere and memorable moments. Play it in a small team if possible; oh, and I’d also recommend having at least one player who isn’t claustrophobic. 
