Marvo Mysteries: M.A.R.V.O. Induction

Definitely lived up to the reviews, however like others have said I think we were in 5th gear the entire time we had no idea of the storyline.  This doesn't really bother us though. Felt quite chuffed to escape at their 41% success rate with an average of 8 clues when we only had 1 (we're usually terrible 😂) 

Absolutely fantastic and worth a visit. The people behind this place are wonderful.

Was ok

We ended a mini escape room holiday with Marvo’s and what a finale it was! 

As soon as we got to the venue the high levels of detail and quality were event just from the shop front. The fun began immediately, having to follow the clues to the secret entrance where we were greeted by atmospheric music that set the tone for what was to come. The waiting area was a true feast for the eyes with a cacophony of film artefacts, building on the pending excitement for the room. Our games master, Lizzie, was clearly passionate about the business and made us feel very welcome. 

Onto the room, we knew that Lizzie and her husband had designed all of it themselves and this made it even more impressive to us. The room was packed full of engaging puzzles; creative, logical, physical, etc. As well as this, the setting, props and automated mechanics were outstanding. As a drama teacher, I often friend the pre-escape instruction videos cringeworthy with poor acting, however, this was not the case, and it was further enhanced by the setting and projection technique. The narrative of the room was well thought through and clearly linked to all of the puzzles; what’s even better is that they are planning to extend the narrative with two future rooms! 

After we complete an escape room, we always have a debrief and we are very critical. However, we were full of praise in our debrief, with the only niggle being a loose wire connection holding us back in one of the puzzles - absolutely minimal and it did not stop us from escaping. 

We highly recommend this room and advise you to split up and communicate effectively with your team. 

A fantastic game with a great variety of puzzles and plenty of theatre. There's a lot of drama once the game progresses and the finale is something to behold. It's simply one of the best rooms in the uk. Engaging and enjoyable puzzles with a great theme to back them up. I can't wait for chapter 2!

Aesthetically very appealing. Certainly a must do for enthusiasts but not without its flaws (I really didn't understand the story).

A fantastic, immersive experience from the moment you walk through the doors, and well-deserving of it's reputation among enthusiasts.

The quality of the design and props was up there with the very best rooms we've done. The small touches and attention to detail are outstanding and the tech was clever, with unique puzzles we've not seen elsewhere. 

We finished quickly and easily as a group of 6 fairly experienced players. There wasn't a timer in the room, which would've been nice as we could've slowed down and savoured every moment. We rushed through and I was left wanting more of this exciting, beautiful game! 

I'd probably recommend a smaller group if you are experienced escapers - so that you can truly enjoy every detail and use more of the full hour.

No spoilers.  Just go and play this game.  It's the best game we've seen.

Excellent quality, immersion, clever and fun puzzles mixed with a good amount of technology. A lot of effort has gone into the set to have some very appealing visual moments from solving some puzzles, which were a delight once we saw them spring into action.

Looking back, the one minor drawback is that I wasn't really following the story as it went along for parts. This is however a very small detail when taking into account everything else.

The host was absolutely fantastic, and was a significant enhancement to the overall experience too. Would recommend 🙂

EDIT: I see that the room is shown as 3-6 players on EtR - I think it would be better with at least 3 people, but the website allowed for a 2 players when this was booked.

We really really enjoyed this beautiful escape room experience in Boscombe, Bournemouth. And it really IS a full experience, right from the moment you receive your pre-game email! The theming and immersion were just incredible, we couldn’t fault the total attention to detail on display here. Even the welcome and waiting area is gorgeous and engaging. Going into the game is themed too, as is coming out - but I’ll come to that. 

We had two wonderful and in-character (for the most part!) hosts in David and Dan, and felt well cared for and motivated from start to finish. No spoilers, but the “pre-show” was not your usual beginning to a room, and the quality even of this little segment, and the way it ramped up the mystery and excitement, was top notch. 

Once into the room proper, we really enjoyed the fantastic theming, the variety of puzzles and the game mechanics. There were some superb moments of theatre - lots of them in fact! - and everything felt perfectly honed, from the lighting, to the effects, to the sound and music. Unlike others who have commented here, I didn’t feel the storyline was confusing; quite the opposite in fact! It’s one of the few escape rooms I have played where I felt like there was a more involved but clear storyline from beginning to end. You really are made to feel a part of it, and, to my mind, everything that transpires makes sense. The attention to detail is wonderful (you’ll need to have good attention to details too…!) and for the true geek and/or genre buff there are so many wee Easter eggs and references, which we enjoyed finding a *little* breathing-space to nerd out over. 

As for gameplay, I thought it worked perfectly as two - there are some good non-linear moments, but there is also a good deal of time working cooperatively, so good communication is key here. It flowed so incredibly well that we very rarely spent more than a handful of moments in a muddle, and the sign-posting - when we remembered to follow it in our excitement - was really well-done. Everything made sense, fitted with the storyline, and followed on well. There was a moment where we completed a puzzle before we received the way-marker for it - but that didn’t feel like it ruined either flow or story at all. 

There are some wonderful props that feel very “real”, and fantastic use of technology and set-pieces. And the exciting ending, which ramped up the tension, was something to behold! The theatre geek in me was over the moon, and my partner definitely had his Sci-fi loving heart fulfilled too. Even the clueing mechanism fitted in perfectly - although my one gripe perhaps is that clues came a bit too readily. We received two clues, and of those two at least one came a little too early and would not have been needed. To be fair though, I would rather this than spending time frustrated, and I think this is a hard balance to strike, especially with teams like ourselves who clearly have a bit of experience, but are rather impatient (me!)… 

All in all this is a wonderful experience from beginning to end, and we were so glad we had cause to be in this neck of the woods in order to find out if MARVO lived up to the hype! We will definitely plan to return when they open their second room, which promises to be along sometime mid to late 2023. Thoroughly recommended.

The storey begin even before you are in the room and follows you home, with these fantastic hosts. I can not wait until their next room is ready. The puzzle are unique and hands on. You can see why they are the top of tripadvisor in the uk escape rooms.

In Short:

Amazing room, high quality, in our top 3 so far and favourite in the Bournemouth area.

Hosts:

In character and costume from the start, very welcoming and introduction/rules didn't drag on for too long. High level of customer service throughout including the debrief, however we did feel it wasn't as personal as it could've been due to being in character the whole time.

Story/Props: 

Great story line which was told clearly and concisely by our hosts before a short video briefing with a bit more detail. Set was very high quality and looked stunning, made for a very immersive experience. Props and Equipment was all functional and nothing felt tacky or cheap

Puzzles/Tech:

Puzzles were unique and had a level of automation not seen in other rooms we've done. Very clever approach while avoiding being over complicated or confusing still needed a fair bit of logic and lateral thinking. 

Be Aware:

Short crawl involved and some puzzles involved physical interaction not just logic and thinking.

Loved the entrance area and lobby - the artifacts are insanely good. The game had a fantastic build quality but we found the puzzles a bit lacking and the story difficult to follow. Immersion was great and the potential of this venue is huge. Our GM was excellent. 

Amazing set up, I hope they are able to do more 

Took the family, so a large group of varying abilities. Everyone enjoyed it, there were lots of very different, non linear, tactile puzzles to do, the atmosphere and set design from entrance to exit was very immersive, the staff were lovely, very friendly and helpful to boot.

Played in the brand new location which looks absolutely amazing, delightful and enthusiastic owners, absolutely faultless game that we enjoyed from beginning to end, certainly kept us busy as a 2. One minor technical hitch with a stuck padlock which they managed to resolve without breaking the game immersion. Absolute must play if in the area and looking forward to seeing their new games come to fruition in the future.