Breakout Chester: Vacancy

Following our stressful Forsaken adventure we underestimated the level of difficulty for Vacancy. Not as well thought out as rooms like Excalibur and Forsaken but still enjoyable with plenty to do and plenty to make your brain work.

Typical BO room. Fairly easier, great for new players. 

Some nice elements to the room, we managed to solve a puzzle whilst missing a key part 

This is a very easy room for those who played before, so would definitely recommend for first time players

Another fun room from Breakout. Thought it was going to be very dark and creepy based on the website description but it was actually quite well lit (has a window looking outside). Nice mix of puzzle styles so it gave everyone something to be able to excel at and a couple of tricker parts to slow down the group.

#2

Fun enough, but the set is a bit tired and low budget.  Typical of a Breakout room, I would suggest Forsaken or Forgotten Tomb instead if you’re heading to Breakout.

Typical detective game, very easy game (If there wasn't any resetting mistakes...)

Solid theming set in a hotel/motel room. Has a creepy feel throughout that is well delivered. A mixture of puzzles and searching push this linear room along.

We played this room as an unexperienced 2, and got out just in time. We literally swiped the exit key card at 59.59!

A very traditional style escape room with a couple of small rooms but good theming.

We found this room a little tired and in need of some TLC. The game itself was fairly straight forward and flowed well. 

We were left in Reception for quite a while before our game without any explanation or interaction. 

 At least you know what you're getting with breakout once again it was a very generic detective themed room which we managed to accidentally skip a few puzzles, what still a escaped with a good time

Really didn't enjoy this room 

Hotel Haunts

Having beaten a 3-star room, I was ready to up the antè with a group of coursemates by tackling Vacancy.

Story
Checked in and suddenly locked in, who knows what will happen at this gloomy motel if the sixty-minute timer reaches zero? 'You check in, but you never check out' is a perfectly succinct phrase that sets the tone of this room!

Puzzles
A good number and mixture to match the 4-Star difficulty rating. They seemed to remain at the same level of trickiness throughout. Busy hands and busy eyes were needed the whole time!

Mise-en-scène
I was a big fan of the ominous, dated hotel experience and the progression through it. From the tatty wallpaper to shabby furniture, a lot of thought and effort has been put into this one. I was ready to write a one-star TripAdvisor for the Crimson Lake Motel

Final Comments
Four is the best number for this one, as you can split up in groups of two when/if necessary.