Escape Reality Edinburgh: Jungala

This was a fun room, really pretty easy and actually we overthought a few things that were way simpler than we imagined they would be. It’s showing its age now in a few places with a few crucial details getting worn out, although it didn’t feel nearly as dated and old as I expected it to. The theme was fun and achieved in music and some rubber and plush props, little more, but it still entertained and raised some smiles! The layout of the room was good and there was an optimal use of the space available. Ample for our small team to do and not feel short changed. A bigger team would find members twiddling thumbs I think. Our host, Alex, was excellent and a credit to the venue. Unfortunately, there were two big downsides to this room. One is something many have mentioned for Escape Reality, and that is the clue system, which is just awful. The QR codes tell you exactly where the puzzles are, and if you need a hint you can’t have something super subtle - using the iPad clue system, it’s all or nothing. This is a horrible horrible system which removes all subtlety, personalisation and nuance from the guidance of a game - and it’s a great shame as we feel sure that Alex would have provided exactly the right level of hands off support, with just a nudge (rather than a sledgehammer) in the right direction when we did need it. The second issue was sadly even worse, and that was the fact that we could - with absolute clarity - hear another game going on in a neighbouring room for a  significant portion of our game. This included the other GM gearing up the other team with lots of high energy, and the other team talking through several of puzzles. Every word. This totally broke immersion and concentration and was a massive negative. Such a shame, as otherwise this was overall a very positive experience. I hope when the venue closes Jungala to change it up for a new room (which happens at the end of the month) that they will give very serious consideration to finding a way to avoid this happening with the new room.