Cryptic Escape: The Tomb of Akhenaten

Really enjoyed this room with my 12yr old son and his friends. Lots of content, covering pretty much everything you could possibly imagine in an Egyptian tomb-raiding adventure, and kept all our team pretty much non-stop busy for the whole hour. 

There's a fair amount of tech, which is all integrated well and provides a clear purpose - it never feels like they've just added tech for the sake of it (and, it all worked well!). There's no single "wow" center piece, but rather a series of solid, satisfying set pieces that accompany story beats which mark progression though different areas of the game.

Theming is good - lots of large scale statues, walls adorned with hieroglyphs, and some archaelogical tools that need to be used. The puzzles are mostly searching, object association, combination, and usage - there is very little text, and no tedious "hieroglyphic" codes to be deciphered.

There are no TV monitors in the room - the game timer and clue system is handled via an iPad which can be carried around with you. We made use of a few clue requests, which were very quick to be replied and quickly put us back on the right track. 

I wouldn't say it was ever scary, but there are a few moments that my team shrieked (with surprise, or excitement). And I guess (what with this being set in a tomb in which an ancient king was buried), there could be some content that might put off the incredibly squemish. But otherwise, totally family-friendly.

Definitely recommended.