Donnington Manor: Chambers of Champions

A veritable wall of puzzles and padlocks awaits here in the Versus game.  There are various victory conditions but all of it can be tackled in a non-linear fashion, stuck on one puzzle, move on to another and then come back to this one.  

This is the finest example I’ve seen of what you can achieve in a small space. Super room with so many puzzles your head will spin. We tried for the crown but were prob about 8 puzzles short of completing. There’s a danger of feeling frustrated with these sorts of rooms but tbh I enjoyed it. A group of 4 would be ideal. Anymore and you’d be tripping over each other. Would be cool to do as a head to head. 

I am in 2 minds with this game.  Its very unique.  There are 2 parts to the game and we theoretically got out in 43mins but to get out you only have to do 1/3 of the puzzles.  To finish it all is a crazy amount of work and some of the puzzles really did seem a bit out there to comprehend even with an explanation at the end.  We got out in a supposedly quick time but I left feeling very deflated with how many of the puzzles we had actually finished.  It did improve slightly when she said she had only seen 3 teams in 2 years finish it all but I definitely left without a sense of achievement. 

I also think briefings should really clearly say that things are used more than once as most games are one use only but in this game many things all link together and get used over and over. 

So its worth doing but don't be surprised if you do not finish everything as we have pretty much finished all rooms we have done in the 70 games played so far and we got spanked by it!  I think we did around 2/3 of the puzzles.

A good concept of a room let down by worn locks, puzzles and a couple of mis-steps in resetting. Otherwise a great room and concept, theming and hosting were good as well. 

Absolutely amazing room! Loved everything about it. Some extremely clever puzzles and a great time.

Probably the most overwhelming escape room that I have played and the first see what you can manage in an hour style. Really great variety of puzzles, simply something for everyone and I loved the way in which teams can compete if they wish in this room - every sound really builds a great sense of how well the other team is doing. Very clever and a lot of fun even if my brain was fizzing after!

We took on the extended 90 minute challenge which requires you to solve every puzzle and soon learnt that is not a challenge for the faint-hearted.  The pro review explains the game mechanics so I won't reiterate that, but to say, if you love the challenge of solving puzzles and opening padlocks this is a game worth playing. It seemed overwhelming at first wit so much information which would provide you with the solutions to each of the numerous puzzles so you need to stay focused and remember carefully what you've already used to solve a puzzle and communicate this carefully between team members, as a 2 we had to work almost exclusively individually until we got to the last few that we'd both passed up earlier in the game and the final meta puzzle. Theming is simple but effective and the room is not particularly big, but it works well and doesn't need to be more elaborate.

A simple yet effective room where you can either find a way out as quickly as possible or try to solve every puzzle to become the new ruler of the kingdoms. The room can also be played as a versus room to heighten the suspense and pressure with both rooms in clear view of each other. A riddle heavy room so a puzzle minded players dream but practical players like my other half may not enjoy and feel overwhelmed. The room isn't that spacious so I would say teams no bigger than 4 people should be okay. We solved around 70% of the room before running out of time. Highly recommend this room for like-minded mental thinkers but practical players be prepared to only solve puzzles and not have much of a practical element. An extra 30 minute option is also available for those wanting to solve every puzzle.