Houdini’s Escape Room: Extinct

In a departure from normal, I played Extinct as part of a family group including two kids (9 and 12) who were more or less new to escape rooms, which meant a rather different dynamic to playing solely with adult enthusiasts. The venue was clearly set up to handle younger players though – there was a horde of kids of a similar age in the lobby when we arrived, who’d just emerged from one of the other games.

Entering through the noisy arcade area and dealing with the waiver wasn’t the most immersive start, but the briefing took place in the type of mini cinema I remember from Houdini’s head location, which got the team much more into the spirit of things. And this being a dino adventure, approaching it with the right frame of mind helps the enjoyment quite a bit.

There’s a fair amount of story to take in via video clips and written information, as and when those are found. I’m not sure our younger players particularly took those in, but that was fine as long as some of the team were paying attention to them. And that was balanced by plenty of more physical activities right from the start, as well as immersive and/or entertainingly silly moments to bring out the dino theme.

We chose it as a game to take kids to, and I think it worked well for that purpose. As an adventure through a dino park, it’s certainly less spectacular than at least one other game of that theme I’ve played. But alongside the dino stylings and the more physical activities, there’s a more than solid puzzle game which the adults of the group got eagerly stuck into. The puzzles are based around the story and theme and complement them, with little sense of puzzles for sake of puzzles.

Our host stated that Extinct was their hardest game and that only 16% of teams complete it. If that’s the case then I suspect that’s primarily because of the way the ending works, meaning you might get through the game but still not achieve the win condition; though that’s more likely to trip up beginner teams than enthusiasts.

I chose Extinct in the hope that it would be well suited for a family group and give the kids plenty to enjoy even if they struggled to get to grips with the puzzles, and it was indeed good for that. My impression was that it’ll also be enjoyable as a game for adult groups too, though it’s one that plays best if you’re also willing to embrace your inner nine year old and get the most out of the dino drama.