The last Escape Room company we visited during our “Time Run” London weekend was the new venue by Escape Rooms London called Escape Rooms Angel. They already have a location with different rooms at London Bridge. We decided to go for the new, futuristic themed Escape Rooms and take on a fight against an evil A.I. as well as fight evil Nazis on the dark side of the moon. Sounds interesting? Well, let’s get the Escape Room Review started:
Escape Rooms Angel
London, England
Location: Unit 2, 3 Lever Street, London, EC1V 3QU, UK
Games (reviewed): Project D.I.V.A, The Dark Side of the Moon
Group: 2 (ideally you are at least 3 people at these rooms)
Website: www.escaperooms.co.uk/angel.html
Our Experience
When we contacted Escape Rooms London about our visit, we were actually interested in one of their rooms in the London Bridge location. The owner told us about the new rooms in ANGEL and the themes sounded interesting. We booked both rooms back to back, although we were told that, ideally, you should have at least 3 people in your party. Both rooms have puzzles were more people are either necessary or at least really helpful. Well, since it was still just the two of us, Escape Rooms Angel was so kind to let us play and helped us out during the “more people needed” parts with bypassing some sections or altering some timers in our favor.
Project D.I.V.A
Year 2038, our civilisation is slowly conquering the solar system. The use of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) is absolutely essential in paving our path to other planets. With their help, we have managed to start terraforming Mars.
A few nights ago, however on the planetary defence and research station ER-27, which is orbiting Mars and protecting it from large meteorites, went totally silent. D.I.V.A (Defence Interactive Virtual Assistant), the station’s AI sent us a cryptic message with depictions of death. Shortly after, the station started falling into a lower orbit, and we predict that if it keeps descending at this rate it will impact with the surface.
We are running out of time. The research data and the station itself are vital to our future colonisation efforts. We cannot afford to lose them. That is why we are sending your team in. The human race is in your hand now. Are you ready?
Before we started the room, we got the briefing by our (super nice) game-master, who took his time to explain the setup as well as answer any questions we had. Afterwards, we received smart-phones. Why? Well – you will need those devices to receive in-game messages as well as scan some QR-codes inside the room, which will start some puzzles. That was a first for us.
After that, we were ready and entered to room. The first impression of Project DIVA is really good – the room looks great. The production values they put into both of their rooms is really high – you feel like you just entered a Space Station, with metallic and neon props and light all around you. Well done.
Once the game started, we did struggle a bit with the general gameflow as well as the mobile devices. It is an interesting idea to carry those items with you, since it allows a very immersive way to receive inputs from the game-master. On the other hand, the smartphones (or the app – we are not sure what is to blame) are very glitchy and slow. We didn’t mind the idea, but it got annoying rather quickly to wait for responses on the devices, when you were never sure if it registered your input correctly.
Although the smartphones are a bigger part of the game in PROJECT DIVA than in the other game, the room also had a lot of other elements that worked really well. There are some exciting twists in the room, they have a lot of technical puzzles and tasks and the room feels like there went a lot of time into designing it. We did struggled a bit in the middle of the game, but our gamemaster was very attentive and helpful, and we later found out that this portion was actually the section where you would need more than 2 people.
We made it out in time and had a lot of fun in the room.
The Dark Side of the Moon
The moon is the closest celestial body to Earth. For many years, we could only observe one side, as the dark side of the moon is forever facing away from the earth. In 1960, the USSR released photographs captured using the Luna 3 space probe. In 1969, US astronauts landed on the moon for the first time. When the Cold War settled, all of the lunar missions seemed like just a symbol of the power struggle between the USSR and the USA.
However, declassified documents from the Cold War reveal that both the Soviet and US governments kept a “dark” secret on their missions to the moon. The images from the dark side have revealed human activity – a secret Nazi base. Wreckages from Nazi V rockets have been observed on site. Since then, various Lunar telescopes have monitored the site and shown no activity. Until now – a cipher message was received at an abandoned underground radio station in Berlin. It shows only one word – “bereit”, which means “ready”. The source of the message is from that Nazi moon base. An unusual radiation signature has also been detected. The scientists suspect that it may be from a Helium-3 plant.
Today, your team will start the first manned mission to the moon since the Cold War. There are no journalists, flowers, or tears. It may be a one way mission, to find the base hiding on the dark side of the moon and destroy whatever the Nazis have left there. Are you ready for your mission?
After taking a short break, we quickly started the second room of Escape Rooms Angel, which also has a very futuristic theme. At the beginning of The Dark Side of the Moon you will get handed the smartphones (again), but we happily realised during the game, that we rarely needed them. Since you have to carry a lazer gun, a notepad and a walkie-talkie with you as well, we did ask ourself why they felt the need to include the smartphones in this game as well? They did not add anything to the game (for us) and just gave you extra stuff to carry around.
But I am getting ahead of myself – lets get back to the basics of the room: The Dark Side of the Moon is more action oriented than the first room, offers less puzzle / brain work but balances that out with more action and movement.The production and the room design is well done again and the room felt bigger than we expected. The story is crazy and fun.
After struggling a bit in the end (because we encountered a situation where a third person would have been super useful) we made it out in time as well and finally got some time to catch our breath again.
Final Roar
Both rooms of Escape Rooms Angel are pretty cool and interesting. Although they do not set a new standard (for us), both rooms offer some of the most unique Science Fiction room designs we have encountered. While “Dark Side of the Moon” sets the focus clearly more on family friendly fun and action, while offering a light dose of puzzles, Project DIVA offers more complex puzzles, while still staying true to the futuristic and colourful room design of the Escape Rooms Angel location.
We did do both of the rooms just as a two person team, but we absolutely advise you to come with more. They had to bypass game-element of Project DIVA for us, since it was simply not manageable for two people and we also needed some extra help in the second room. We recommend a team size of 3 to 5 people.
Our game-masters were very nice and helpful when we needed them. The only big complaint we can list about the rooms are the annoying phones. While not really needed in Dark Side of the Moon, they are essential to the gameflow of Project DIVA. Interacting with those devices was really time-consuming and annoying. On the other hand – if they can get a handle on the performance issue, it is a nice way to include every group member, since everyone can access the information on their own device.
All in all, both games are family friendly and fun.
Score
Bears Escape - Escape Rooms Angel in London
- Location - 7/107/10
- Production - 8/108/10
- Staff - 7/107/10
- Fun - 8/108/10
Summary
Escape Rooms Angel offer two very futuristic rooms. While “The Dark Side of the Moon” focuses more on action and offers easier puzzles, Project DIVA is clearly more puzzle and logic oriented. You should be more than 3 people for both rooms.
The location is reachable by subway and bus or subway and a short walk, and the staff was very nice. Be advised that you will have to handle smartphones during the game that may react a bit slow to your input – just give them a little bit of time. In general, both rooms look great and we had a good time.
Where can I find them?
Have you ever played this escape game or one of their other rooms? Or can you recommend any other location for us to try? Please let us know in the comment section.
Escape Rooms in London – Tourist Impressions
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