Room Escape Artist

Update 4/18/23: If you enjoyed The Lance of Longinus or want to learn more about it, we hope you’ll check out our interviews with creative director Nick Moran on The Reality Escape Pod.

94% infallible.

Location: London, United Kingdom

Date played: October 25, 2017

Team size: 3-6; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: £33 – £42 per ticket depending upon timing

Story & setting

Inventor and adventurer Luna Fox created a time machine and uses it to yank powerful and mystical artifacts away from those who would use them to distort history. While Ms. Fox was off on one of her missions, her steampunk robot Babbage summoned us to complete a quest of our own: acquire the Lance of Longinus before its legendary messiah-killing powers could be used in the service of evil.

Time Run’s experience ran from their massive front door through the escape room’s conclusion. We were greeted by an actor in a beautiful set, introduced to the lore of Time Run, and then seamlessly sent off upon our journey through time.

The Lance of Longinus spanned multiple time periods. Each new period involved a completely different set, feeling, and experience. The various settings were all magnificently executed; they stood in stark contrast to one another.

Puzzles

Each time period within The Lance of Longinus had a completely different feel and style of puzzling that fit with the era.

Throughout the escape room, the puzzles felt tangible and chunky. The props and puzzles were large and part of the environment. Solutions involved physical action. This design connected the entire experience.

Standouts

Damn near everything within The Lance of Longinus as well as Time Run’s facility looked and felt perfect. When we entered their grounds, we entered their world.

The puzzles and challenges were inspired by each time period. Every segment felt like its own individual escape room. In fact, with a few more puzzles, any one of those segments could have stood on its own as a complete escape room.

There was a series of puzzles involving many large components and an even larger gamespace. The scale gave this whole run of challenges a gravity that I’ve rarely felt in an escape room.

The audio and video portrayal of Luna Fox and Babbage sent them though time with us, while keeping us consistently within the experience.

The actors that we encountered before and after the escape room were fantastic.

Hints were timely, useful, and well embedded. Babbage delivered them.

At the conclusion of the game, we received a card assessing how we had played. It was funny… and accurate. It was clear that someone had watched us intently.

Shortcomings

The climax of The Lance of Longinus was not particularly thrilling, when compared to the journey we took to arrive at it.

For anyone with a short attention span, the volume of introductory content would likely be a bit much. I found it entertaining, but there was a lot of it. Then there was a little more.

While absolutely not a shortcoming, there was a minor cultural difference that Americans might want to keep in mind. This caused a significant slowdown for us:

Should I play Time Run’s The Lance of Longinus?

Yes… if you’re in London, you should visit Time Run.

Everything in Time Run was consistent, interrelated, and part of a larger story. The front door, lobby, hallways, gamemasters, and both of the escape rooms (review of The Celestial Chain coming soon) were part of a larger time-jumping, artifact-nabbing world. It was impressive and delightful.

Plus, if you’re a tourist visiting London, I cannot think of anything more authentically British than Time Run’s premise: “We’ve invented a time machine and we’d like you to plunder ancient artifacts. It’s for everyone’s own good that we hold onto these things.”

Time Run operates its games through a private booking system. You need a minimum of 3 players to attempt The Lance of Longinus.

If you’re a newbie, The Lance of Longinus will be a steep but doable challenge. This was, without a doubt, the more approachable escape room at Time Run. That being said, I strongly encourage you to play another escape room or two before attempting Time Run. You will be so much happier playing The Lance of Longinus with a basic understanding of escape room gameplay.

Experienced players will find a lively, ever-changing, and beautifully constructed world of actors, puzzles, and set design all loaded with nuance and detail that will stick with you long after you’ve returned to the present day.

Book your hour with Time Run’s The Lance of Longinus, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

All images via Time Run.

Full disclosure: Time Run comped our tickets for this game.