Update 4/18/23: If you enjoyed The Celestial Chain 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.
Time crunch.
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date played: October 25, 2017
Team size: 3-6; we recommend 4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: £33 – £42 per ticket depending upon timing
Story & setting
The vengeful goddess Nemesis broke free from the Celestial Chain. Could we travel through time and gather all of the components needed to bind her once again before she unleashed her retribution on the world?
The Celestial Chain was split into segments. Each segment was set in a different time and place within history. In each segment, we could earn up to 5 resources. We needed to gain at least 1 resource from each era in order to bind Nemesis. Earning at least 3 from each granted us access to the top win condition. Anything beyond 3 was essentially bonus plunder.
Additionally, each segment had its own game clock. The Celestial Chain was more like 5 Wits for adults than a traditional escape room. As a result of this structure, multiple teams were playing different segments of The Celestial Chain at the same time. We could not hang back in an era once that segment’s game clock expired.
As with Time Run’s first game, The Lance of Longinus, the sets were among the finest that I’ve encountered. The Celestial Chain spanned many different periods and places and each looked and felt distinctive. Furthermore, the beautiful sets felt lived in.
Puzzles
Time Run built unique sets with puzzles that tied to each room/ time period. Every era in The Celestial Chain had a cohesive and related set of puzzles. They had established this design with The Lance of Longinus.
In The Celestial Chain, however, the individual set game clock created a continual time crunch not felt in their other game.
Standouts
The first room was an especially smart on-ramp for the game. It had a fantastic core mechanism that really lifted the experience.
The Celestial Chain’s sets were amazing. The variety of spaces that Time Run created was dumbfounding. In nearly any other company, this one game would have been 4 or 5 separate escape rooms.
The varied yet cohesive puzzles were entertaining and felt at home in each segment of The Celestial Chain.
The pacing was intense. When we gained access to a new area/ era, I wanted to dash into it.
I knocked The Lance of Longinus for not having a climax. Oh my, did Time Run go the other direction in The Celestial Chain. The final moments were memorable and impressive.
I mentioned this in the last review, but it bears repeating: Time Run built a whole world to explore. The entire facility – front door, lobby, gamemasters, and both games – were all part of a beautiful Time-Run-verse.
The Celestial Chain concluded with us receiving a detailed score and assessment of our team’s ability and style of play. This was as funny as it was accurate.
Shortcomings
Time was a precious and limited resource in The Celestial Chain, even more so than in most escape rooms. The constantly resetting game clock drove the pace. Not all challenges were equally fun and we would have rather apportioned our time differently, but we didn’t have that luxury. Additionally, it was kind of heartbreaking to have to leave a challenge seconds away from completion.
In The Lance of Longinus, Time Run instituted a standard aesthetic for time travel. This was essentially abandoned in The Celestial Chain (probably for spatial reasons). Consequently, the transitions from era to era were a little harsh. It was a small detail, but I missed walking through portals.
While especially cool, the conclusion was a little chaotic. We nearly missed some key details. We’d also earned more components than we needed, which added some confusion. (As Ikea will teach you, extra parts are always a bit confusing.) When all was said and done, we collectively felt like we had failed. It turned out that we had achieved one of the highest scores ever, but in the moment that was undermined by our confusion. We got over it.
Should I play Time Run’s The Celestial Chain?
Yes, you absolutely should play The Celestial Chain, but only if you’ve already played The Lance of Longinus. Time Run has a particular style and approach. You will enjoy The Celestial Chain so much more if you learn the ropes in their more relaxed first game.
From set, to puzzles, to facility, Time Run is comfortably sitting among the best in the business. The Celestial Chain was their sophomore game and it pushed a lot of boundaries. Some of those boundaries cracked a little, but none of them broke. The pacing, intensity, and beauty of this game was remarkable.
The Celestial Chain can be enjoyed by players of most experience levels. We dissuade true newbies from booking it; this game will be hell if you are clueless. It operates under the assumption that you have at least a basic idea of what goes on in an escape game.
Depending upon your skill level, you’ll have to adjust your expectations. If you’re moderately experienced, shoot for 3 resources per era. Trust me when I say that 3 per era is par… and quite a good performance.
The Celestial Chain is one of those rare games that will make even the most experienced of escape room players scramble. Don’t go in cocky. No team has earned a perfect score in The Celestial Chain. We came pretty close, but fell short. Remember than any resources gained beyond 3 of a kind are for vanity and not needed in the finale. We were told this by our gamemaster and forgot it in the heat of the moment.
Enjoy the world that has been created within this facility. The Time Run world is so fleshed out that it could be made into a novel, movie or television series. I think that it would be a hit.
If you haven’t already, go play Time Run’s games. They will be open through the end of the year and maybe into 2018… but eventually their building will be leveled and turned into housing. It’s only a matter of time, so run and visit them while you still can.
Book your hour with Time Run’s The Celestial Chain, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Time Run comped our tickets for this game.
Images via Time Run.
