Update 10/25/22: If you enjoy Time Crimes we hope you’ll check out our interview with creator Alexander Gierholz on The Reality Escape Pod.
Puzzle Trunk Time Machine
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands (portable)
Date Played: May 9, 2018
Team size: 9-18; we recommend 9-10
Duration: 90 minutes
Price: It’s complicated. Contact Logic Locks. The game is also available for resale.
Ticketing: Private
REA Reaction
Time Crimes was the third game we’ve played from Logic Locks and the first portable game designed primarily for corporate groups that we’ve played in Europe.
Portable corporate games are a different beast from standard escape rooms. With no set, they rely exclusively on a collection of props, puzzles, and game flow. These all came together in Time Crimes. There were tons of puzzles, the props looked good, and the game generally flowed well. While Time Crimes had a lot of content, we think any teams approaching the 18 player maximum, wouldn’t get to appreciate the experience Logic Locks has created.
I’m not sure how broadly available Time Crimes will be for the general player base, but if you like puzzle- driven games, this one is worth checking out.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Time travelers
- Any experience level
- Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Why play?
- Large volume of challenging puzzles
- Humor
- It comes to you
Story
A rogue time-traveling agent had lured us into his plot to change history. It was up to our crew to jump through time and unravel his plans.
Setup
Time Crimes came in three large packages that we were instructed to spread out across different tables, with a computer projecting the remaining content. The game was overseen by an in-character gamemaster who was eager to engage with us… even when one of our teammates humorously yet aggressively pushed the boundaries of standard player/ gamemaster interaction.
The boxes contained a wide variety of props representing items acquired from different eras in the past, present, and future. These props looked good when compared with other portable escape games.
In our case, we played in a hotel meeting room, but this thing could be played anywhere that you can comfortably fit the props.
Gameplay
Logic Locks’ Time Crimes was a standard portable escape room with a bit of added technology and a high level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
+ Time Crimes began with a more dramatic introduction than we’ve seen from most portable escape rooms. There was more to it than opening a trunk or two.
+ Time Crimes contained tons of puzzles. We had just about the most intense team that I could imagine and Time Crimes kept us busy far longer than anyone had expected.
+ Compared to most portable escape rooms, the puzzles in Time Crimes were more challenging.
– Some of the challenge came from detailed searching of the game items. If we missed a crucial detail, it would be impossible to solve the puzzle correctly. Sometimes we knew we were searching-failing. Other times we had no idea why a solution didn’t work.
+/- Time Crimes opened up into 3 separate puzzle tracks. Our gamemaster encouraged us to lay these out such that we wouldn’t confuse the tracks. With a large group, it would be possible – even natural, I’d think – for one player to play through one puzzle track and never see the others.
– There was a lot of content in Time Crimes, but 18 people seems like entirely too many players.
+ There was a tech-driven series of interactions in Time Crimes. This was unusual for a portable escape room. It brought the entire group together for interactions that everyone could experience together.
– It was challenging to follow the story because we spent the majority of our time with individual puzzles, most of which were thematic, but did not carry the narrative. We had to have retained enough story details as they had been presented to make meaningful decisions at the end.
+ There were some genuinely funny moments in Time Crimes. This is the kind of game where you should puzzle hard, but don’t take yourself too seriously.
+ Logic Locks took some splendid in-game photos. I don’t know if they do this for every team, but they should. It was good fun.
Tips for Playing
- Time Crimes needed to be set up in a relatively large space. It worked well in a hotel meeting room, where we played it. (We wouldn’t have been able to play it comfortably in our one-bedroom apartment.)
Book your session with Logic Locks’ Time Crimes and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Logic Locks comped our tickets for this game.
