Recursion
Location: London, England
Date Played: May 5, 2019
Team size: up to 5; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 100 minutes
Price: £35 per player
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
Project Delta was a 100-minute sci-fi mystery that took risks in service of storytelling. We wholeheartedly recommend it to players who are looking to explore a narrative-driven world. Archimedes Inspiration is one of the few companies that seems really committed to conveying story through gameplay.
That said, when pushing out to the frontiers of storytelling through immersive gameplay, there are common pitfalls. In Project Delta, these primarily stemmed from editing.
There were puzzles that would have been more entertaining if the interactions had been streamlined: more grappling with the concept and less fighting with the input mechanisms.
Project Delta told the most detailed and nuanced story that we have encountered in our escape room careers to date. It felt like too much to take in through the gameplay, necessitating an extensive debrief at the end.
These are the kinds of problems that creators encounter when they push boundaries, so they aren’t the “bad kind of problems” to have in escape room design. They are lessons to learn from.
Absolutely go play Project Delta. Pay close attention. Know that the gaps will be filled in at the end.
Who is this for?
- Adventure seekers
- Story seekers
- Scenery snobs
- Sci-fi fans
- Players with at least some experience
Why play?
- An ambitious story
- Some great puzzles
- Surprising interactions and twists
Story
As new recruits for Rainbow Galactic, we had boarded our spaceship and set off on our first mission: Project Delta. Our goal was to run a series of experiments with the aim of improving upon the human race.
Our mission seemed straightforward until we learned that our employers had been far from truthful.
Setting
Archimedes Inspiration transported us to a spaceship for experimentation. The set was distinctly homemade. Some elements looked quite detailed; other aspects looked like present-day household furniture painted to match the color of the ship.
For the most part, it looked good enough to maintain the illusion. Every once in a while, something jumped out as being out of place.
Gameplay
Archimedes Inspiration’s Project Delta was a standard escape room with a high level of difficulty, and a lengthy, nuanced story.
Gameplay was almost entirely linear.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ Project Delta took us through a series of solid puzzles with distinctive inputs. We enjoyed the varied puzzles and the many unusual input mechanisms.
➕ Archimedes Inspiration included some challenging layered puzzles. We especially appreciated how puzzle nuances were justified in the narrative and the game world.
➖ With involved layered puzzles, when a solution was incorrect, it could take a long time to uncover the error. Additional feedback would make some of these puzzles more approachable for a timed escape game. Sometimes they started to drag.
➕ In Project Delta, we built mastery of concepts that then recurred… with a twist.
➖ There was a lot of required reading aboard the spaceship.
➕ Archimedes Inspiration used their space creatively to support their narrative. While the decor was minimal at times, it was used thoughtfully to illustrate important story beats.
➕ /➖ Archimedes Inspiration attempted to tell a complex story through gameplay in Project Delta. The story was interesting and inventive. We picked up on pieces of it through the gameplay, which was neat. Some of the key story beats, however, weren’t communicated clearly enough through gameplay. When Project Delta “told” us rather than “showed” us the narrative, it became tedious and a bit annoying to follow.
➖ Archimedes Inspiration was eager to tell us the story after our escape and we were eager to understand it. This rehashing of our playthough, however, felt as though we were in school, being quizzed. This was a rough way to end an entertaining and engaging experience.
Tips For Visiting
- Take public transit to Bermondsey Station on the Jubilee Line.
Book your hour with Archimedes Inspiration’s Project Delta, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
