Room Escape Artist

Phantom Peak is one of the best escape room-type experiences in London, England. Here are our recommendations for other great escape rooms in London.

In Jonas We Trust

Location:  London, England

Date Played: January 7, 2023

Team size: any; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 4.5 hours

Price: from £39.99 per adult

Ticketing: Public

Accessibility Consideration:  There are stairs within the experience, but there are plenty of complete trails you can enjoy without needing to access them.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The first half of 2023 was rough for me, and I fell behind on my review writing. One of the conspicuously missing pieces was my review of Phantom Peak: Wintermas. Today is opening day for Christmas at the Peak: The Beast of Winter… if I am publishing this 9 months late, today is honestly the most reasonable day to share my thoughts, feelings, and observations of last winter’s Phantom Peak season.

Now while this may be late, listeners of Reality Escape Pod are well aware that I loved Phantom Peak and we discussed this in-depth with Creative Director Nick Moran in Season 5, Episode 1.

Phantom Peak is a massive immersive world, populated with a town of colorful and fully realized characters. Each individual character has their own wants and needs, and that’s where we players come in. They give us missions, known as “trails” to help them achieve their goals. Wintermas had 12 trails with a hidden 13th for completionists. These trails had us traversing the town of Phantom Peak interacting with the characters and the odd gadgets of their mysterious corporate overlord, Jonas.

A typical team may accomplish between 1 and 4 trails during a given visit. We did considerably more than that in our back-to-back visits to Phantom Peak. What I found along the way were some of the most delightful immersive performers that I have ever played with. Each breathed life into their idiosyncratic role while leaving a surprising amount of space for us players to dive deep into interaction or wade in gently. As an immersive veteran, it felt great to have these performers meet me where I was, then turn around and soften for a shy newbie.

Additionally, there was a ton of magic in the details of Phantom Peak. Everywhere we looked, there was a curious or humorous detail to absorb. And on the subject of humor, Phantom Peak was brimming with it, while still managing to take its fiction seriously.

Finally, the Wintermas storyline came to a conclusion at the end of each session with a closing performance by some of the season’s featured characters. This finale was phenomenal. The lines were written and delivered exceptionally well. I wish that I had a recording of Father Platmus’ closing monologue.

Our main critique of Phantom Peak was that the software that we used to get and track our trails felt like a late-stage prototype, not a finished product. That said, nearly a year later, this may have improved.

I will also give a word of caution to puzzle-focused escape room players: Phantom Peak is not a puzzle experience. This world is big, beautiful, and playful… but the challenges barely ever registered as puzzles to our crew. To be clear, this is not a criticism; it is a statement of fact. There are a ton of valid forms of gameplay and interaction in Phantom Peak… but if you’re only going to derive enjoyment from puzzles, you will not find your fun within this world.

Phantom Peak was a wonderful place to play and lose myself in. From the food and drink, to the games and characters, I treasured my time visiting. I wish that I lived close enough to justify going to each season.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Scenery snobs
• Steampunk fans
• Those who want to interact with characters
• Couples, families, or groups of friends
• Any experience level

Why play?

• To visit an unexpected, western steampunk universe
• To collaborate with unusual characters
• To solve unusual and entertaining mysteries

Story

There’s a mystery behind Phantom Peak and its never seen, but ever-present benefactor Jonas, who everyone speaks about with great reverence. He runs the corporate JONACO.

In addition, each season at Phantom Peak is a different story.

In last winter’s season, Wintermas, we needed to save Father Platmus, who was locked up in a cell.

This winter’s season, Christmas at the Peak: The Beast of Winter, something else will be afoot.

Setting

Phantom Peak’s set has evolved since it first opened in 2022.

Wintermas included an old town, with a large tavern and smaller shops along the main street. Some of the construction had a second story, where we could look down on the down from a balcony vantage point.

The outdoor set had walkways along the water, with small shops lining these as well. Throughout Phantom Peak, there were carnival games, stands for purchasing food and drink, and areas with seating, just for hanging out.

The entire world had a steampunk-meets-old west aesthetic, accented with abundant Christmas decor. Each individual shop felt like the domain of the character who inhabited it. Some were dark, others bright and cheery.

Gameplay

Phantom Peak calls itself an immersive, open-world adventure.

It was immersive because it was happening around us, not on a stage in front of us. Furthermore, it was interactive. As players, we engaged with the characters we met in the world.

It was open world, meaning we were free to engage with it however we wanted. We had the freedom to wander around, and choose what to explore or interact with. We did not need to progress linearly through the physical space or through a series of activities.

As far as adventure, we had access to a dozen “trails.” These were missions we opted to accept to help the different characters we met. Through these missions, we learned about the town, and sometimes impacted the town, or the fate of a character. We’d collect clues, solve light puzzles, and engineer solutions to problems.

The trails were the primary gameplay. However, characters would also send us on side quests. Plus there were carnival games, and other activities (i.e. platypus fishing).

In addition, there was plenty of food and drink available for purchase.

Analysis

➕ The world of Phantom Peak was compelling. It immediately established a whimsical and glib tone… which was enhanced with each character interaction, video, or other content.

➕ The Wintermas set looked amazing. It combined steampunk, western, and Christmas aesthetics. It felt familiar, but foreign enough to be intriguing.

➕ The trails (gameplay) felt relevant to the characters we met, and the world they lived in. They also had meaning. By completing quests, we impacted the characters and the world, in ways that had visible payoff in the conclusion. While they were structurally similar, they felt different because with each trail we engaged with different characters, who were each so very invested in our quest.

➕ Phantom Peak’s custom wallpaper game was 🔥🔥🔥. Everywhere we looked there was brilliant, beautiful, and thematic wallpaper.

➖ The trails required the use of an “app.” This was a challenge for a few reasons: The software felt under-developed. It needed a native app and wifi. The browser interactions weren’t as smooth as they needed to be. We also couldn’t link our experiences together, which meant if we played as a group of 4, either we needed to do the identical interaction on each of 4 phones, or we needed to hunch over one small screen together, or some people missed out on this part of the experience.

➕ The trails were expertly designed to load balance, alternating between actor-driven interactions and machine-based ones. They perfectly balanced minimal reading with very short videos. Most importantly, when we input the correct answer on the web app, it was saved for easy reference later. We never had to remember any solutions. It was also quite forgiving with answer formats.

➖ The trails had us visiting jonagraph, jonavision, and jonacomms… which were similar, but not the same. It was too hard to keep them straight. We wanted each to have its own identity.

➕ The actors managed the flow of guests brilliantly, and always 100% in character. Sometimes they would have scenes with each other. Other times, they would banter with us while we were in line for an interaction, or they’d send us on side quests. They made efforts to remember us, including our names or any backstory we created for ourselves as part of trying to social engineer our way through a trail. The actors were truly the stars of the show.

➕ There was more to Phantom Peak than the obvious gameplay in the trails. Guests can have a great time in this world just eating, drinking, hanging out, and playing carnival games. Other activities also appeared from time to time, such as a raffle.

➕ The finale put a bow on an open world experience beauitfully, bringing everyone together to celebrate the ends of some trails and their story implications, and give us closure on the day.

➕/➖ Overall, the food and beverage exceeded our expectations. It was readily available everywhere. There was a lot of variety. It was delicious. However, it was missing some of the basics (no coffee!) and lacked snack-y options. Plus, there was a missed opportunity in not serving jonacola.

➕ Similar to the wallpaper, the custom beer at Phantom Peak was both brilliantly branded and tasty.

➕ We visited shops with real souvenirs available for purchase… and the merch was really fun. They had some unique items that were as playful as Phantom Peak.

➖/❓Part of Phantom Peak is outside, so weather can have a severe impact on your experience. There wasn’t a climate controlled area. We visited in January and it was cold! Layer up.

➕ The value was outstanding. Each visit lasts 4.5 hours, which is plenty of time to experience the world at your own pace. However, Phantom Peak is designed for replayablity. We could not complete all the trails in a single 4.5 hour visit. Gameplay-minded individuals will certainly want to return twice per season. We can see others returning with a different groups of friends or family to experience this world differently.

With 4 seasons a year, each with their own stories and some variation is characters and sets, there’s a lot to draw guests back multiple times a year. Each time you return, you know this history of the town, and you see the overarching story progress, plus you see some old friends in the characters. If we lived nearby, we’d visit at least 4 times a year.

Tips For Visiting

• Location: Surrey Quays Rd (Behind Southwark Construction Site Centre), take the Tube to Canada Water
• Food: There are many eating and drinking options available within Phantom Peak.

Book your session with Phantom Peak, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Phantom Peak comped our tickets for this experience.