Ghost Bomber is a new type of experience for real escape game in town now. It brings from a traditional getting trapped in a room and getting out in 60 minutes or less, to trying to solve a case by visiting places outside the escape operator, and as it’s described: Aspired game elements by Amazing Race, Running Man & Crime Investigation, it sounds as exciting as the first time I’m exposed to real escape game. And is it as fun as the room-based games? You bet it is~
We are privileged to play this game with the courtesy of Jimmy from Break The Code on Day 1 of the game. We get to try out this new refreshing twist of real escape game which we, at Escman League appreciates, and it turns out that the game does everything that was described, it does have a little bit of everything.
The back story is about an international terrorist who has planted a bomb in Gurney Plaza, and the bomb will explode in 90 mins and we, being the special task force, are given 3 tasks:
- Locate the bomb
- Diffuse the bomb
- Identify the suspect
It started out with the crew briefing us on the story and showing us the bomb in a brief case – and it looks cool~! A classic TNT lookalike bomb with 4 distinctive wires that we’re told we need to disconnect in a specific order. (I don’t think we could show the picture of the bomb though, we’ll try to ask for permission). Moreover, we’re given a bag that contains our first clue and location, and some basic amenities like umbrella & water (which is a very good gesture, since it’s a longer game than usual, and requires walking around). Once the crew activates the bomb and starts the 90 mins timer.. We’re off~
The whole game spans across 2 malls, Gurney Plaza and Paragon, and at different floors as well.. so the whole getting trapped feeling does not exist, however, several new types of feeling arises..
- Firstly, we can’t scream like we used to.. since it’s going to be in an open area with public.. it would be best for us to keep excited to race against time while keeping calm. (You wouldn’t want someone screaming: “Get away~ We’re trying to diffuse a bomb here!”, right?)…
- Secondly, there’s unexpected obstacles.. a lot of unexpected obstacle.. all of a sudden you find everyone walking in slow-mo.. it’s the same feeling that you get when you had to go to the loo.. and yet suddenly realized everyone around you just seem to be in your way, walking in a snail pace while blocking the path you’re going, or when you need to head from the ground floor to the 6th floor via the elevator, somehow the elevator stops at every.freaking.floor~ (Argh~!)
- Thirdly, the need to find out the exact location of our next destination ASAP.. as although we know the name of the place of where we’re going, but we wouldn’t know where it’s located, hence, while we started off always heading to the info counter, but we had to stop looking for it and practically grab the closest person and beg for info…
And all these experiences, be it a bit posing a bit hardship.. is actually very fun. The uneasiness of racing against time and needing to go through these obstacles is… oh-so-fun. It’s actually very rare to get these kind of experiences, especially in familiar places you would visit frequently.
In addition, the games’s context is not just focusing in solving puzzle, we get to experience stuffs as well, as we get to watch something, window-shop another, and eat something too. These variety of activities contributes to the fresh twist in a real escape game.
At each destination, we’re given tasks to be carried out, we weren’t given specific details on what to look out for or what to do, hence we do need to pay close attention to what’s happening at all times, once we completed the task, we’ll be given the next destination’s clue in an envelope, just like those in Amazing Race, or we have to suffer some penalty if we fail. We like most of the tasks, as it add values to the game itself.
However, it’s not all glory though. We encountered quite a few quirks while playing; we stumbled accidentally on one of the destination and we just passed that stage, kind of like when we brute force locks in the rooms, and we also missed a destination as what happened was.. we were already at the correct place, however when we identify ourselves from Break The Code, the workers there didn’t gave us feedback that we’re in the correct place hence we head to other places and wasted time. We kinda forgive these technical quirks though, since it could be rectified easily and since we’re just the 2nd batch testing this game out, we do hope it gets better when you all play it.
In summary, if you’re looking for a new experience in real escape games, definitely try out ghost bomber.
We like the new experience, the variety of tasks, and the overall concept, and we do hope similar and better games like these would emerge.
Image taken from Break The Code. Seriously, go play.