RATING: 5 Keys          RESULT: Win           REMAINING: 8:05

Ectoplasm cleanup on aisle 4. Aisle 4 please.

Paranormal Panic is an entirely unique remote play experience not available as an in person game at The Bureau. Although this game can’t be played in person, it does have a physical set at The Bureau and ties in with the over arching theme of the venue. To read our Pro-Tips on how to best enjoy this new Remote Play genre, click here.

A ghost is loose in The Bureau’s Creature Capture Department. It’s too dangerous to go inside, so a few brave operatives are needed to remotely capture the spirit.

Obviously not everything that goes on inside The Bureau can be public knowledge. After all, this is an organization that handles some pretty… how should we phrase this… questionable practices. But it’s time to throw caution to the wind. Speaking of wind, did you just feel that slight breeze? Maybe it was a ghost. Wouldn’t that be something.

**What’s that? There is? Where?**

Well, word just came in that it was in fact a ghost. Imagine that. Now the paranormal presence is loose in The Bureau and it’s up to a remote team of Casper graspers to coax it into the open and catch it.

Paranormal Panic utilizes a small space located at The Bureau’s headquarters. Luckily this office is dedicated to paranormal research, so all of the tools needed to capture the ghostly presence are readily available via the remote log-in portal.

Teams of apparition apprehenders will be greeted with multiple camera views of the room in addition to a plethora of interactive control panels and intel dockets.

With a clearly high tech and futuristic appearance, the command portal garners a lot of attention but in no way overshadows the quality of the physical set that the paranormal squads are seeing and interacting with.

Although it is a small space, the attention to detail breathes a realistic life to the room. Theatrical lighting, background music, sound effects, and a little ghostly magic come together to create an eerie setting that will make most paranormal hunters glad they are sitting safely in the confines of their own home.

Paranormal Panic is a split game that relies heavily on communication between participants. At the beginning of the experience, investigators will be split into two squads. Each group will have access to a different pair of security cameras that show unique views of the same room.

In addition to live camera feeds, the two squads will have a unique collection of control panels and intel on the environment and its possible inhabitants. The buttons control actions in the physical game space, perfectly blending the remote play experience with the task at hand.

Being a split game reliant on effective communication, the majority of puzzles will require observant squad members relaying information back and forth with the other group. Deciphering what to do is of course important, but investigators must also figure out how to accomplish their desired actions.

The action climaxes with an exciting attempt to physically capture the ghost that is loose in The Bureau. This pinnacle puzzle brings together everything that investigators have learned up to that point in a very organic and in-world manner.

The Bureau excels in offering well rounded games with fully fleshed out stories, fantastic scenic, and thought provoking puzzles. Paranormal Panic carries on this reputation by showcasing some of the most unique remote play features we’ve seen. A split game where half of the group sees one portion of the space while the rest see an entirely different view is a difficult concept to pull off in the remote play medium. The Bureau has implemented a unique interface to make this not only possible, expertly implemented.

The escape game industry is nothing if not innovative. The explosion of remote play games shortly after venues were forced to temporarily shutter is one example of that ingenuity. Evolving remote play to include a cooperative split team game is another step down that path. The Bureau has been getting rave reviews since opening in Orlando, so I personally was very excited to be able to experience a game they designed while sitting in my own own some 1,000 miles away. Paranormal Panic certainly lived up to the mysterious hype generated from their brick and mortar offerings.

*Montu, Escape Authority’s VP, Dog Business™ and lead home game correspondent endorses the opinions found within this review.

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Venue: The Bureau

Location: Remote online play at home, broadcast live from Orlando, Florida

Number of Remote Games: 1

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 30 minutes

Capacity: 3 connections

Group Type: Private  / You will not be paired with strangers.

Cost: $49.95/group

We thank The Bureau for inviting us to play this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, that in no way impacts the opinion included within this review.