RATING: 3 Keys          RESULT: Win           REMAINING: 14:06

Shoot for the stars, and if you miss, maybe you will at least land on the moon.

Emersyn to Earth is a remote play version of an existing, physical escape game at the venue’s brick and mortar location – retrofitted to be offered as a live, online experience. Although altered slightly to better flow in this new medium, the game is, at it’s core, essentially the same as what guests will find should they visit Exit Theory in person. To read our Pro-Tips on how to best enjoy this new Remote Play genre, click here.

Emersyn Daniels arrived at Space Station Orion with group of potential recruits who were scheduled to stay for the weekend to see if they wanted to sign up for the space program. Upon arriving, they realized the crew was nowhere to be found. They split up to look for them, and Emersyn heard the others yelling for her to get back to the flight deck. As she gets back, the Cargo Bay doors close leaving her on the flight deck alone. The others found a note that made it sound like the space station isn’t safe. When the doors started to close, they made their exit. The irony is, the escape pods they found in the Cargo Bay won’t do them any good unless Emersyn can get the space station close enough to Earth to return. Can you help her figure out how to pilot the ship back to Earth’s orbit so they can make it back home?

Exit Theory has adapted their brick-and-mortar game Aura Rising in order to work for live streaming. Emersyn Daniels has been stuck on the ship for some time, but now he needs our help to redirect the ship back to Earth.

Mission Control is given a 3-D map of the spaceship before the game even starts in order to become aware of the space. Also, Emersyn Daniels seems to already be familiar with certain parts of the ship, but it makes sense with the narrative since he has been trapped for a few days before help has arrived.

Emersyn to Earth tells the typical spaceship story. There are many systems down, and the players must figure out how to reactivate them in order to safely return the ship to Earth. The host is used merely as a means to navigate the ship but falls a little short in immersing players into the story world.

Exit Theory makes good use of a fairly large single room space. Sitting in the front of the ship is a long control panel with various knobs and switches, with a few of the controls locked away. A big star field takes up the entire wall – it is certainly the most interesting part of the room and where our team’s eyes gravitated.

The other walls around the spaceship have locked panels along with alien-like symbols drawn on them. The floor is textured to enhance the spaceship vibe, and surfaces mostly have a silver hue to them. While there is not anything spectacular about the scenic, it works sufficiently well given the digital medium.

Exit Theory allows remote teams to explore the ship before the game has even begun. A link to a 3-D tour of the room is supplied in advanced, and there are many different objects to examine closely. The abundance of things to look at on the map could be intimidating to some players, but it does allow for better exploration once on the ship.

Exit Theory has packed many puzzles into Emersyn to Earth. Once Mission Control is given the 3-D map, it becomes apparent that there is a lot of content. Unfortunately a puzzle-heavy game does not necessarily make a great experience.

While all of the steps are intuitive, a few are tedious and not very memorable. That’s not to say every part of the game is this way; there are some puzzles that are enjoyable to solve. Unfortunately, for every entertaining step, there are a couple more tedious ones that do not resonate as being fun to solve.

Emersyn to Earth has a parallel style of game play. While type of experience is often preferred in brick-and-mortar games, it can easily become too cumbersome during a digital experience. Since there are many things to track, it can take teams out of the experience, and this game is no exception. There are a couple instances where a puzzle is solved alone, and whoever takes on that task will likely miss what happens on the live feed during that time.

Emersyn to Earth becomes a little overwhelming even before the game starts. Players are sent a link to a 3-D map in advance, and there are many objects to observe closely. The parallel nature of the game does not lend itself well to a digital format since teams will be brought out of the experience while trying to navigate two screens. In one instance, a player must completely solve a puzzle alone while other players are still guiding the game host.

Exit Theory adapted their brick-and-mortar game Aura Rising to a digital format. However, the game needs to be adapted even more to work well in the digital space. If the experience were linear, it would be more manageable and would not have players stranded doing their own thing. Perhaps if Exit Theory also added more character development, this game could fly itself back into orbit.

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

Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:

Venue: Exit Theory

Location: Longview, TX

Number of Remote Games: 1

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 6 people

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

Cost: $50 for first 2 zoom connections / $10 per additional connection

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