Review - Escape Kings Ghost Hunters

RATING: 3 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 2:37

If you have a ghost that just won’t leave, call on us. We’ll get rid of those pesky spirits in just one hour!

Story

Paranormal activity at Queens Hospital has been detected. Your team has been dispatched to search for ghosts in the hospital to set them free before it is too late. You only have one hour of access inside the hospital before the clock strikes 6am. Can you free the ghosts before time is up?

At this point, we are well known in the paranormal community as masters of setting spirits free, and so Queens Hospital has called in our team of ghost hunters to solve the issue of a roaming entity that seems to be bound to the site indefinitely.

Escape Kings did a good job of making sure the story of Ghost Hunters was present throughout this spooky experience. The journey players embark upon follows the path of locating and setting free a spirit trapped inside a hospital all the way to the haunt-themed finish.

Scenic

As one would imagine, the setting is comprised of various medical equipment, including the focal point of the main game space – the operating table. A medicine cabinet and other health-related devices are placed about the space ready to serve the sick and injured.

The primary area is the examination room, boasting anatomy charts, sterile white walls, a light box to view x-rays, and all kinds of specimen samples secured inside a locked cabinet to add a little family-friendly gore.

Through a hidden passageway accessed later in the game, a hospital staff locker room serves to keep personal belongings safe and sound while employees are hard at work. Perhaps the staff was not properly trained on security, but we noticed right away that not all items and lockers were properly secured.

Layered on top of both the hospital and locker room settings was a festive sprinkling of Halloween decorations: cobwebs, flickering lights, and other go-to spooky holiday décor.

After rounding the corner, we discovered a door boarded up with old, distressed wooden planks. Here was where we would discover the gem of the experience: through the panels, we observed a ghostly apparition trapped in the confined space the barricade created. The animated, holographic effect of the spirit was creepy, helping to make for a nice ending of the game. We assumed this area was boarded up to protect people from entering this haunted space – or perhaps it was done to keep the spirit inside.

Puzzles

The puzzles in this game included some standard hidden black light clues, as well as medical-related tasks. In the first space, the appropriately-themed challenges were fairly straightforward. Although they did not blow us away with any unique characteristic we hadn’t seen before, they were tough enough to keep us from blazing through the gameplay too fast.

The second room is where the game really became interesting. We discovered that our actual assignment was to locate and reunite the spirit with her bones and personal items. We essentially had to reassemble her skeleton and arrange her belongings and remains in such a way that she could be at peace.

Once we had completed this task, the experience’s finale began, marked by several audible cues emanating from the boarded up area. As we peered through the planks, her ghostly form began to fade away, and she was set free.

Overall

At a high level, we would have liked to see more custom scenic splashes layered on as we journeyed through the adventure. Upon our exit after solving the room, the gamemaster presented us with an in-game photo which served as proof of the existence of the spirit. There in the background of our photo, she seemed to watch over us as we helped restore her remains. This was a nice touch and unexpected surprise. Sadly, after much searching, we could not find that photo and are bummed we are unable to share it here.

Escape Kings prides itself on being a very family-friendly venue. The owner works very hard to make sure families have a great time solving the challenges together. Because of this, players should expect more of a fun, lighthearted experience and less of a haunted house setting. All in all, we enjoyed playing Ghost Hunters and had a good time digging up bones.