RATING: 2 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 8:09
A mysterious crystal that can bring back the dead, nothing to worry about right?
The Mission: You and your team investigate and recover a mysterious crystal stolen by an ex-Enigma HQ agent.
Though the introduction is short, there is much more going on than it seems. A former Enigma HQ agent, who we assume of course is an expert level world traveling puzzle solver, was investigating a mysterious crystal.
But why go after this crystal? There are rumors that The Lazarus Crystal can revive the dead, or at least create a link to communicate with them again. An ex-agent friend recently lost his daughter to unknown circumstances, and wants to bring her back at all costs.
We all know though that bringing back the dead comes at a cost. Unsure of what will happen, the team is sent in to investigate and attempt to unlock the secrets of the crystal’s powers. Can it save the agent’s daughter? Or will something much more sinister happen trying to crack the crystal’s code?
The next clue is in Paris. Which just so happens to be where new recruits will be immediately flying to upon entering Enigma HQ. Solve the riddles and messages left behind by the ex-agent, recover the crystal, and potentially take place in some necromancy.
The whole of The Lazarus Crystal game takes place in a single room. We know this is an office building, but there is an attempt to create something a bit more magical than blank walls and drop panel ceilings.
With sparse decorations, the investigation begins in a room with a desk cluttered with notes and maps. The workplace of our ex-agent friend presumably, containing any information that he previously found.
Though this also not only looks like the workplace, but also a living space. A small wardrobe cabinet contains various articles of clothing, and the adjacent drawers are filled with children’s clothes and toys. It seems as if the ex-agent was trying to put together some connection between the crystal and his lost daughter by her possessions.
A big standout of the room is the wall of monitors. At first glance, it’s a wall of broken televisions. But as progress happens, more and more become unlocked revealing a way to give feedback and directions to the player whilst the game is taking place. Containing both visual and audio cues, these screens give a bit more insight into what exactly the crystal can do.
While the story can be kind of a stretch, and the scenic doesn’t go very far, most of the puzzles fall into the category of watch what is going on in the monitor’s video, and recreate it. For the most part here, these aren’t really puzzles at all, but rather oddball tasks to mimic what was seen on the monitors.
There are still a few more traditional escape game type puzzles with lock and key or combination codes, most of which follow a logical path that is very straightforward. The puzzles are all tied to finding out more information on who or what can help, or unlocking some part of the crystals mysteries.
With the room focus on the rituals at hand, rummaging is extremely low. Only a handful of items are in the room anyways, which makes it much easier to find the right piece rather than sift through various red herrings.
A small problem with the extreme linear nature of this room can be the choke points. Any larger groups can experience downtime for multiple members of their team as there is just nothing else to work on but the one puzzle at hand at any given point.
Enigma HQ sets out to create an intricate story line of a secretive agent stealing a mysterious artifact. While it’s all there on paper, going through the game the story line gets more and more fractured. Some of it gets lost and moves towards confusing as to what is going on or why it’s happening.
Though the mystery of the crystal was solved, the weird ending left much to be desired. When dealing with necromancy, it’s best to just leave it to the experts. More questions rise than answers, and sometimes more bodies too.
Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:
Venue: Enigma HQ
Location: San Diego, CA
Number of Games: 1
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 minutes
Capacity: 8 people
Group Type: Private / You will not be paired with strangers.
Cost: $30 per person