RATING: 4 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 24:44

Infiltrate an evil cyber-techincal corporation housing a globally catastrophic disease? Just a typical Wednesday.

Your cousin has been working as a test subject for the enigmatic Cybortek Corporation. Things have gone wrong and he’s now dying. Can you sneak into their high-security underground lab and find the antidote?

Cybortek Corporation is as crooked as they come. Your cousin has been working diligently for them and has incidentally contracted a rare disease that Cybortek would like to keep under wraps.

The mission at hand is to sneak into Sector 13, via a decommissioned freight elevator that can be reconfigured to come online, break in past the guard, and access the lab with the help of a friend on the inside. Once there, the antidote for this mysterious disease can be created and your cousin can be saved.

The clock is ticking on your cousin’s life and an outbreak of a virus that could destroy the world.

Sector 13 contains multiple distinct segments that each provide their own unique immersion into this highly classified biotech laboratory. The freight elevator is a fully encased metal box, complete with fuse box and escape hatch. The alternating stripe colors and variations in the textures help complete the design.

From there, the game opens into a office building-type hallway. At one end sits the desk of the security guard, personnel lockers and a full restroom at the other. A large window spans the length of the room, the view into the laboratory beyond.

Once inside the lab, the experience really sets its tone on immersion. Active experiments and materials are organized throughout. There is a desk against the wall with notes scribbled about it, as well as a large air duct above, gas canisters, and a series of cages most likely used during animal testing.

Lighting plays a significant part in the transition between each of the spaces, beginning with flat white light in the elevator, a dimmer yellow light in the hall area, and finally soft blue light in the laboratory work space. From beginning to end, each feels authentic and real, fully immersing its occupants into the devious depths of the Cybortek Corporation.

There are a few textures and materials in the room that seem too severe for the use they serve. Metal mesh covers the majority of the walls inside the laboratory, and while puzzles don’t necessarily require touching these walls, accidental contact is virtually inevitable and less than pleasant to the touch. Additionally, there is a moment that requires crouching and crawling briefly, and although realistically the metal bars across the floor feel immersive, they too create and uncomfortable moment for whoever is in that situation.

Sector 13 does an excellent job at presenting puzzles that logically fit right in to the storyline at hand. If a personal locker needs to be unlocked, there’s reason and justification behind what the combination or code might be.

Once in the laboratory, the puzzle ladder involves methods that are unique to a lab and tasks that come across authentically in that setting.

The puzzles themselves are not incredibly difficult overall, but require enough brain-work to maintain enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment throughout the game. In fact, in several moments, the answer to a puzzle may be overlooked entirely only to seem so obvious after the solution is found.

Although none of the puzzles necessarily stick out from the rest, they come together in a nice way to tell a creative and entertaining story in this experience.

Sector 13 is a solid and creative take on the industry standard laboratory game. Trapped! has done an excellent job not only creating an enjoyable standalone game here, but connecting the dots between Sector 13 and several of their other experiences (particularly Operation: X-13) in a larger canon-type universe.

While there were some issues in the scenic design department and a lack of any highlighting puzzles, Sector 13 still delivers a commendable generation blending escape experience that is worth the visit. Shout out to the Trapped! ownership and support team as well, as they were a delight throughout our time with them.

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Venue: Trapped!

Location: Upland, CA

Number of Games: 3

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 8 people

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

Cost: $32 per person

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