Review: Get The F Out - The Experiment

RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 7:00

The Experiment is just another cliché pirate escape game. Trust us.

Story

The above advertisement was taped to the front door of Escape Authority HQ. Clearly, who ever left it knows us. We’d never turn down juice.

We asked around, though there seemed to be little information available from others who had actually participated in The Experiment. Perhaps they’ve been sworn to secrecy. Perhaps this is simply a matter of its very limited run of just fifty games. Regardless, the fact became clear that it was time for Escape Authority to participate in The Experiment first hand, in an effort to pull back the curtain for you, our readers.

There are many types of cliché themes some escape games follow in today’s ever growing market, from breaking out of jail to robbing a bank, venturing into a mummy’s tomb or setting sail for a pirate’s treasure. This is just another pirate game. Trust us. There’s no unique twist or compelling surprise. Trust us. We had the juice. Trust us.

Scenic

Participants begin this highly scientific study by being blindfolded and separated. After all, you can learn the most from a person once they’re alone. As the lights fade up and The Experiment finally begins, those participants find themselves as the scurvy crew of yet another cliché pirate ship.

An old staircase running parallel to the main mast leads into the ship itself. Within, wooden textures bring the world to authentic life. Creaking floorboards and mis-matched planks lining the walls of a hallway add a distinct “cliché pirate” flavor.

Beyond a barred door lies the brig – where unlucky stowaways are locked up. Just past its door sits a large barrel – sadly not full of rum. But don’t worry, juice will be served.

Ship turns to shipwreck as participants, err, pirates?, disembark to find their floating vessel lampooned on a faraway beach. The sandy shores are surrounded by damaged masts and sails. A lone palm tree acts as the final resting place for a skeleton – perhaps a prior player who did not manage to solve the puzzles before the pirates’ 60 minute shift change ended.

What’s definitely not apart of The Experiment are further hidden chambers that completely twist the narrative in an entirely unexpected direction. Remember, this is just another cliché pirate escape game. Trust us.

Puzzles

Despite being just another cliché pirate escape game, The Experiment’s puzzles are clever from start to finish – offering a fresh take on an otherwise over-done theme. Their flow is intuitive, logical and satisfying for experienced players, while remaining forever attainable to newer groups.

As with any split start game, The Experiment’s act one is all about communication and teamwork, in an effort to reconvene both parties before proceeding forward. From there, as with any cliché pirate game, the adventure shifts focus to escaping the ship and finding the hidden treasure. After all, this is just another cliché pirate escape game. Trust us.

The Experiment checks off all the boxes to satisfy its swashbuckling trope, turning barrels, ropes, sails and sand into puzzling tasks to further its cliché pirate story.

IF The Experiment were more than meets the eye, one might suggest a surprise twist could unfold within its puzzles, turning the very tasks that make an escape game cliché into its strongest form of storytelling narrative. IF that were to happen, The Experiment could open itself up to some unique, mind-bending puzzles the likes of which we’ve never seen before – combining bizarre technologies with physiological surprises to not only further its gameplay, but also reach a storyworld climax that participants would never see coming.

IF. But it’s not, because this is just another cliché pirate escape game. Trust us.

Overall

Perhaps it has become apparent that we’re not being entirely open with you, our readers, with regards to just what happens during the course of The Experiment. To that we simply say, trust us; we had the juice.

The Experiment is the very notion of “everything you know is wrong” come to life before your very eyes. Walking in with preconceived notions will only serve to further surprise, because this game’s twist ending is not something one would ever see coming. From start to finish, this entirely clichéd pirate game is something so very different that it’s difficult to even discuss without giving away what makes it special.

But here’s the thing: Get The F Out is only offering this game on an extremely brief, highly exclusive limited engagement, which originally began on May 1, 2018. The Experiment will only run fifty times total – and after that, it’s gone forever. And with just twenty available game slots each week, we recommend your participation sooner, rather than later. By our calculations, 50 games ÷ 20 games per week x 14.5 months operating – 2 Keys for use of a cliché pirate theme equals…. well, it’s no secret that we never liked math, but trust us; we had the juice.