Company:
The Panic Room

Location:
23a St Georges Centre, Princes Street, Gravesend, DA11 0TB

Synopsis:
Dino Land is a 75 minute experience that fills nearly 2000sq ft in an adventure like no other! Running through the headquarters of Dino Land, you come eye to eye with our prehistoric predators from the past! This state of the art facility is currently looking for new rangers. But, it seems you have got a tough first day at work ahead, as soon, the sirens will be blaring! The dinosaurs have escaped! Can you get to safety, and restore the park’s security before the dinosaurs take over the park? Note: contains crawling, strobe lighting and smoke machines.

Date we visited:
17 March 2018

Price at time of visit:
£26.25 each for a group of 4

Goats attended:
Daiman, Jenny, Paul, Bharath

Did we escape?
Yes, with over 10 minutes to spare

Value for money

9/10This game is absolutely worth the price that we paid, it’s so much more than a ‘normal’ game offering something that’s part escape room, part theatrical experience.

 Daiman

8/10At just over £26 pp this is the upper length of the pricing scale, however this game is 75 mins long and you get to see a dinosaur! Our ranger Cameron was really friendly and helped add to the experience.

Jenny

8/10This is a lot more expensive compared to Panic Room’s other rooms like The Loop, but there’s a valid reason for that – it’s 25% longer at 75 minutes, it’s pretty huge in terms of floor space used and there’s acting involved as well. Comparing this to the price other companies charge, this is pretty reasonable, especially as this is well made and fun to play.

Paul

8/10This escape room is all about taking you on an adventure. Who doesn’t like dinosaurs! You also get a bit of a “show” experience. For what you pay, it is value for money.

 Bharath

Theming

8/10This was an authentic ‘Jurassic Park’ experience. Whilst it obviously isn’t tied to that property, the environs are immediately recognisable and also interesting. I shouldn’t spoil it too much but there’s a number of very welcome spins on familiar scenes.

 Daiman

9/10The theming in the beginning was excellent, it was literally like walking onto the set of Jurassic Park. The added design of sound effects, rangers and pictures really worked to the advantage. The lab however was standard but I liked the way the games tied on with the theming which kept my score high.

Jenny

8/10Going into the first room, I am wowed by the set which looks straight out of the Jurassic Park movie. I’m thinking to myself “this could be a 10/10 here!” Unfortunately I become slightly less wowed as the game progresses with the other rooms not having quite the same impact, and the fact there wasn’t as much dinosaur action as I was hoping for.

Paul

9/10When you first walk in, you can instantly see that they have not held back on the set. There are some big props. You also get some live actors which add to the fun of the experience. The games master, who is in character, is with you in the room for half the time, to get you moving.

 Bharath

Uniqueness

9/10Dino Land was more than a straight up escape room with lots of theatrics and scenes punctuating the puzzling. The place felt huge and there were a number of cool little features that they threw in to enhance the overall adventure.

 Daiman

9/10Without giving too much away, where else do you encounter dinosaurs? The set design was brilliant, however the puzzles stopped my score from being a 10.

Jenny

8/10This is the only Jurassic Park themed escape room I know of, and who doesn’t like dinosaurs?! The elevator part is unique and pretty cool. There’s two game ideas that I’ve not seen done before, but the rest are pretty standard stuff.

Paul

8/10The escape room is a “big impact” escape room, with multiple rooms within it, a lot of back and forth between the rooms. You are given more time, 75 mins instead of the normal 60 mins, so you can take in the story and enjoy the experience, especially the tense moments.

 Bharath

Puzzles

7/10You know, I don’t actually remember most of them in fine detail, they very much played second fiddle to everything that was going on for me. They had everything though including some cool physical interactions mixed with more straight-forward observational conundrums.

 Daiman

7/10Whilst everything else was brilliant, I found the puzzles really weak. The games were linear and would not let you jump ahead. The overall goal was to get the park back on line by playing smaller puzzles around the area. The puzzles were quite standard although they did have lasers which kept my score high. After a while it was frustrating having to keep circling back to the main room.

Jenny

6/10The puzzles are mostly linear so you have to tackle them one at a time to progress through the game. This meant there are times when I’m just watching which is frustrating. Some puzzles were better than others. I wasn’t a fan of the password one for example – I didn’t like the logic on that one. The lasers were cool, although off-theme. It’s a shame the puzzles let this room down as otherwise it would have a very high score.

Paul

6/10In terms of the puzzles itself, there was nothing too different which I haven’t seen in other escape rooms, but they did seem logical to the experience you were getting and there were a mix of skill and logic puzzles to add to the fun.

 Bharath

The good

The main selling point for this game is that it’s way more than just a simple escape room. I found it extremely easy to believe I was in a Jurassic Park style scenario! It’s incredibly immersive and perfectly crafted.

 Daiman

I absolutely loved the theming, the host and the set design.

Jenny

I love the Jurassic Park theme. The set of the first room is 10 out of 10. The acting is fun and helps turn the game into part of the storyline. Their foyer is impressive, with dinosaur memorabilia everywhere and topped off with a life-size dinosaur!

Paul

The sense of adventure is what gave me a big thumbs up for this one. There was a lot to do, so everyone is kept occupied doing things.

 Bharath

The bad

Two things for me. Though we most certainly did encounter dinosaurs along the way, these moments were very intermittent and I could’ve done with a few more! And, the nature of the game meant that the GM was in the room with you for a considerable portion of the experience. It’s something that I don’t really like in games but, in all fairness, he mostly did keep out of the way so it was less intrusive than it could’ve been.

 Daiman

I found the puzzles were quite weak compared to the rest of the room.

Jenny

I expected more dinosaur action – I want to see them through the windows, hear them trying to break into our room etc to remind me that we’re supposed to be rushing to stop them from taking over the park! The puzzles were the weak link – by no means bad, but just not to the same quality as the rest of the room. Another example being the car puzzle which was too simplistic and didn’t have enough to keep the whole group busy.

Paul

Due to the size of the rooms, there is time wasted because you are in transition between the rooms. It’s a small point though as it does add to the adventure.

 Bharath

Overall scores