TimeTrap: Station X review
| The staff at top secret WW2 code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, have become suspicious of a spy in their midst, culminating in the discovery of an incriminating letter from the spy which reveals that they’ll be leaving on the 9.05pm train from Bletchley Station to London. The letter tells of several German decrypts the spy has stolen and concealed within the station, ready to flee with. The heads at the park have intercepted the 9.05 train and found seven suspects boarding, whom they have taken back to HQ. They need to find out who the spy is and make sure all stolen decrypts are recovered. Of course Bletchley Park is so secret that no one from the outside world can know about the situation without blowing its cover. Unless…they’re from so far in the future that there the secret has been revealed! That’s where you come in. Secretly drafted in by the heads of Bletchley Park with Professor Potch’s help, you will be assuming the identities of hard-at-work Bletchley Park staff to solve this crime; reveal the spy and retrieve the stolen decrypts! | |
| 60 minutes | |
| 2-5 players, or 4-10 in versus mode | |
| Difficulty level not stated | |
| £18-30 per person depending on team size and time of day | |
| Reading, UK | |
| timetrapescaperooms.com | |
| Played by Jenny and Paul | |
| December 2018 | |
| Escaped with 13 minutes remaining |
Theming
9/10TimeTrap have done it again! This room is wonderfully themed. You are guided to the game area where you sit in a nineteenth century rail carriage to be met by your GM who is dressed in character. She gives us our mission, arms us with a satchel and we’re then taken to the station to start the game. The set inside the game area is simply dressed but really works with the aid of decorations and sound effects.
Jenny
9/10The theming is superb with all aspects covered – the host, the briefing area, the room itself, the puzzles and the clue system. Firstly, we’re taken to an impressive looking 1940s train carriage where our friendly host Alice, who’s in character dressed from the period, gives us a briefing and reveals our mission. We’re then taken to the station masters office where the game begins. You immediately feel immersed because of the quality and detail of the room set. Clues are broadcast over a tannoy in the style of a train station announcement.
Paul
Puzzles
8/10Whilst there is an option to play a versus game, we settled for the standalone game. The puzzles were logical, search based, and there was also an additional element to collect items as well. The key to this game is communication with your team mates. We even got to dress up! The puzzles linked to the theme well. Being set in the 1940’s, there were no hi-tech games which may turn people off, but for me the puzzles flowed well without too much difficulty.
Jenny
8/10There’s a lot of information to read, objects to collect, puzzles to solve and rooms to explore. The puzzles integrate into the theme perfectly, and were tricky but fair and logical. They suited our strengths and we flowed through them nicely. Some were physical tasks, one of which had the potential to be non-solvable if dropped, which nearly happened to me. There’s no particular standout moments, it’s the game as a whole that impresses. There’s also a side challenge of collecting as many decrypts as possible. We fell short on this part as we didn’t realise we needed to search the room for them as well as collecting them on completion of each challenge. Don’t make our mistake!
Paul
Enjoyment
9/10I really enjoyed this room. It’s not often that after a game we all come out smiling as a game was so good. The theming, the puzzles and the overall story was all great. It also helped that our GM Alice was excellent and left us unaided without giving clues, just a little prompt when we went off tangent.
Jenny
9/10I felt intimidated upon entering this room as there was a lot going on but only 2 of us to work through it all. But my intimidation proved unfounded and we left with a buzz, having really enjoyed playing the room, as well as being pleasantly surprised at how well we did! This is the second TimeTrap room I’ve played, and it keeps up with the high standard set by Imaginarium. TimeTrap are passionate about what they do and it shows in the all-round quality of their bespoke rooms. They’ve become one of my favourite escape room companies! You can also play Station X in versus mode where you simultaneously race against another team, but we weren’t able to try this unfortunately.
Paul
Value
7/10At £30 each this game is expensive, but as with Imaginarium this company really do have a passion for the game. They put so much thought in the design, and their puzzles never seem to be something you can buy from a supplier. The host was excellent and I can’t wait to play their other room Rebellion.
Jenny
8/10This isn’t the cheapest room, but it justifies its price point as it’s very well made with all elements done to a high standard. I urge you to pay TimeTrap a visit if you’re in the Reading area. We paid the top price of £30 each as we were only a two. But I recommend playing this room as a team of 3 or 4, and then you’ll be paying a more reasonable £25 each.
Paul
Overall scores
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Theming - 9/10
9/10
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Puzzles - 8/10
8/10
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Enjoyment - 9/10
9/10
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Value - 7.5/10
7.5/10
