Escape

By | February 10, 2017

Aww, we’d been looking forward to this for a while and… you know that bit in Race to Escape when two teams couldn’t see a code written in big numbers on a wall for twenty minutes and the editors stuck with it and let it play out and it was actually quite brave and exhilarating and funny? I don’t think we’re getting that here.

 

I think the art direction is OK (although there’s really not much to see in this one – a janitor’s closet and some crates mainly, but other previews suggest set-ups that are a bit more interesting). I think the adventure game style inventory works well. I think the puzzles are too low key for television being very in the main simple insert obvious key into obvious lock or solving obvious cipher code. Shows like this thrive on mystery and there is progression of a sort but it’s not greatly interesting, no great revelations at any point. Does this make escape games look cool? I’m not sure.

It’s been edited similarly to Tabletop so you get ‘kooky’ confessionals throughout. The room escape is edited down to fifteen minutes, of a 22 minute show.

I’m not sure whether to congratulate Geek and Sundry for giving it a go or lightly slap them on the wrist for being a bit disappointing. You can watch further episodes on the Project Alpha site for a fee or it sounds like they’re getting released fortnightly on Youtube. I think I can wait.

9 thoughts on “Escape

  1. Mathew Palmieri

    Ahhh… You win some you lose some. The Only thing im intrested at this point on tv(if you can call it that…) is Escape the night season 2, and that’s because im hoping for some acual change in the “game” (As in there IS one This Time around Instead of this Wierd vote where 2 guests play elimanation challenge.) so that the Puzzles tasks matter more in Who gets eliminated, and That At least therse no fake out on a traitor (Either There IS one among the PLAYERS not an NPC, or No traitor at all.)
    Please Do something With Joey If he is’int gonna Take up the responsibility as “host” ,Even though he IS one (Giles, Treagaurd and Raven are all looking away in heaven, facepalming. YOU STAR IN IT YOU NARRATE IT, YOU ARE THE MAIN FEATURE IN POSTERS. YOU INVITED THE OTHER GUEST’S AND OWN THE HOUSE, EVEN TRYING TO ACT AS ONE IN EP 1. YOU ARE HOST.)

    Sorrry, for my, um…. rage there, in other news, There is a new game coming out this year witch is basically The genius IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.

    https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=556943619


    Is there like a Escape room Based on Reality competition style elimination? That would be kinda Cool and interesting….Off topic but, … Interesting.

    Reply
  2. Brig Bother Post author

    Incidentally, and possibly of interest, the recent Resident Evil 7 had some DLC with an escape room in it. This video is a perfect walkthrough, it’s about fifteen minutes, it’s completely gripping.

    On the off chance you’re not aware of Resident Evil, be prepared for a bit of horror and violence. The experience is better with sound.

    Reply
  3. Cheesebiscuits

    So I’ve never done an escape room but I do really love puzzles.

    This. Fell flat.

    If escape rooms are all about noticing discrepancies in the room and acting upon them, how are we, the viewer, meant to participate in solving the puzzles from fixed camera angles?

    The whole “this side up” thing was a direct camera shot and so was given away too easily, the symbols required you to see the crate stickers. The paper you needed to be there as well.

    So if this isn’t meant for play along value, it should be designed for entertainment. I don’t know who the people are but I did find the host quite funny. Why she couldn’t be doing an actual voiceover rather than appearing in little speach bubbles in the bottom right idk either.

    That ending with the time seems a little dubious too but I’ll give that a pass if it doesn’t keep happening.

    I know I’m stemming off topic here but for Tabletop, probably one of the biggest series on Geek n Sundry, seems to have gotten worse from series to series as it’s become more commercialised.

    Oh well, let’s hope Race to Escape is recommissioned (I know I’m stupid hoping :))

    Reply
    1. Chris M. Dickson

      I know most of the people on the team who’ll be representing the UK a little; read a write-up of participating in the UK qualifier if you like.

      As well as the 22 national qualifiers, there will be two scratch teams; one is made up of four people who have solved an online puzzle the most quickly (and the world is skeptical about the times that have been earned) and a second is made up of four winners of a raffle among those who have solved the “DxM puzzle”. Both of these teams may have people who don’t even speak a common language but that’s part of the fun. You can still play the online puzzle and get into the raffle for another couple of weeks and maybe, just maybe, win a trip to Budapest.

      Reply
  4. Chris M. Dickson

    I will say that the cause and effect was usually pretty clear, and that I loved one of the facial reactions at, theoretically, the emotional second highest point of the game.

    If you sort of liked this and were sort of disappointed by it, then I would (admittedly for a second time) recommend this, by some people I vaguely know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRlNeFsLFto – even though it’s just for fun, in many ways the pros could learn from it.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      This is actually quite a bit better than the opening episode, great setting, contraptions, probably should have opened with this really. Interestingly I don’t think the puzzle content is as important for televised escape rooms so much as interesting and/or cool payoffs for solving them.

      Slightly baffling lack of shots though – having built up the ‘between two birds’ puzzle you don’t seem to see either the birds nor the key they pick up. Similarly that opening block puzzle ought to have shown off the backs a bit earlier so viewers can pick up on what’s going to happen before the contestants do. The direction tends to let the show down a bit. This really needs some Crystal Maze style inserts.

      I still find the US confessional reality style quite irritating.

      Reply
  5. Brig Bother Post author

    Episode three not bad although without being too spoileriffic, one of the key bits is a bit of a nonsense.

    Reply

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