Project D.I.V.A.
24 January 2018
Escape Rooms London
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
I was invited by Love Popups London to try out the new Project D.I.V.A room at Escape Rooms‘ Angel location. This room is set in the future. On Mars! And, of course, there’s a rogue computer AI system that is trying to kill humanity. Fun times!
The reception room is a bit on the small side, but there are toilets available and ample seating, and you won’t wait for very long, as long as you’re on time.
After a short briefing, we were handed three smartphones with custom apps that are necessary to solve this escape room, as well as the standard puzzle room issue walkie talkie and pad of paper. This was promising to be fun already as we were told there would be no padlocks, but a linear story to work through. I love immersive escape rooms like that! While running around finding random codes and clues is all fun and games, a realistic experience is absolutely fantastic. And no spaceship would have a number padlock which is opened with a code found through a chess game.
Without giving away too much about the room, this one is really well done! The first room is dark, full of electronic devices and futuristic lighting. It’s unfortunately a bit on the small side with devices on the floor, so not suitable for a wheelchair. The first clues and codes were deciphered quickly and upon solving them, drawers slid out of walls and hidden doors opened. Everything is automated and I absolutely loved it. The riddles and codes all made a certain amount of sense for the setting, the smartphone apps were exciting to work with and it all felt very immersive and interactive.
Later on in the game, there are secret passages and lasers and a whole lot of other exciting challenges! You definitely need to be comfortable in confined spaces and like working with interactive technology, then this game will be an absolute delight!
The only negative points I can find are that you also need to be able bodied, or at least have several able bodied people on your team, and the room is incredibly dark with no torches provided, so sight impairments might be an issue as well; unfortunately accessibility tends not to be a huge consideration for immersive rooms in this industry.
The other point is that the computer voice is very quiet and we couldn’t understand what she was saying, it didn’t seem important though, as we still managed to escape with 18 minutes to spare!
Other than that, it was one of my all time favourite rooms! Definitely not for beginners, but those with a few escape rooms under their belt will love this one!
Agreed and this is most certainly one of my top 5 escape rooms now.