We took on The Loop in March to see what The Panic Room had to offer. The following was the storyline from the website;

“Step into the laboratory of Frontier Engineering, a research company tackling the unknowns of science, one mind-boggling paradox at a time. Undertake a 60 minute trial of a mysterious and powerful device they call ‘The Unit’. They won’t tell us what it does, but they assure us that it is completely safe*.

In this weird science fiction adventure with strong undertones of Portal, you will be transported to impossible places and experience one of the craziest twists in escape room history. Seriously, this game will blow your minds!

A game that totally redefines the meaning of ‘against the clock’, this experience is one that gamers and sci-fi fans will love! Science waits for no one, so prepare to enter….The Loop!

may cause brain damage, decapitation, vapourisation* and cellular redetermination

**vaporized subjects get a free hat”

Puzzles & Flow: 8/10

The Loop is a one of a kind type of room. It has some great and clever puzzles, nothing too difficult but requires a great eye for detail. Whilst the puzzles are not difficult, the unique element of the room really spices the gameplay up. Whilst we won’t ruin the unique element, it is noted this experience is split into essentially two halves, the drive and the reactor room. The puzzles in the first half led us to a slow start with us thinking we were quite limited in what we could do however, as we opened our eyes more, we realised there was plenty to do and unlock. A mixture of puzzles and skills required, it only included one lock type puzzle with the rest using technology, new and old. The second part should of been a lot simpler with the puzzles however, we yet again had our struggles. Some really different and cool puzzles were used on this side and it was definitely our favourite half. The way pressure is applied in a unique yet simple way really deserves credit for The Loop, in how you think and operate in an escape room gets thrown to one side as you try to battle this unique twist. 

Uniqueness: 9/10

This is quite a hard section to write about as the room is one of a kind as far as we would know. The unique element plays a big part in the experience and works cleverly with the name and the theme of the room. It is simple yet effective. It creates an additional layer to your experience which can affect the rest of your game which is interesting to see. If you are after a room with a difference, The Loop really is for you.

Overall with a rating of 24, it was super clever, cool and quirky which left us relieved that we worked together and conquered the experience!

We managed to escape The Loop in 44 minutes and 38 seconds which for a team of 2, is fast. Whilst we are experienced, we managed to work as a team and logically in solving this, even with the unique twist to the room. Whilst elements of the review might not make sense originally, it honestly is a room to try for yourselves and not read too much into. It has all your typical escape room style to it, more modern than classic style but incorporates a new style with the old at the same time. A huge thank you to the team at The Panic Room for inviting us, to our fantastic enthusiastic gamemaster and we look forward to getting to play another another one of their impressive 12 rooms in the future.