A brilliant scientist has vanished, leaving us just one hour to solve the secrets in their laboratory and save the world from eternal darkness!
- Location: Bermondsey (nearest Tube Bermondsey)
- Players: 2-6
- We played: March 2019 as a team of 2
Great things about Perpetuum Mobile
- This room featured a wide range of types of puzzle, including one fun multi-step puzzle that worked well, and one collaborative task that required solid communication between players.
- Thought has gone into the structure of play in Perpetuum Mobile, which effectively transitions from being a non-linear game at the beginning, with several tasks that can be tackled simultaneously, to a linear game later on, when players are brought back together to solve the last stages.
- One impressive large-scale custom prop makes a good centrepiece and also provides visual feedback on whether you’re getting things right towards the end of the game.
On the other hand…
- Every escape room, like other forms of immersive entertainment, requires suspension of disbelief to be effective – but this one demanded too much of us. The room was so sparsely decorated that we could never forget that we were really in a room in a converted factory rather than a scientist’s lab, and messy details such as cheap furniture and extension leads hanging down the wall gave the whole experience a low-budget feel which couldn’t be redeemed by the presence of a couple of slick props.
- Perpetuum Mobile has a few instances of technology being used in different ways, one of which in particular was original and potentially very impressive. Unfortunately, a couple of these elements didn’t work smoothly, and our host (who, thankfully, was very attentive throughout), had to intervene to get things running again. The host’s responses gave the impression that these issues happen on a regular basis, which is a shame as both problems could be fixed with small tweaks to the room’s design.
- There’s the potential in this room to waste a significant amount of time on red herrings. Various items in the room can be pieced together in ways that ultimately lead nowhere. This is slightly frustrating, especially after losing time on technical hitches too.
- We felt a bit let down by the ending of this room; not only was it somewhat illogical in light of the backstory we’d been told, it was also slightly anticlimactic.
Who should try this room?
We wouldn’t fall over ourselves to recommend this room before others in London, but if immersion isn’t your top priority then you might enjoy it. We’d suggest playing with two or three players so that no one gets bored.
Rating – 4/10
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