August 2023
DreadLock- Bodmin
Let The Games Begin
Overview
Spreading our wings down to Cornwall, we were recommended to visit DreadLock by other escape rooms owners in Devon and we are glad we did. We booked all 3 rooms and took on Let the Games Begin first.
The location was easily signposted at the back of a holiday park and has plenty of parking onsite. We were greeted by one of the owners and received our brief in the small waiting area. There are refreshments available and a small selection of games.
Let the Games Begin doesn’t have a story of any description and we were simply told to escape within the time frame. We think this is the only room to date that we have done like this and it was a refreshing change. We often find that some places don’t put enough emphasis own the story that they are trying to get across so this room was a triumph for what they re trying to achieve. There was an extra puzzle to solve during the game itself which is a Cluedo style game and you can attempt to solve it during the game or if you escape within the time, you get the rest of it to have a go at winning the extra little prize.
As mentioned, the game had no story. It was simply put together in homage to classic board games. The room was not a masterpiece of set design but what had been done was simple but effective. You quickly slot back into your childhood seeing all the old games you used to play decorated across the whole room. The lighting was very good with no darkened areas anywhere at all and was all on one level so no problem for access.
The room hasn’t had a huge pot of money thrown at it to make the puzzles ultra high tech but this is not a complaint at all. The puzzles are a mixture of searching, simple maths, words and observation. We all really enjoyed the game and all of the puzzles in it. From memory, we think we received one hint on one puzzle in particular that we just couldn’t quite polish off. We had all the components to solve it but we all drew a blank. Apart from the little blip that ate a chunk of our time, we flowed through the majority of the puzzles with relative ease.
There is a TV in the room where the timer is showing throughout. When we did need the help on the one puzzle, there is a doorbell to push and the hint is displayed on the TV. This made a nice change from having the standard walkie talkie in most rooms we visit.
Round Up
This room will certainly challenge professional teams and most enthusiast teams in terms of difficulty. In saying that, one puzzle that we couldn’t solve took a big chunk of our time and made it a bit close to the finish time, then it probably should have been. However, we all really enjoyed the simplicity of the room and it was an hour of fun. We didn’t quite manage to solve the extra puzzle and missed out on some Harribo. If you are visiting Cornwall then all 3 rooms at Dreadlock are definitely worth a go and this will be the easier of the 3 to take on.
Team: 4 Players
Time Escaped: 52:00
Success/Failed: Success
Company Details:
August 2023
DreadLock- Bodmin
Detention
Overview
Spreading our wings down to Cornwall, we were recommended to visit DreadLock by other escape rooms owners in Devon and we are glad we did. We booked all 3 rooms and took on Detention second.
The location was easily signposted at the back of a holiday park and has plenty of parking onsite. We were greeted by one of the owners and received our brief in the small waiting area. There are refreshments available and a small selection of games.
We really enjoyed finishing Let the Games Begin and we headed straight into Detention, yes you guessed it, is based in school for those of you who haven’t done your homework. We were walked into the room by our host and we all had to sit down in the school chairs and we were left to watch the brief on the TV in the room by the teacher.
The room wasn’t high tech by any means and it didn’t have to be. It was very reminiscent of a UK classroom with school chairs and tables, lockers and whiteboards. Everything was decorated to a good standard and nothing was showing any signs of wear and tear. As you move through the game, you will find things that will bring back memories of your childhood. A very well thought out room. As the previous room we did, everything was on one level and had no accessibility issues.
The room had a nice variety of puzzles to complete. The game had a feeling of it being mostly linear but as we often split into two pairs, there was plenty for all of us to do and we all came together when we needed too. There were a fair number ion padlocks in this room but we don’t mind that at all and with lockers being based in the room, it would seem strange not to have them scattered everywhere. Some of our teams History and Geography skills were put to the test and with me being the only fan of maths, I did my bit as well.
We didn’t really struggle on any of the puzzles in this room but one seemed to take a bit of time where there was noting else for some of us to do and we had to watch half of the team try and complete this particular task and that ate a bit of time.
There is a TV in the room where the timer is showing throughout. We really seemed to find out grove in this room and enjoyed it immensely. The puzzles flowed for us but we did come stuck at one point, not being able to find something. When we did have to ask for help, we all had to sit at the tables and raise our hands, a very nice touch indeed. Once we received our hint, it was simply a case of us not looking hard enough in a certain area, highly frustrating on our part.
Round Up
This room was definitely more challenging than the previous room we had just completed, Let the Games Begin. We all really enjoyed this game thoroughly and had a great time, even though we were in detention. The owners rightly market towards families being based on a holiday park but the games we had done up until this point at DreadLock, were enjoyable and did challenge us. A cracking venue with people that genuinely want you to have a nice time and to obviously escape.
Team: 4 Players
Time Escaped: 47:00
Success/Failed: Success
Company Details:
August 2023
DreadLock- Bodmin
Witch Way Out
Overview
This was our only visit to DreadLock, wanting to complete all 3 rooms on one visits and last up was Witch Way Out. After reading other reviews this appeared to be the more difficult of all 3 rooms but still focused on the family market due to being based on a holiday park.
The location was easily signposted at the back of a holiday park and has plenty of parking onsite. We were greeted by one of the owners and received our brief in the small waiting area. There are refreshments available and a small selection of games.
We enjoyed the previous games, Let the Games Begin and Detention and we were taken back into the waiting area and were given our brief by our host before being taken into the darks woods to start. Due to the room being family friendly, it is not a horror room by any means but more spooky. You are given the option at the briefing if you would like the jump factors or not and we did go for it, despite one of our team really not being a fan of spooky rooms.
The first thing to mention is the optional spooky elements really aren’t that bad but they did add a nice little element to the immersion of the room. The woods are dimly lit and the background music/noises really do help immersive you into the theme of the game. Even though it was dark in the woods, there was enough light for us to see and there were a couple of torches for added assistance. As the game progressed, the immersion continued in a pretty much linear manner and in our opinion, this was probably the best room on site.
Luckily for us as a team, I do like maths. This game did seem to have more maths puzzles than most rooms we have tried. Do not worry as there are plenty of other cryptic puzzles that kept us all busy. None of the puzzles are that taxing due to being focused on families and not professionals/enthusiasts but as in the previous two rooms, all of the puzzles were great fun and they flowed really easily for us. The puzzles were linear in this room and as per normal, we did split up into pairs and came to a natural point where we all came together. The ending of the room was definitely different from a lot of other escape rooms we have done and although the ending was different, the finesse could be better in leading you out of the room.
There is a TV in the room where the timer is showing throughout. There was a button to push if you did need some assistance. On this occasion, we did not require any help but knowing how good the hosts were on the other two rooms we completed, if we did need the hint, we are sure it would have been timely and helpful.
Round Up
If you are visiting Cornwall then we say make this a must for a not too taxing but thoroughly enjoyable escape room experience. The owners and hosts are enthusiastic about their product and should be proud of what they have achieved. Yes the rooms will not challenge escape room enthusiasts and professionals but all of our team came away from the day at DreadLock saying the same thing, we all loved all 3 rooms and it is very rare to come across a company that we all enjoyed every room.
Team: 4 Players
Time Escaped: 37:00
Success/Failed: Success
Company Details:
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