We were lucky enough to try out MTG’s new Christmas escape rooms – Grinch Trouble and Totally Scrooged, and what an adventure it was. It’s the perfect thing to do in the run-up to Christmas and without giving too much away, here’s how we got on…
What is an Escape Room?
For those that haven’t played an escape room game before, it’s where a team of players has to discover clues and solve puzzles to achieve an end goal, and all this takes place in a series of rooms, whereby you have to complete the challenges in one room to unlock access to the next. The MTG Escape games are slightly different from usual, as you are not locked in the room, your challenge is to find something that is locked in the room, the door is always unlocked and you are able to go out for a bit of air if required, which reassured all the kids in our group.
Fun Fact: We learnt that it is illegal to lock people in a room in Guernsey without means of escape, hence why the door isn’t locked!
Grinch Trouble
MTG Escapes’ new game is perfect for families as it is based on the Grinch story, however, you don’t need to have watched the film to enjoy the game. In our group we had two adults, three 9-year olds and an 11-year-old.
The games take place at the St Saviour’s Community Centre and if you haven’t been before, the entrance is located at the back of the centre. Head to the back of the car park and on your left you will see an MTG sign which shows you where to go in.
Let the games begin...
The game begins by watching a video which sets the scene and tells you your mission. All the kids were outraged to find out that the Grinch had moved every child’s name onto the naughty list, and it was their mission to move themselves onto the good list. Once the intro film finishes, you are let into the first room and your game starts.
The first room is tiny and, despite this being a game aimed at children, even the adults were stumped by what we had to do first! We were greeted with a fireplace with stockings hanging from it and a Presentometre. You needed to solve both games to unlock the door which led into the main room. The kids took charge and were really engaged in trying to solve the puzzles and after a few clues (you shout that you need help and the MTG staff will give you a hint over the speaker), we managed to unlock the next room, which was greeted with lots of squeals from the kids.
It’s hard to know where to look first in the main room as there is so much to take in. There are no instructions so you just need to look at everything in the room and remember that things are not there for decoration, most things have a purpose. You have to complete numerous separate challenges to unlock 3 tiny rooms with different games in, unlock 6 boxes, build a snowman circle (in the correct colour order), and find the naughty list, all in 45 minutes!!
Before playing the game the person booking will be asked the names of the children in your group. Their names will be added to the naughty list for your game and all the kids in our group were shocked to see their actual names on the naughty list! It really added to their excitement and desire to get onto the good list. Kids have to rub their names off the naughty list and complete all the challenges to reveal the good list. Once they write their names on the good list, you have completed the game, and everyone is rewarded with a chocolate treat.
We're on the GOOD LIST!
Our Verdict...5 Stars!
This was genuinely a great experience, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The game is pitched very well for children of different ages and kept them all entertained and engaged throughout. Even as an all adult group, I would have struggled to solve quite a lot of the puzzles, so it’s certainly not only a game for families with children. The good thing is that there is a lot of support as you can ask for as many clues as you like. For me, the biggest challenge was the fact I couldn’t read any of the clues! Top tip, if you wear reading glasses, take them with you!!
On to Game 2...Totally Scrooged
We were lucky enough to be allowed to try the second of their new Christmas games, Totally Scrooged. This game is aimed at older children and adults, even though younger children can play, they would struggle to solve the games without adult help.
The format of the game is the same, you watch a video (this time inside the game room) and have to listen to your mission. This is the largest game MTG Escapes has ever made and has 4 rooms to complete and 4 friendly ghosts to meet, with the mission to help Scrooge find his Christmas spirit.
Something Completely Different
After completing the first game we all entered Totally Scrooged raring to go, however, our confidence was short-lived as we needed so many clues! It was really tricky but very clever and involved completely different challenges requiring spot-the-difference, button pressing in an exact order, hole punching, a lot of observational skills and so much more! The time for this game is 1 hour but there is no way we could have completed it in that time without so much help.
This game is aimed at older children and adults and the 11-year-old in our group took the lead immediately in this game and he said he preferred it to the first game, whereas the younger kids all preferred Grinch Trouble (but they were very happy to receive another Christmas chocolate once we completed this game!).
Those with additional needs
If anyone in your group has an additional need, I would definitely mention it at the time of booking so that accommodations can be made. They want it to be an experience enjoyed by all, and I can certainly vouch for that. One of my girls is autistic and doesn’t like dark rooms, loud noises and generally anything unexpected, so she was kindly shown the Totally Scrooged rooms before we started the game. She saw it with all the lights on and the noises and dark spaces were shown to her so she was prepared for them in the game. This made a massive difference, and I really appreciated it, as it meant she could enjoy playing the game as much as everyone else.
Thank you MTG Escapes for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and one I recommend to anyone looking for something fun to do as a family. The new Escape games costs £15 for adults, 12-18yrs £10, 7-12yrs £7.50, under 7yrs £5. Note that all teams must have one adult player. Christmas Escapes are running until 7th Jan 2023. For more info and to book CLICK HERE.
