Oh no, Agent November is captured and held prisoner by the evil mastermind Marty Orri. Someone should save him! Who, me? I assume the identity of Agent Purple and join the rescue mission. But wait, there are no other agents available, I must do this all by myself! Welcome to my worst nightmare.
I’m never going back to physical escape rooms!
I have a very complicated relationship with escape games. I love them, but I’m not always very good at them. Especially when it comes to mathematical problems or reading maps; I’m useless. So my enjoyment essentially depends on how the puzzles are designed. I have tried both real world escape rooms and escape board games to a varying level of success. This was my first attempt at a virtual escape room.
Virtual X-Caper is designed for Zoom, so you stay in contact with Agent November the whole time and see the premises through his eyes. This makes the experience truly immersive. To a bossy person like me, this was perfect. I got to order the agent around while he did all the manual work. I’m never going back to physical escape rooms! The mission uses the online environment in several ways, but that’s classified information.
The show has won several escape room awards, and I’m not surprised. The puzzles are truly imaginative and the clues extremely clever. The agent theme is delivered tongue in cheek, with Agent November proving to be quite a comedian. His character is much closer to Inspector Gadget than Mr. Bond, and his physical comedy style will also appeal to the younger agents. The mission requires a bit of beforehand preparation, so don’t leave it at the last minute.
As always, you have 60 minutes to find clues, solve puzzles and use gadgets to save the day. All puzzles can be solved with lateral thinking and piecing together clues − with a little help from Agent November. I was most impressed by the subtle way he nudged me towards the right direction when I got lost. I felt like it was me alone solving the puzzles, even if he probably helped me more than I realised. Working out the puzzles together with a live actor was so much better than having to ask for extra clues.
The only downside would be if everybody started talking over the top of others on Zoom. Since the team’s directions dictate the mission, six people shouting conflicting commands would probably blow a socket in poor Agent November’s head. Much to my surprise, I did manage to rescue the agent with 14 seconds to spare. Mission accomplished, Agent Purple signing out.
