Ready...Set...Marlowe! - Escaping Marlowe's Ghost
By Danai Paraskevopoulou, Gisela Harbers, Ogo Anokwuru and Timea Koppandi
Marlowe’s Kit would be a great way to spend your Saturday night, not clubbing or drinking, but bonding and having a laugh trying to complete an escape room. It provides something different than other escape rooms, so go and built memories with friends! It would be perfect especially for freshers as a bonding experience with their housemates. Take a group of close friends, course mates, housemates, girl/boyfriend or even ride solo and take great pleasure in trying to solve the mysteries of Marlowe’s Kit Escape Room!
The goal in each room was to solve the puzzles, finding clues and cracking codes in order to find the keys to open the door for the next room. The entire design behind the Escape room and its puzzles, is very witty. The story of the Escape Room displays the early modern lifestyle of Christopher Marlowe, his work and eventually his death. The information was given at the right time, without overwhelming the player and making them remember key details about all the aspects of Christopher Marlowe’s existence. A playwriter who was overshadowed in popularity by his contemporary, William Shakespeare, Marlowe’s work has
hardly been given the attention that it deserves, especially in his lifetime. The creators of the Escape Room have undertaken the difficult task of comprising crucial information about Marlowe’s life, in such a way that it captures the attention of the player and it draws him in even more. When playing, you often overlook the flow of the clues and the way they blend together, but once you finish and have time to think them through, they all build the image of Christopher Marlowe.
The overall atmosphere of the escape room was quite spooky, therefore during the entirety of the game we have had the impression that someone will jump out and scare us. The music, sound effects and the design of the rooms successfully transported us into another century. The old furniture and pictures of people dressed from another century, added to the authenticity of the story. We have been given the task of saving Marlowe’s work before they are ruined. His ghost is also involved, seeing as we owe him a debt and therefore he is present in the game to help us with our task. With a great interactive teamwork we unlocked all the rooms and we got out of the escape room in less than an hour.
The overall experience was really enjoyable. Our team was on edge the whole time, due to the suspense that was cleverly well-built by the atmosphere of the rooms and nature of the story. We even overreacted to a few jump scares, including loud noises, sudden strobe lights, and seeing one of the employees in a robe, because our nervous energy was so high! The rooms were designed very well into a creepy aesthetic which added to the overall experience.
Although it was a great experience discovering clues and keys to each part of the game, it can get quite frustrating at times, when you are stuck on the same issue for a long time. Escape rooms require quick thinking but also deep thought, skill and patience as a lack of this will have you stuck in there for a while. Overall, we really loved it and we recommend any student to try it out for a different evening entertainment!
Images Courtesy of TheMarloweTheatre.com
