I received a Peatix recommendation of this event via email and it piqued my interest as it was an escape game organized at a lesser known venue in Singapore – the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. This museum, a national monument gazetted back in 1994, houses exhibits that tell of Nanyang’s involvement in the 1911 Revolution. Singaporeans and Permanent Residents can enjoy complimentary entry here, but not to worry if you’re a foreigner as the entry fee is still very reasonably priced.
- Inclusions:
- Lost In Time – The Case Of The Missing Researcher tickets for 2 pax
- Spent: SGD$16
In this escape game, our task was to investigate the disappearance of a renowned researcher who had vanished while studying a mysterious 19th century artefact and to bring him back to the present. There were a couple of time slots to choose from and we selected the 2.30pm to 4pm slot.
Things got off to a shaky start as during the briefing to participants, the staff themselves were still discussing certain issues in cliques and passing last-minute items to each other. Furthermore, we were given a file with clue sheets already written on by past players. Once we alerted the staff about this, they hurriedly changed ours out. In general, the organization and coordination felt quite haphazard and unprofessional.
On to the game! We needed to complete first stage (involving only the exhibits on level 1 before proceeding to the second stage (involving one specific exhibit on level 2). We took approximately 50 minutes to complete the entire game.
The puzzles were fairly easy and sufficiently varied in their mechanics, requiring skills of observation, matching and word unscrambling. Based on the clue sheets, we had to figure out which exhibit to refer to and derive the solution from there. Our unanimous favourite was the one which entailed paper-folding, something we’d never seen or tried before! Pretty cool (:
Most of the puzzles took place during the first stage while the second stage only comprised one puzzle. Once we completed everything, we had to head back down to identify and correctly place a totem portal on an electronic base. This base would light up only if you placed it correctly, what a nifty gadget!
One aspect we thought could be improved was the fact that staff were a little too quick to jump in to help. For the third puzzle, we had just barely taken out our clue sheet when a staff intervened and basically guided us through the mechanics of it, which did take away from the whole puzzle-solving experience.
We never knew this location existed until this escape game and I think the team did a good job introducing it with elements of fun. Typically, places like these wouldn’t be on our to-visit list but after the game, we realised some of the exhibits were actually rather fascinating. The artefacts and information were presented in an artful and aesthetically pleasing manner, which we quite enjoyed. In fact, when the staff wanted to usher us downstairs after we completed the second stage, we requested to view the rest of the exhibits that weren’t covered by the escape game.
At the end of the experience, we were presented with a souvenir each (:
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. I was glad to have been “lured” to visit this quaint, interesting museum that my husband and I wouldn’t have visited otherwise. The puzzles themselves were logical and sufficiently varied but most didn’t pose much of a challenge. Alas, our experience was plagued with overly helpful staff who practically offered answers to the puzzles, as well as poor communication and coordination among the team of staff. I’m not sure if it was their first time doing this but it just didn’t feel like a well-organized event. It also wasn’t immersive at all, with the storyline taking a back seat throughout. Anyway, at least the tickets were really affordable and we got to check this place out!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
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