Escapologic Nottingham – Curio

The Story:
Be careful what you wish for.

An Englishman’s home is his castle. Or his curio if he’s a treasure hunter who’s spent a lifetime collecting trinkets from all four corners of the globe. Alexander Curio was a true eccentric. A legendary explorer who left no stone unturned in his search for gems and gimcracks. To him, life was a gamble, with fate to be decided on a whim or a flip of a coin. A mysterious loner who loved to raise the stakes until they could be raised no higher.

Alexander’s life was one big puzzle. Only a select few ever got beyond his front door. You’re about to join their exclusive ranks. At first glance, Curio looks like the home of an explorer whose passion for chasing treasures has taken him from the Thames to Timbuktu. But the clue lies in the name. Secrets lie within her seemingly innocent walls and trinkets hold the key to untold riches. Fortune favours the brave but riches come at a price.

Who is the man behind the enigma? Was his death the result of some cruel, cosmic irony? And does he really want to share the treasures hidden away within the labyrinth he calls home?

This is no ordinary home. Alexander is anything but an ordinary man. Now he’s inviting you into his world. But once you enter, there’s no going back…

The theming in Curio is outstanding – everything is wonderfully tactile and looks like something out of a Jules Verne novel with wood panelling, brass knobs and levers, and an abundance of curious bits and pieces to take in, but despite having so much to look at it’s paced perfectly and the first task becomes clear very quickly.

From here, a very linear path is started through the experience and before long the first surprise happens… and unsurprisingly this is probably what most people will remember most about Curio, and with good reason! There is a pretty unique feature to this room which simply blew us away.

I could call it a gimmick, but that wouldn’t do it justice as the room would still be incredible without it, but it does enhance what is already an amazing experience.

Curio is certainly not a standard ‘open the padlocks’ type room, in fact I think there were only a couple in there right near the end and they weren’t even a puzzle as such. The closest I could describe it as would be like playing a real life version of The Room by Fireproof Games. If you’ve ever played any of that series and enjoyed them then this is the room for you, and if you haven’t played them then get them now!

Everything about this room seems either custom made or customised, as there’s nothing about the place that seems it could be ‘off the shelf’, and the attention to detail is second to none.

The clue system is incredibly simple, coming though in a kind of code which you have a translator for on the wall (all fitting with the theming) which points you in the general direction of what you should be concentrating on at that point in the proceedings. Very effective, and always judged perfectly.

I could carry on raving about this room, but it’s getting difficult not to give too much away so I’ll just reiterate what I said back at the start of the review.

Best. Room. Ever.