Present, in November 2023, were: The Ant, Aunty Ant

The final leg of our 2023 Kent tour took us to Mythologic in Gillingham. We’d missed out on the last tour, and nearly didn’t fit them in this, but we were glad we made time.

Mr Todds was also almost a secondary choice, as three psychopathic murderer rooms in one trip felt like, well, overkill. But we were persuaded, partly by the Golden Padlock on Escape The Review, and partly because the Mr Todd in question is Sweeney. And we always appreciate a nice bit of baking…

We were told beforehand that this isn’t particularly a horror game. We were also told that it isn’t dark – we had moments when we would probably dispute both those statements! But in all fairness, the dark was quite nicely handled, improved vastly as we went through the game and is likely less of an issue for better eyes. As far as the horror goes, it definitely isn’t a scream-fest, jump-scare, pants-wetting experience. It does, however, have a stealthy menace and a reasonable amount of ick, and we had quite a few doors we were on edge opening – sensitive types with overactive imaginations might find it more terrifying than we did. Overall, we found it a good balance of creepy puzzling which stayed true to the theme, but it wasn’t a sunny afternoon in the park.

The set is truly impressive, in scale, ambition, engineering and authentic design. It feels genuinely expansive and travels very effectively through different facets of the Sweeney Todd story, without resorting to the “team as victim” cliches. Great attention to detail and manages to be efficiently furnished without resorting to red herrings – almost all the decor is used in one task or another.

The puzzles stick to the theme and there is a good variety to suit every puzzling brain. With the size of the space, several of the tasks are quite physical (without needing a huge amount of exertion) and also allow all the team to get involved. It isn’t exactly non-linear but there is plenty for the team to split up and investigate. There was a lot for us to do as a two!

We struggled on a couple of the tasks, as some things maybe require a more delicate touch than we could manage, but the logic and structure and satisfying reveals were spot on.

This is a proper classy operation, with some great originality, atmospheric visuals and really immersive tasks. A thrilling adventure and well recommended.

• Storyline: No strong set-up story, basically just “get out”, but nice flow through the game.
• Theming and Set: Impressive (some dim lighting).
• Searching: Not a factor, very puzzle-focused.
• Puzzles: Logic and observation-based with some nice tech.
• Physicality: A bit of scrabbling, some hand-eye tasks, mostly negotiating the huge space.
• Scare factor: “Not scary” says their website. But definitely creepy.
• Company Age Guidance: “Family friendly” says the game’s booking page. FAQ says “Mr. Todds is our hardest game, is dark and contains areas of gore, parental guidance is advised. Children cant play on their own. In all events, players under 16 must be accompanied by an adult”.
• Age suitability: Follow their FAQs on this one. I’d say more suitable for the teenage market rather than younger, unless you have a very robust tween.

Mythologic website