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

Something I definitely haven’t played enough of is the futuristic space theme. Being a bit of a sci-fi geek, it is a genre that I love, and love to see done well. The few games I have played have shown enough creativity to overlook the occasional Dr Who-wobbly set and give a real nostalgia rush back to The Adventure Game (iykyk). The Hunt is firmly in this category, with a hefty dollop of The Escape Goat’s wicked humour.

This visit must have been a world first for GATAPAE in that we turned up more than half-an-hour early. The lovely Kym had sorted a schedule for us to play their three games back-to-back and I’d managed to write down our dummy booking time rather than the agreed start time. So, many thanks to the Escape Goat team for rolling with my idiocy with such charm and hospitality.

The Hunt is a ‘test your worth’ game, where you are challenged to retrieve a power cell, completing aptitude tests along the way. The test results will assign you to your appropriate society in the war-ravaged galaxy, or you can fail and float in space for eternity. It is a fun narrative device that is a good excuse for puzzles while genuinely delivering some jeopardy.

The set is great – everything you want from a spaceship, with sliding hatches and tubes, flashing lights and a very sarcastic on-board computer assistant. It is cleverly built into its own pod-like space, which really adds to immersion; it never feels like an office in Dover. It is also, for those that find this important, pretty much padlock-free, with an absolutely appropriate level of technology.

The puzzles themselves are nicely on theme too, with plenty of practical tasks requiring teamwork and moving around the space. There is also a fun section at the end that may make or break your team harmony, particularly as a two! Fortunately our sisterhood survived this – it was actually more sorely tested by Aunty Ant’s inability to identify an alarm…

We found this a super-entertaining, very original experience that, for me anyway, pressed all the right buttons on childhood sci-fi nostalgia. An underrated little power orb of a game.

• Storyline: A clever conceit that makes the puzzles fit naturally into the story.
• Theming and Set: Inventively familiar and satisfyingly interactive.
• Searching: Not a factor.
• Puzzles: Great mix of puzzles and observation. And young team members can definitely weigh in with opinions at the end.
• Physicality: Nothing strenuous, maybe a little bit of ducking.
• Scare factor: No scares but a little bit of jeopardy and blaring warning sounds (really, really obvious warning sounds, Aunty Ant).
• Company Age Guidance: “8+. All under 16’s will require an over 18 year old on site at all times”
• Age suitability: Puzzle level requires some more experienced brains, but kids would be able to contribute in a mixed team.

The Escape Goat website