36Inch Penguin – The Society – 8/10
Margate, Kent
The Nayland Rock Hotel, once Margate’s most glamorous destination, visited by the rich and famous. A downstairs bar, The Crescent Suite, hosted regular meetings of a little known Society. When the Hotel closed for renovations in the 1980’s the Society and the bar’s Landlady vanished without a trace.
The Crescent Suite never reopened.
For years rumours have persisted of valuable items hidden away in the suite and then, with the death of an American man in 2021, clues came to light of those items whereabouts. The dead man’s children, The Twins, live in the US and can’t come to find them themselves, but…
…with the help of a friendly security guard they can get you inside.
Can you help? For a finders fee of course.
Played September 2022
Upon arrival at the Nayland Rock Hotel in Margate we meet a security guard. He must be the one the twins mentioned. He tells us the history of the hotel. He knows why we’re there and tells us the twins have sent a message. It’s important flavour for what’s to come. The security guard says of course he can’t let us in, he’s there to protect the place, then just needs to step away. He’ll be back in a mo… we make our way into the Crescent Suite.
Holy moly. I mean, it’s not pretty like some of the rooms you see. They haven’t spent loads of money on a set. What they have done is quite unique as far as I know. They have created a story around a location. The Nayland hotel was really closed and the Crescent Suite has not been renovated for decades, so the theme is entirely based on the room that they had use of.
There is lots of story thrown in while you solve, but it’s not overwhelming in any way, which adds to the effect. It took us a little while to get going but we eventually found our groove. Some of the puzzles were completely new to us, which is rare these days. In fact, there were a couple which were very surprising. The hotel owners let them do that? Wild? These puzzles, while not the fancy variety you might see in the likes of Tulley’s, were clearly lovingly hand-crafted and very robust. It was a real breath of fresh air from the types of mass produced room which are fast becoming the norm, wonderful as they are too.
The atmosphere was sometimes creepy, and at other times you’re blasted with 80’s music. Who doesn’t love 80’s music?? Well, D doesn’t, actually, but I do. The ending, also, was very fun and immersive.
Unfortunately for you guys, we played this game on it’s last day. However, look out for future games by 36Inch Penguin. We will be.
Theme/Immersion – 8
Puzzles – 8
Fun Factor – 8
Difficulty – 8
https://www.36inchpenguin.com/
Reviewed by A