Chelmsford Escape Rooms: The Governor

By | March 20, 2019

by Chelmsford Escape Rooms (website)

Interface Moulsham Mill Project, Parkway, CM2 7PX

Chelmsford

2-8 players

60 minutes

You and your team of paranormal investigators are exploring the remains of HM Greenslade Prison when you are captured, blindfolded, handcuffed and find yourselves locked in a cell. You have one hour to escape. Will you make it out?
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Overall rating

Rated between 3.5 and 4 out of 5

based on ratings from 17 users
combined with 1 pro review

Your review

Player reviews

Jose Adrian experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: Team size: 2 Time taken: Outcome: Failed πŸ™
Ksen experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 2021 Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed πŸ™
originalimmersivequite difficultπŸ‘»scary
sambrandman expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 23 Jul 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 60:00 Outcome: Failed πŸ™
story-drivendesign flaws

Much of the Governor was reviewed at another Franchise in Chelmsford by Toby (which you can find elsewhere on this site).

On the plus side then was a strong theme (Prison break/haunted/psycho combination), with a nice variety of puzzles (albeit that at times it felt a little bit disjointed). There was a nice series of spaces that took you on a journey through the Prison.

There are however a number of flaws in the game, which detracted from our experience, and many of which could be reasonably easily addressed to improve the experience. There were some puzzles where you needed to search a dimly lit room with one UV torch to know where to start – never a fun experience. Another puzzle had accessibility issues, where we knew exactly what the puzzle was asking to do, and came to a solution, but couldn’t work out what needed changing due to poor lighting. Whilst the venue has a habit of leaving redundant information as deliberate red herrings, there was a feature in one of the spaces which I was genuinely astonished was not labelled β€œnot part of the game”. 

For larger groups, redundant information is unlikely to be as big an issue, since by dividing and conquering these can be relatively quickly eliminated. For smaller groups, it can be frustrating, particularly in a game with so many padlocks.

Of note is that whilst we failed this room as a pair, apparently no group of 2 had succeeded at the room (at least at that venue) beforehand, and the pass rate was averaging around 10% for a larger group. We failed to reach a certain part of the game, and yet apparently had done β€œincredibly well” for a group of 2, which felt rather jarring.

This is a game that with minor modifications could be brought up to a much closer level to their β€œRob the bank” game.

Not suitable for young families, and those who scare easily should request adjustments from the Game Manager first.

πŸ”James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 10/07/2021 Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed πŸ™
immersivegreat hostingquite difficult😨creepy
I do love a bit of theatre when starting a room and this does deliver that, as stated on the website you are blindfolded and handcuffed whilst the spooke voice of the "Governor" plays out, but don't worry you are out of your handcuffs nearly immediately.  This is a fairly creepy game where the GM was happy to tone the creepiness/shocks up or down (we toned them down for my ER partner) but (like Crazy Cat Lady) there are clever but fiendish puzzles and again (like Crazy Cat) we seemed to run out of steam in a few places after tearing through the early part of the room.  We failed to escape and when the GM walked us through we were further away than I thought but there is still a lot to like in this room.
Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 4 Jul 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 44:01 Outcome: Successful escape!
abooth expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 5 Feb 2022 Team size: 3 Time taken: 36 Outcome: Successful escape!

Theatrical, fun, flows really well. We just clicked with this room and flew through it, but didn't feel bored at any point.

benny1664 experienced rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 19 Apr 2022 Team size: 3 Time taken: 53 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-driven

I liked this game and it seemed to flow well.  Its a bit creepy so not one for small children or those easily frightened!  The puzzle all seemed to work well and it was a lot to do in 60mins so it definitely filled the time.  I don't feel we struggled on anything really and didnt have much time left at all.  Good solid game, nothing ground breaking but still a good one to play and I liked the set/theming.

Wesley Mead expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 10 May 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52m Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenintensequite difficult😨creepy

We preferred the first half to the second half, but overall still a very good game with really inventive use of space and an appropriately grimy vibe

🦑cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: May 2022
Ratchel experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
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Reviews by escape room review sites

The premise of The Governor is that you're a group of ghost hunters imprisoned in an abandoned prison by an ex-prisoner - thereby managing to combine no fewer than three of the classic escape room themes in an unexpected fusion of haunted house, prison break and homicidal maniac. That blend allowed the tone to range from sly humour to some genuine creepiness without ever feeling incongruous.

I found both the build and the atmospherics impressive. A complex layout makes it a larger and much more...

See also

Other copies of this game in other locations:(Different copies of the same game sometimes have significant differences.)