Key Info
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
- 60 Minute Game
- 2 - 6 Players
- 67.9% with an average 52 Minutes 54 Seconds.
- £30 Per Player
- Nearby Pay & Displays
- 6/10 Difficulty
We Escaped In
44 Minutes
- Pete, Nate, Meg, Smithy
- December 2023
Room Brief
You and your team have made it to the legendary Cypherdyne interview! Prepare for an hour-long ordeal that is no typical interview. Only the exceptional few survive this interview full of formidable challenges to really test your skills.
The promise of the job of a lifetime pushes you to confront whatever challenge the CEO has devised. Succeed and you will get a flourishing career with boundless possibilities, but that’s easier said than done.
There is no escape once the interview begins and the challenges are daunting
Has your team got what it takes to earn the job of a lifetime? Or will you bomb out and be swept aside just before the next candidates arrive?
Arrival
Our last visit to Nottingham saw us take on our highest rated escape room to Date, Daylight Robbery. So needless to say we were super keen to get back up to Cryptology and take on some of their other escape rooms. The venue is really easy to find located on one of the main streets in Central Nottingham. This did mean parking nearby was a bit of a nightmare on a busy Saturday ahead of Christmas!Â
Our visit on this occasion saw us take on two escape rooms to celebrate Nate’s birthday, and first up was the Interview meets bomb disarming Cypherdyne v1.5.Â
Immersion
Pete
Nate
The scenario at Cypherdyne saw us take on the role of candidates tackling a high stakes, and potentially explosive, job interview. As such the theming is predominantly centred around being in a high tech office environment. The look that Cryptology have achieved definitely fits the brief but it does have to be said the level of finesse is not quite as high as in Daylight Robbery and Rameseize. That’s not to say the setting isn’t executed well, it absolutely is and the room definitely gives off a corporate and somewhat clinical vibe through minimalistic use of wall art and furniture.Â
The main entrance gave us the impression of a typical open plan office with the sort of things you would expect to find when you head to work. A couple of desks being the main feature, equipped with computers and stationary to complete the office vibe. There were some immediately visible game elements which we knew would come into play but thankfully these all felt at home in the room. As did the various items we came across during gameplay that we were to use as part of our escape.Â
Puzzles & Challenges
Pete
Nate
Cypherdyne is a traditional, linear style escape room which manages to incorporate a good mix of padlock based puzzles as well as more high tech elements before culminating in a delicate finale.Â
The room offers a big enough space that initial gameplay has to involve a thorough search of the room and for four players there was more than enough to keep us each individually occupied. The game allows for moments of separate exploration before solving a larger puzzle forces the team back together again. The very first stage of the game might seem to be a little padlock heavy, many of the things we needed to solve in the opening stages of the game centred around locked areas in the workspace. Doing so however, required use of other more high tech items around the room or revealed items that would lead to larger more complicated puzzles. There was some brilliant use of generic office tech we probably all use daily as part of the game which we thought was really clever, and pretty unique to Cypherdyne.Â
The gameplay feels pretty normal through the first 75% of the game we’d say. After that though, Cypherdyne becomes somewhat more high pressure with the final puzzle needing to be solved in exactly the right way. A task that involves clear team work, an eye for detail and patience. One wrong move here and the interview will be terminated. At the very end of the game when most teams will be racing to finish in time, the game requires a level head and a somewhat slower pace to successfully finish. Genius!Â
Games Master & Clues
Pete
Nate
Our games master for Cypherdyne wasn’t messing about! Cryptology lock their front door between games so no sooner were we in, we were on our way up the stairs to the room opening and inside the game before we knew it. Once in the doorway we were given our brief clearly, and advised about some of the more unique elements of the game that required some special attention. She was brief, concise but ultimately very friendly and welcoming.Â
Inside the game, clues were transmitted via a wall mounted screen in the room. We didnt ask for any clues during gameplay, but we were given a couple encouraging nudges in the right direction when we were skirting around a few puzzle solutions. Sometimes wall mounted screens can feel a little out of place, but in a corporate themed room it blended right in. A lot more than a walkie talkie would have …
Value for Money
Pete
Nate
As we played as part of a team of four the cost of an hour in Cypherdyne came out at £26 per person which feels pretty reasonable for a venue that has been recognised as having some of the best games in the World. Cryptology offer a tiered system so two players would be charged £30 per person which is a little on the pricier side, but you get what you pay for.Â
Parking in Nottingham can be a bit of a nightmare and we did struggle to find somewhere to park to play. We couldn’t find any free parking nearby so had to settle for one of the pay and display multi-storey options nearby. This wasn’t too expensive but is something you’ll have to consider if driving up. A couple options are on the same road as the venue, they were full when we visited but would have been the best option.Â
Enjoyment
Pete
Nate
Cypherdyne is a brilliant room that was great fun to play through. As a team of four we felt challenged but not overwhelmed. It is a well designed room and it does look convincing, however it doesn’t quite give off the same wow factor that other games at Cryptology have achieved. We’d probably have appreciated this room a lot more had we not first played Daylight Robbery on our first trip to Cryptology. It’s really hard for any room to live up to the expectation of matching our favourite game.Â
In its own merit, Cypherdyne is a great game. If you’re planning a trip to Cryptology, we’d suggest starting with this room.Â
