SPOILERS ALERT. This is a complete guide as you see.
As a first timer and an absolute amateur in investigations (as I don't watch CSI but I do play detective games online), I picked 'The Greatest Murder of Westwood' which is the most difficult of all rooms for some fun.
Here, I will share my entire experience for this is a special memory for me. :)
PREFACE IN THE WEBSITE
Westwood, 3rd Feb 1991 – A burnt body was found in a bath tub earlier this morning. The victim was identified as Robert Mckinsey Atkinson, male, 25. This will be another inclusion to the already alarming body count of the recent serial murder case. The serial killer, dubbed by the public as “the symbol” is still at large, leaving pieces of puzzle for the police at every crime scene as a taunt to their in capabilities. You and your team of detectives are working on this case closely and have arrived on the next crime scene only to be knocked out mysteriously…
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: 5/5
This is the most difficult room out of all the 5 rooms offered by Breakout Avenue K.
*Book your slot online and arrive 15minutes early for briefing and registration.
We arrived 30minutes early but had our 5minutes.
Min 2 ppl, Max 5ppl.
So, there were only two of us, first-timers, no experience and we chose the hardest level.
The staff were amused by this as they know we were probably gonna lose.
So, 5minutes before the game starts, the facilitator briefed us about the rules and regulations ( DO NOT DESTROY ANY ITEM and NO TAKING PHOTOS/VIDEOS ).
Game is timed at 45minutes.
We were given 5 characters to choose from, each comes with a different ability.
TIME BENDER
The person will have an extra 5minutes in the game.
If time is not used, it can be swapped with a hint.
LIGHT BRINGER
The person will get a torchlight.
THE SCHOLAR
Person can ask for an answer.
LOCKMASTER
Person can have one passcode.
It can be swapped for a hint.
THE ORACLE
Person will have an insight of the scenes (clues) via photographs.
We chose THE SCHOLAR and TIME BENDER.
Do not worry about your bags as you will be given a locker to store your stuffs and you shall hold the key.
We were asked to form a straight line and put our hands on the back of the person in front of you. Then, we shut our eyes and walked to a room.
My heart was pounding fast.
We came to a halt. The Game Master narrated a brief story about the murder and where we were.
We were at the house of Sally, the 6th victim of the murderer who had information about the killer, only to be knocked out and gained consciousness (that's when we opened our eyes and the timer started). We were locked in this room, with one phone that was for texting the Game Master for hints/answer and a 45 minute timer.
The GM also emphasised that in each scene, there would be a symbol block and a lock to be solved. Find the hints.
We needed to search for clues and find a way out.
GAME STARTS.
SCENE 1
My eyes flew open. It was very dark.
I tried to search for the lights. The lights did not work.
We had to use the phone as a source of light.
I vaguely could see it now.
I was in a small room. There was a TV, a cabinet, some clothes on top of the TV rack and some were hanging on a line, a sink, a broom and a mannequin. It gave me such a shock to find that. First thing first, I searched for the body. Her name was labelled as Sally. She was decapitated. She wore a loose pants and a tank top. I found a phone in her trousers pocket. It needed a pattern passcode.
There were some items scattered on top of the cabinet, useless items. I turned to see a calender on the wall with a particular date circled in bold. 13 October 1991.
We found a box that was marked INFINITY 2. This must be the second hint. It was locked with something in it. It had a rotating lock, the nastiest lock of all locks. We spent a lot of time figuring out the lock.
We switched on the TV and it revealed that it had no disc. TV was a good source of light.
After 20minutes of no luck, we found a small note stuck to the back of the box with instructions on them. Turn 3times right from first number, Left full spin for 2nd number and Right to 3rd number. But what were these numbers?! We took so long to figure that out.
To my dismay, I flung the clothes on the TV rack to the ground only to find a cube with a 7 on it. I had a jump and shrieked excitedly to my partner that this was the pattern for the phone. My partner unlocked it and we checked every single part of the phone. Contacts were of a name and 'Serial Killer'. Tried to call them but there was no SIM card so it was to no avail. There were messages in the phone contacting the Serial Killer.
Apparently, Sally was blackmailing the Serial Killer for ransom as she knew some important details about the killer's crimes. They agreed to meet at an address and Sally did not send out her draft message.
We found a picture in the phone, a recipe but with weird numbers... Those were the numbers needed for the lock! Swiftly, we made a few attempts and finally, it worked! We found a string with a small magnet attached at its end. We also found a disc that we played on the CD player. It was a video of some officers in a police office. Three of them seemed to be occupied by their work and when they left, a mysterious man entered
Now, what does it do and how can we get out?
There was a square opening and I stuck my head out to get a better look. An oval lid was on the floor, a perfect match to the tin on the cabinet. We tried to swing the string towards the lid but we failed horribly. Broomstick to the rescue! We tied the string onto the broom and yes! The lid was attracted and revealed a key underneath. After many tries, we got hold of that precious key and unlocked the door, moving on to the next room. 30minutes was gone.
SCENE 2
Again, a dark room but I could see that this was the police office. We began to search around. We pulled open every drawer and found a locked box again and a locked cabinet. This was the part I got blurry.............
There was so much to process at once. Time was running out and evidences are plenty to search for. FUCK.
There was a computer and on the desk, instructions were taped on how to turn on the computer, There were several accounts, all of them were locked with password needed. Laminated papers with suspects on them were scattered on the desk. It seemed like Officer Mandy was in charge of the case. So, we clicked enter in Mandy's account and it showed a password hint, "favourite animal'. My brain clicked! There was a picture of frogs on her table so the passoword was, 'frog'. We found files of cases, 33 of them and a password file that contained the combination to the box. We unlocked it and boom!
My mind was in a whirlwind now, there were bags of evidences that were useless.
According to the dates of murders marked on the calendars, it was a sequence, where the dates were prime numbers and the months were of 31days.
The 7th victim was killed on 17th of December.
Using the evidences and clues, we had to map out the location of the 7th victim using the directions given and the address stated in the message.
The missing letters were N, E
N=12, written on the back of the box.
North pointing to 12 o clock.
Anyway the combination was 15XX. I forgot.
We retrieved a book.We logged into Charlie (?) 's account (PW is sevensins) and it revealed that he was the killer and the chief detective. WHAT A TWIST, CLICHE.
Why is he a killer?
From the book, the 7th sin was curiosity and that was the answer.
It led us to find a key right before the door where we missed.
GAME OVER.
What a good experience.
We missed out a lot of things in the second room and I couldn't remember much either. Note, find the lights in the 2nd room and the hidden box beside Charlie's desk. Pull up the blindfold and look for the map that was taped to the wall. Also, manage your time wisely as we certainly did not have enough time and needed a lot of help to solve it.
BUT IT WAS GREAT.
I AM HAPPY!