RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 20:01
This here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness! Wait, no, wrong train. Anyway, ALL ABOARD!!!
Fix the past. Save the future.
You’re just in time — barely! A catastrophic mistake in the past has started unraveling reality, sending shockwaves through history and rewriting the future in real time. The only way to fix things? Book a trip aboard Timeliner, the high-tech, time-traveling train. But don’t expect a relaxing ride. Visit multiple centuries and find clues in the past, present, and future. Crack codes and restore order before our timeline collapses completely. The past is broken. The future’s fading fast. And the clock is against you.
Step aboard the glitzy Timeliner, the world’s most renowned luxury locomotive. Rather than a typical ride on the rails, this train traverses the space-time continuum! Someone has left modern artifacts in the ancient past, and it’s causing the very fabric of reality to unravel.
Passengers on board are tasked with traveling between the centuries in order to restore the timeline to its rightful state. The Timeliner makes stops at a variety of destinations, with ticket-holders getting to experience everything from the prehistoric era to the far-off future.
Time travelers will get to choo-choo-choose how to best fix the course of history as they navigate the wonders of the past and the mysteries of what is yet to come. Conductors and engineers work alongside porters and station masters to ensure that the course of time gets back on track, before existence as the human race knows it derails.
The Timeliner train car is the main environment in which passengers spend their journey. Dark mahogany wood lines the walls, accented by windows bordered with red velvet drapes, tied back with gold cords. An array of luggage sits on the overhead racks, hinting that guests from a myriad of eras are on board. Big band and swing music plays in the background, to match the Art Deco wall sconces. One corner of the railway cabin serves as a cargo hold; wooden storage crates and rope netting are piled high.
The journey into the future demonstrates how corporations have taken complete control over the economy; the entirety of the transfer station is covered with advertisements for various sponsored goods and products. The transit hub highlights the various lines one can choose to traverse upon.
Time travelers are transported to Ancient Egypt, where havoc is being wreaked. The sandstone walls are lined with towering pillars, each topped with large ceramic pots. The altar to the gods and pharaohs has been, well, altered. The hieroglyphs and canopic jars are shown interspersed with depictions of modern technology and apparel; there are images of figures wearing jeans and t-shirts amongst the loincloths and headdresses.
Guests aboard the Timeliner must utilize a variety of skills to correct the chronological chaos. Each time period has its own unique riddles to solve. A juggling jester from the Medieval times must ensure that his entertainment skills are up to par to satisfy the royal court. Rube Goldberg Machines and other marvelous inventions highlight the Renaissance’s “rebirth” of thinking in a heightened, more intellectual manner.
At least one member of the ticketed companions must be dexterous and flexible, as a small number of tasks require crouching quite close to the floor of the train car. Physical challenges abound, as passengers face off against pharaohs, knights, and even dinosaurs.
Even the train itself features into the fray, as everything from the whistle to the luggage racks figures into the numerous activities. The whole of the Timeliner contributes to the immersion into the storyworld, as all objectives make sense and fit into their respective moments in history.
This thrilling adventure brings time travelers through the course of history, and shows how even the smallest of changes can have a profound effect on generations to come. It seamlessly combines the past, present, and future into one exhilarating trip through time.
The pristine train excursion through the ages allows for an innovative series of puzzles and a unique storyworld to come to life. Historians can breathe easy knowing that the intrepid and brave passengers can be trusted to restore the timeline to its proper format, saving humanity and the course of events from being forever lost to the sands of time.
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Venue: The Escape Game
Location: Tysons Corner, Virginia
Number of Games: 6
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 minutes
Capacity: 8 people
Group Type: Public or Private / You may or may not be paired with strangers depending on your choice of ticket type.
Cost: $41.99 per person
We thank The Escape Game for inviting us to play this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, that in no way impacts the opinion included within this review.
