The Bunker by Fox in the Box

“A missed opportunity”

Reception at the location was a bit underwhelming, we were left to wait in the middle of a crowded waiting room without much of instructions on the modality of our next steps. After that slight awkward moment, we were attended for and after a concise  introduction were ushered in the Bunker.

Looking around the room, I love the set dressing, the props are real and the room does look like a official bunker office from the cold war. There is a bit of an off-beat, not too serious spy atmosphere (the Fox leaving a "spy note" behind , the fox inserted in old war picture on the wall) but as often, the storyline is rapidly forgotten to let the spotlight to our favorite device: the coded padlock! The room is full of them.

It is really a pity that the realism of the prop dressing doesn’t carry over to puzzle, with plastic clue sheets hidden everywhere in the room.  A lot of one-off - no lead-in - What in the Hell moment down to sometime quite ridicule extent. Let’s put it that way, in more than one instance, I felt more like a high-schooler than a spy. Crypto puzzles make send for spy games, school math problems don’t. 

We couldn’t finish the room, I don’t even think we came close. The staff showed little compassion, and no debrief - I like when the staff goes over with us the last puzzle so we can see the end of the room when we fail - and we were back on the street after a quick picture. 

Overall, the bunker feels like a room with so much potential that gets muddled by underwhelming, frustrating puzzles. ​

​Rating: 3/5