Review: Curse of the Lost Temple escape room, Cluetopia Braintree

When the Shaw Theatre stopped their Christmas pantomimes, we had to change our Christmas Eve family ritual. These days we watch a Christmas movie at the cinema, do an escape room then head home for take out.

This year it was the turn of Cluetopia Braintree, and the Curse of the Lost Temple Escape room.

The story behind the Curse of the Lost Temple is extremely simple:

Deep in the jungle lies an ancient temple, long forgotten until a reckless adventurer stole the golden orb, hoping for fortune. In doing so, he unleashed the temple’s vengeful spirit, cursing him to never leave the jungle alive. You only have one hour to return the orb to the temple gods, and seal the spirit before it escapes the temple!

Gamesmaster Lola gave us a quick spiel, then let us loose in the jungle…

What did we think of The Curse of the Lost Temple escape room?

There were a few reasons we chose The Curse of the Lost temple:

• We have found previous Cluetopia games to be very well put together
• It is one of the hardest rooms available at the Braintree location
• It is quite close to the cinema in Braintree

The Curse of the Lost Temple is well constructed and has some novel puzzles. There are a lot of padlocks, but the puzzles needed to solve them are suitably challenging, ensuring we never got bored.

Cluetopia have managed to maximise the playing space with this multi room affair. And there are enough puzzles to keep everyone engaged – there’s no standing around waiting while someone tries to solve a single challenge.

There are no outright physical challenges in this room, making it ideal for those who prefer their puzzles to be more cerebral.

Top Tip: Looking for a discount on The Curse of the Lost Temple or other Cluetopia escape rooms? Check out our Complete List of Escape Room Discount Codes

Like the other Cluetopia rooms, this is a one-and-done game. Props and puzzles are used once, then you move on to the next challenge. This is definitely our preferred game format.

Any criticisms?

Nope, the Curse of the Lost Temple is very well put together and a lot of thought has gone into making some clever, challenging puzzles. As with the Invitation (which we played a few weeks ago), the theming and attention to detail is high. 

It’s worth noting that there is crawling involved in one puzzle. Let your most able-bodied player do the crawling and wait for them to open the next door…

Conclusion

Cluetopia advertises The Curse of the Lost Temple is as their second hardest room at the Braintree location. Despite having a level four rating this game is much easier than The Invitation (with a level 5 rating).

The room has been well-maintained and none of the decor is worn-out or damaged. Well done to Lola and the other Cluetopia games masters who clearly take good care of the property.

The game did not feel particularly difficult and we made good progress. At no point did we lose interested or become frustrated – and that’s a sign of a good escape room.

Our game stats:

Number of players: 3 (aged 23 – 61)
Time taken: 47 minutes
Number of clues: 1
Did we escape? Yes
Did we have fun? Yes

Price: £78.00 (£26 per player)*
Would we recommend? Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5

Other important stats for The Curse of the Lost Temple escape room:
Time limit: 60 minutes
Mobility rating: 1 out of 5 (the game operates on one level but at least one player will must be able to crawl. Also of note, the game is located on the second floor – there is no lift in the building).
Live actors: No
Cluetopia difficulty rating: 4 out of 5
Official website: Cluetopia Braintree

* We had a 20% discount code, reducing the overall cost to £62.40

Where is the Curse of the Lost Temple escape room in Braintree?

Cluetopia is located on Rayne Road in Braintree, above Artoria Tattoos. Entrance is through the gateway on Panfield Lane.

Our booking confirmation suggested parking in the Sainsbury’s car park, one block south of Rayne Road (see the map above).

Please note that we use sponsored links on this blog. Although we may earn a referral fee or bonus points on some of these products and services mentioned, we never recommend anything we wouldn’t use ourselves. 

Check out our full Affiliate Disclosure Policy for more info.