"Did you just try to lock me in a cabin?"

overview

This well-furnished tent is as close to camping as I’m ever going to get. We heard that a couple of people went missing last week. Seems a bit creepy. Wait… Did you hear that?

Trapology crafts a decently unique story with The Retreat. Camping in the woods, players must find out what happened to the people before them, and avoid suffering a similar fate. This uncommon backstory makes for some clever interactions that couldn't work anywhere else. 

The Retreat is advertised as a creepy game, and it does contain some creepy elements, but all the fear is psychological. There's no jumpscares, actors, or loud noises in this room, and the creepiness is relatively low, as there's only one room I would consider spooky. 

quick stats

gameplay time: 60 minutes

recommended team size: 2-3 players

difficulty: 2/5

scare level: 2/5

location: Boston, MA

website: https://trapologyboston.com/

considerations: -slight gore, as written on their website, isn't true; there's a decent amount -"strobe" lights used -low lighting conditions

scenery

Before I actually talk about the scenery- I've mentioned this already in this review, but I'm gonna say it again in case you missed it- there is gore in this game. It's not overwhelming, but it caused some problems with the group I played, as we were all expecting "slight gore" and were surprised by the amount that the game had. Just... know before you go. 

I don't know how I feel about The Retreat's scenery. There are some beautiful elements of the game, and some elements that feel so fake, it's off-putting. Going from a tent, to the woods, to the cabin nearby, parts of the theming work so well, and parts of it just don't fit in the slightest.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first and talk about what doesn't work. The ceiling in every single room is still dry panel. It looks like your standard office ceiling. Re-theming it, or simply painting it black, would completely change the tone of the room. The trees look good from a distance, but they're made of smooth rubber, which you can tell every time you touch them. There's multiple red and white signs around the room, saying "nothing this way" and "don't look here" due to the tent not completely filling the room's borders. And finally, because of the gaps between the tent and the room's walls/ceiling, you can see a lot of wood, doors, and other electronics that completely detract from the experience. 

On the other side, however, the rooms have some aspects that really work to them. The tent is made out of actual fabric, making it feel authentic. Real chairs and beds are put inside to complete the feel, and the floor is different in each room, to mimic the environment. The forest has a real water pump and drain, and combined with the grassy floor, it really makes everything come to life. And the cabin is the best looking room, complete with distressed wood, floor panels, and tools covering the space. When Trapology pours time and effort into their environments, it really works- they just need to spend an equal amount of time on the rest of the space. 

The last thing to mention is that these rooms are not very big. The tent is the biggest room by far, and the rooms just get smaller from there, with the cabin being about the size of two standard showers. However, this was designed as a small team game, and if you play it that way, it's more than manageable. 

puzzles

The puzzles are of a similar quality to the scenery. When Trapology spends time thinking about them, they work well. When they're not given enough attention, they drag. 

The worst of the puzzles are in the tent. The opening puzzles to get players out into the forest work, but they're not very fun, and not very rooted in the storyworld either. These puzzles could definitely use some work. 

However, once players make it out of the tent, the puzzles become more clever and more entertaining. From using compasses to stargazing, the puzzles are decently fun and well designed. They're not completely in the storyworld, but by using real camping objects and making compelling challenges, it doesn't really matter. A particular puzzle sequence in the cabin was particularly strong, being one of the best in the game. 

The final few puzzles in the game continue to be entertaining and well designed, with a very cool interaction near the end. However, the final puzzle falls apart. It makes logical sense, but it isn't fun, and nowhere near well designed. It's a rather lackluster final puzzle after all the old fashioned, entertaining puzzles that came before it. 

Overall, the puzzles in the middle mostly made up for the bad ones at the beginning and end, but looking back, none were really mind blowing. They were of a fine caliber in the end, nothing special, but not bad either. 

pros and cons

pro: good scenery and puzzles when Trapology puts effort into them.

con: overlooked parts of the room really take you out of the immersion and aren't well designed. 

pro: the whole cabin sequence was especially strong.

con: the tent sequence was not. 

pro: this game contained what might be the singlehandedly most unexpected hidden reveal I've seen. This was one of the only times in my life that I did not see a hidden reveal coming at all. It was a complete surprise and even though it had a simple design, it really really did the job. 

con: there is much more gore than advertised. 

con: two of the coolest objects in the game were objects we were not allowed to touch. This created a case of Chekhov's gun. 

pro: I always enjoy fishing keys out of unreachable places. 

overall

The Retreat is Trapology's oldest running game (besides Drunk Tank, which closes in less than a month at the time of this review). For better or for worse, it shows. There's a charm to old rooms that new rooms can't encapsulate. But on the flip side, old rooms don't have nearly the amount of immersion and flow as more modern rooms do. The Retreat shouldn't be played for immersion; it should be played for an old fashioned escape room experience with some clever puzzles and a classic flow. If you're not looking for perfection when going into this game, you're gonna have a good time.

rating

6/10