Their description: It is your first day as an intern in the Mental Hospital. During your lunch break, you and your colleagues decide to explore the codorned ward. Rumour has it, the most notorious mental patients were in that ward before it was shut down. You have an hour to find out if the rumours you heard about the ward are true, before you have to report back to your superior.
The Mental Ward provides a more comprehensive experience than the room it replaced, and is probably Trapped’s hardest and most engaging room.
First, the usual reassurance: despite the advertising, this is not a scary room — creepy, at most — so it’s perfectly playable even if you’re a coward like me.
The room starts off without much plot, but with some clever use of the space and of technology (for puzzle-solving, not special effects). As you advance, the puzzles remain largely context-free, but the narrative surfaces and there’s an attempt at strengthening the theme. I found one stretch interesting as it had a nice (albeit only initial) sense of world-exploration rather than puzzle-solving.
There’s a risk of technical malfunction midway through, so don’t be afraid to call for help if you think you should be getting something that you’re not. The finale, while underwhelming, is at least somewhat novel.
My reviews for Trapped rooms sound lukewarm even though I generally enjoy them; I suppose they lack stand-out moments that would lead me to recommend them. Nonetheless, when I say The Mental Ward is WORTH A TRY, I don’t mean that in a bad way.
Puzzle difficulty: 3/5
Puzzle logic: 4/5
Multimedia aspect of puzzles: 3.5/5
Atmosphere and setting: 2.5/5
Exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects: 2.5/5
Storyline integration: 2/5
Their suggested number of players: 8
My suggested number of players: 2 to 4
escaping.sg 
3 comments