After several months of lockdown boredom, British weather and working from home, you can imagine my excitement when I was kindly invited to Escape Hunt in Basingstoke to experience their latest Outdoor Game, namely Operation Mindfall.
In case you are wondering what exactly Operation Mindfall entails, allow me to enlighten you. Operation Mindfall is a totally immersive experience that takes you on a journey around your local area, but if you thought this was just another boring tour, then think again.
Operation Mindfall is an experience like no other, it transports you back to your childhood and enables you to step into the role of an undercover spy for 120 minutes whilst you try to save the rest of the world from a deadly virus that controls the minds of the general population.
So, now you know what our mission was, you are probably wondering how we got on… (Now, I’m not going to be dropping any spoilers, but if you would like to know how we did, keep on reading.)
Report for duty
After navigating Festival Place,we arrived at our destination to be greeted by our lovely games host who took us through the Covid-19 safety measures and directed us to the hand sanitising station, before taking us to our own private space where we could be briefed on our mission without any noise or distractions, perfect for a spy who happens to have a hearing-impairment.
After what felt like an eternity trying to decide on our team name, the hubby and I finally settled on Mr Tobleroni, after our Westie. Thankfully, the rest of the mission went more smoothly than our first task. After laughing with our games host about this small hiccup, we were handed our tablet device along with our action pack, which was full of all of the spy gadgets that any good undercover agent may need, including those all-important waterproof jackets and classified information about Spider Tech, the organisation that was behind this deadly virus.
Let the games begin
Now it was up to us and the clock had started, so we dashed off into Basingstoke to solve our first quest. From the moment we left the Escape Hunt HQ to our return two hours later, all I can say was it flew by, and was jam-packed full of fun, challenges, riddles, augmented reality and activities that fully engage the brain.
Sadly, we failed the mission, so we took a slow walk back to HQ with two minutes to spare, but one thing we took away from the whole experience was how good it felt to be fully present in the moment, spend some quality time together and forget about everyday life and its stresses.
Thinking about accepting this exciting new mission? Here are a few things that you will need to know:
Spy Checklist
- Wear comfortable footwear as you will be covering alot of ground (2km approximately)
- Bring a waterproof jacket in case it rains
- You will need a phone with internet access and a camera
- Remember you can check in online in advance to help save time
- Try to arrive early for your safety briefing
- Leave handbags and valuables at home, as you will have your hands full with your action pack and tablet
- Have fun!
You can find out more information about Escape Hunt Basingstoke and their action-packed Escape Rooms, VR Experiences and Outdoor Games over on their website by clicking on the link here.
Have you visited your local Escape Hunt? What was your favourite experience or activity? Let me know in the comments below.
Disclaimer: This experience was kindly gifted to me by Escape Hunt Basingstoke. However, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own and I was under no obligation to share a review.
