Key Info
- Crawley, West Sussex, England
- 60 Minute Game
- 2 - 7 Players
- Escape Rate not Stated
- £27 Per Player
- Nearby Pay & Display
- 7/10 Difficulty
Leader Board Exit
We Escaped In
35 minutes 30 Seconds
- Pete, Nate, Meg, Smithy
- March 2022
Room Brief
A conflict between two rival redneck clans dominates the Southern states. Dwayne’s redneck crew is known for 2 things: bikes and booze. They say that Dwayne’s moonshine is the best in the South. Your gang however… ain’t got that much going for it to be honest. If only there was a way of getting your hands on some of that fabled hooch for yourself. You thinking what I’m thinking? It’s time for a good old fashioned break in! Lets just hope it doesn’t turn into a break out…
Arrival
A game of Southern Dis-comfort was not something we had planned for when we made the trip down to Crawley. However we’d been so impressed by Questionable Ethics that we decided to try and get ourselves booked in to Hounds other escape room. Thankfully, the guys here had a spare slot the same evening and were willing to squeeze us in and even did us a little deal for playing two games in one day! We went off to play OneWing Airlines nearby and returned later in the day ready to take on our Hill Billy Adventure.
We arrived a little earlier than expected which meant we were able to spend some time chatting with David in the bar/waiting area. He was able to share some recommendations for other games which we will be sure to visit on our next trip down south! He also shared that Hounds have two other escape rooms in development which we know other enthusiasts are excited for!
Immersion
Pete
Nate
Meg
Smithy
Southern Dis-Comfort was located on the top floor of the Hounds Venue. This meant that there was no sneak peak from reception about what lay in store for us as there had been with Questionable Ethics. We were sat quietly enjoying the waiting area when our GM (and resident Hill Billy) Cassidy (Joel) ran down the stairs with a few “Yee Haws” to come and collect us for our Red Neck mission.
After climbing the stairs we were in the Southern Dis-comfort holding area just outside of the game room. Once again hounds have made every effort to ensure the sense of immersion captures you before you even start playing. The whole area feels a little like a shed and there were tool benches and American signs on the walls. We were asked who was the best at searching, this led to a surprise we will let you discover for yourself. This whole part of the introduction was very interactive and was a great way to build excitement for the game. Intro complete, Joel locked us in the game.
Inside the game area, as with outside, there has been no expense on the set design. It is exceptional. The space is intentionally cramped with knick knacks and tools creating the undeniable feeling of being in a hill billy shack. Everything in the game has been made to look greasy or dirty and there were little surprises everywhere we looked. Though some of these did make our stomachs turn!
If we had been impressed by the initial game space, boy, were we in for a treat as we advanced through the game? Every door that opened delivered a brand new area to explore and each was as expertly crafted as the last. Each game was distinctly different but unquestionably true to the overarching theme of the game. We loved each section of the game for very different reasons, though the final area is probably our favourite. This part of the game has so much going on with music, lights, sounds… everything! It is a truly awesome way to end the game.
What we loved to see playing this game was that the team behind this room have clearly had a lot of fun building it. The game is designed to be funny as well as highly themed. This has to be one of our favourite settings so far! Just. Brilliant.
Puzzles & Challenges
Pete
Nate
Meg
Smithy
The aim of Southern Dis-Comfort is to sneak into the shack of your rival hill billy gang and steal some moonshine before Dwayne (the owner) comes back and captures you. Its effectively a heist escape game from the scenario but a bit more traditional in terms of “find your way out” when it comes to gameplay.
What we massively appreciated with this game is that all the humour from the GM and the set production have been carried over into the games. We were literally laughing throughout the room at most of the clues or items we came across making this game one of the most fun we have ever played. All this however, was not at the expense of the quality of the gameplay, which was brilliantly designed to appear rudimentary but required more brain power than we thought. Everything we came across was useful at one point or another without ever being obvious what it was used for.
Hounds have absolutely struck the balance with this room between high tech and traditional escape room puzzles. We never once thought that we’d seen one padlock too many and even puzzles we have seen many times before had been re-imagined to fit with the narrative. We particularly enjoyed the way that hounds have disguised some high tech puzzles to appear more handmade as though put together by Dwayne in his shack with what he had laying around.
The climax of this game is an absolute showstopper. Thinking that we were approaching the end of the game we were not prepared for the final stage which blew us away. What had been a relatively relaxed game suddenly became a high adrenaline push for the exit as panic started to set in. What a relief to escape!
Games Master & Clues
Pete
Nate
Meg
Smithy
Cassidy (or Joel as he’s normally known) was our gamest master. Though it doesn’t feel fair to call him that as he quite literally put on a show for us from the moment he took us up to the game to the moment we escaped. He was in character throughout. His ad libs and off script humour was a highlight of our game. He encouraged interaction and was able to come up with jokes for everything that was thrown at him.
Inside the game, we didn’t need hints to finish our game and managed to make our escape in good time. However we did receive one prompt when we’d got a code wrong by one digit which was delivered through an audio system in the game, again totally in character. This shows he was watching us throughout and keeping an eye on what we were doing. We’re almost a little sad we didn’t get a few more chances to hear from Cassidy! Though we did get a surprise from him when looking through the photos later!
On exiting the room our debrief, team photo and score card were given in true hill billy style. What dedication! We’d bet its quite hard to stop the accent at the end of the day!
Value for Money
Pete
Nate
Meg
Smithy
The price of an hour long experience in Southern Dis-Comfort for a team of 2 is £31 per person. Discount is applied for every additional player and as a team of 4 we paid £27 per person. Compared to other rooms we have played this is a little bit pricier than average, though it is worth noting that prices in the South East, particularly south of the M25 do seem to command a bit of a premium. We didn’t mind paying a bit extra though as the quality of what is on offer within this game is well worth every penny.
As we played both Questionable Ethics and Southern Dis-Comfort in one day we were granted a discount for playing both rooms. Always worth asking for this if your planning on doing more than one.
Additional costs to factor in are parking if you are driving. We managed to find two reasonably priced pay and display car parks within a short walking distance to the venue which worked out at around a fiver for 2 hours.
Enjoyment
Pete
Nate
Meg
Smithy
Southern Dis-comfort gave us the most fun we have had in an escape room for a very long time and we’re sure it will be a while until we laugh as much in a game again. This room offers everything to completely round off the escape experience – total immersion, a brilliant game master and a well designed and challenging set of puzzles that culminate in a nerve wrecking climax.
We thought Questionable Ethics was great and on leaving we were asked which we preferred. Two very different rooms at one venue but both delivered superbly. For us, Southern Dis-Comfort just pips it. Hands down one of the best rooms we have had the pleasure of playing.
It was a record board score for us which we are chuffed with!
