Servants of Sleight

I’m not sure even my few and faithful readers have noticed that I have jumped back and forth between rooms played and rooms written about, but this may be the most obvious.

To be brief, we planned a third trip down to the Tampa area (#Tampapalooza); this time scheduling four (instead of the typical three) rooms, in one day.

As usual, social media used it’s algorithms to advertise “The Exit Games – Florida”, months prior to its opening date AND as usual, I was skeptical about a venue I had no prior knowledge about. In the weeks leading up to this trip, I chatted back and forth with what I assume to be a combination of owners/designers/game masters Josh and Taylor.

Before the trip, I was able to ask and receive answers for two of the five questions (see previous post on my site) and I had a pretty good idea that I really was dealing with some fans of the industry. I could really tell, by the way they described their story. Also, The Exit Games was the SECOND of FOUR rooms that we played that day.

Venue: The Exit Games - Florida

Location: 620 Lakeview Rd. Clearwater, FL 33756

​Website: https://www.theexitgamesfl.com/

Cost Per Person: $32.00 per player

Game: Servants of Sleight

Difficulty: 3 out of 5 (per players’ perception)

Room Capacity: 2-6 allowed; 3 to 4 players seemed very optimal

Played By: John, Brian and Sarah

Game Duration: 90 Minutes

Type: Mixed Mechanical/Automated

Rooms at Venue: Currently 1 Room with 2 more on the way

Rooms Completed: 73

I clearly hadn’t done my research. Upon arriving, I was told this was, in fact, a 90 minute experience. In my mind, I was very thankful for putting additional time between this game and the next, but was very thrilled about the extended amount of time allotted for this game.

Instead of putting the story in my own words, I’m going to COPY AND PASTE the answer to question 1 that was asked to Josh and Taylor prior to our visit, because who else could provide you a better description of the game??

“Servants of Sleight” was built with the intention of being a not-your-typical magic escape experience. This experience’s story involves a fraternal order named the Servants of Sleight: the most prestigious, top-secret magic society to ever exist. The word “Servants” attributes to the fraternal nature of the experience, with the word “Sleight” pertaining to the common phrase in magic, “sleight of hand,” meaning skillful deception used by magicians to entertain or manipulate their audiences with illusion. We wanted the name of this room to reflect the uniqueness of its storyline and gameplay.

That’s kind of a general background. To be a bit more specific, you had received a text message informing you about a special initiation into the Servants of Sleight. Details were limited, as you didn’t know where to go and when the initiation was occurring, but you HAD to be there because you had been wowing audiences your entire life with your own illusions. This is your chance and the final test was obtaining access to the Servant’s secret brotherhood. Your only tip was to find Fenway’s Magic Shop, owned by Paulie (or is it Paul E? Polly? Pauley? We’ll go with the first) and possibly receive further instructions from there.

Aside from that, there are some pre-game procedures atypical to the common “can you reset a directional lock?” that sets this experience apart from others that we have played. From the lobby, we followed the colored line (and I totally forget which color it was, because if I guess and it’s wrong, players will end up in the bathroom instead) to the door and walked in.

This is so difficult to write about because there’s so much I want to say and explain to players, but I cannot give it away. The setting was outdoors in a street/alley. There was trash, noise, cool air; it was dark outside. There was a basketball hoop, a bicycle. And of course, the outside of Fenway’s Magic Shop…but it wasn’t that easy.

The first area definitely came with a good deal of discovery. Is it taboo to bring up other rooms, because the first area certainly had the feel and flow of another great game, placed in a very similar setting, right across Tampa Bay. That’s all I’ll say. The puzzles were original to us and they all made sense here.

Two puzzles here alone stuck out because of the mechanics. One I definitely cannot give away, but I will say that I mentioned what was used in the puzzle about 2 paragraphs up. At first appearance, this just felt like part of the room and a prop. It most certainly wasn’t and we thoroughly enjoyed this one.

The second one involved the collection of multiple parts throughout this first area. Once doing so, players had to figure out what to do with those parts and once the connection was made, completing that part of the task came easy. Fortunately, that wasn’t even the last part of it, as players weren’t quite sure they did what they did but rest assure, there’s a very good reason and very clear reveal here that we very much appreciated.

Before I go any further, the hint system was extremely unique. For all of you Android lovers out there, you get an iPhone to carry along with you. I’m not exactly sure what tipped off the game masters on when to send a hint/text, however, my crew knows how frantic I can get when we are stuck, so most likely, it was me running around like a squirrel screaming “hint”.

Also, before I go any further, the rest of this write up will be a change in pace. I don’t want to give the story away and I don’t want to describe, step-for-step, what happened in our experience. You’ll have to take my word for it and see for yourself,

What happened after we were able to gain access to Fenway’s Magic Shop is a stand alone moment for all of us. It’s not completely unique to the industry, however, it was something done so well, we couldn’t help forgetting that we were in a race against time by just smiling and enjoying the moment. Of course, you are provided with further clues as to where your journey takes you next (should you keep going), but for those few short moments, we were beside ourselves. We loved it. It was definitely a good break in action.

And here’s where I have to continue to get even more vague because I have to preserve this story. I have to preserve it because it is one of the few games we’ve played where the story-line evolves, evolves again and evolves even more. If I were to continue to describe what happened, how it happened and where it happened, I’d be spoiling an amazing experience. Just when you think you’ve accomplished the task, the game continues and advances; it hits you with another unforgettable moment and soundtrack to go alone with it.

Speaking of soundtrack, the playlist in Fenway’s will make you smile. Just remember that.

There were so many memorable moments and firsts: multiple first time puzzles; multiple first time actions; multiple first time wow moments and multiple times where I prematurely raised my arms in victory (as usual).

Not only is the game 90 minutes, but it is most likely larger than any rooms in the Orlando market and makes a run for Red Giant in Hollywood, CA in terms of space. Even better, the space doesn’t go to waste as every setting has a plethora of puzzles, actions and surprises fitting for a brotherhood of magicians.

I wish I could say more. I wish I knew more people who have played this, so I could go into details, but I have to leave it at this. I know I made the same statement in a very recent post and this is the exact reason why I DON’T rate games higher than a 10 out of 10, but “Servants of Sleight” is my most favorite game I have ever played (to date). Brian also agreed. We’re still waiting on Sarah’s verdict, but it is in her top two. That is saying A LOT.

We also have to mention that the theme of magic is common between Servants of Sleight and another recently reviewed game that we raved about. We must mention that both games took completely different directions in storyline (which can be easily determined not only on my reviews but on each venue’s website) and very different directions in gameplay.

I am still very much in contact with Josh and Taylor. I want to thank them so much for their continuous support towards me and my writing as well as their hospitality while visiting The Exit Games – FL. We are definitely looking forward to what the future holds for these two and their growing business!