Review: PHANTOM PEAK - WINTERMAS 2024
London’s brilliantly barmy, interactive open-world adventure is back in festive form for its Wintermas edition. Phantom Peak is a unique immersive experience that blends theatre, puzzles, role-play and escape room logic, with renewed stories and adventures tailored to each season. Our previous trip to Phantom Peak was during the Halloween Lunar Festival, which we covered in our review here.
In this Winter edition of what is becoming a cult franchise, the town of Phantom Peak is appropriately be-tinselled and the halls extensively decked.
During the previous Lunar Festival programme, there was an overarching mystery and sense of purpose to the entire proceeding as the town counted down to self-destruction as audience members had to figure out who in the town had planted a bomb and threatened the Peak’s very existence. In addition to individual tasks, adventures and minigames divvied up to audience groups by the interactive Jonassist app, this made four hours in Phantom Peak fly by.
In this Wintermas edition, there is no overriding narrative, and the experience relies on each audience member guiding themselves through their own Jonassist tasks which, for previous attendees familiar with the town and the lore, feels like not quite as full and stimulating. At points, there also felt like there was congestion as several groups of audience members were steered on the same missions and competing for attention with the cast of townsfolk and various technological assists throughout the experience.
These moments of congestion, however, were managed well by the cast who are flexible, attentive and practiced in improv as well as astonishingly knowledgeable about the seemingly endless and intertwined mythology and mysteries of Phantom Peak.
Outside the missions, there are plenty of things to surprise and delight around the town of Phantom Peak. This time, we were really taken in by the humour of the world-building and character design. This feels like an experience crafted with irreverent joy, and some sections that we explored had our sides aching from laughing.
One element that is especially effective in this iteration is the inclusion of dice-driven role play in a game called ‘Dungeons and Dirigibles’. Those unfamiliar with such similarly-named games in the world outside Phantom Peak shouldn’t be daunted. These short sections of interaction and improv are fun, hilarious and break up the adventure flow that typically moves from one information screen to another.
It’s worth mentioning that the menu, as ever, has been updated for the season and includes towering hot chocolates, a whole menu of eggnogs, and a litany of elaborate boozy concoctions.
Tickets for this experience look to be around just under £50 a pop and we would say that that is more than reasonable for this completely unique adventure, which will have you giggling with delight and swooning with wonder.
A fabulously festive treat.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
Phantom Peak: Wintermas is booking until 19 January 2025, with further info here.
