Starship | Interstellar EscapeWild Goose Escapes - FullertonEscape roomIRLSmuggler's Run meets escape room and they made a great escape. Not only has Wild Goose continued to amaze me with each new room I play from them, but I think this might be my favorite yet. The attention to detail and the depth of the build is phenomenal, so much so that I was continually impressed as we found more and more props. We did have a few blips in our play, with suggestions given to the crew as we played during a beta test, but the room still flowed incredibly well. I appreciated that a lot of the puzzling was repetitive tasking as you unlocked more portions of the room. The room is best played with at least two players, but wear sneakers if it's a crew of two because you'll be hustling around that ship.
S.A.S.H.A: Home Of The FutureWild Goose Escapes - FullertonEscape roomIRLDid you ever watch that 90's Disney Channel movie Smart Home? Yeah, that but it's your turn to escape your way out. I really enjoyed the quantity of puzzles in this space for how bare it seems when you first walk in. S.A.S.H.A. has a great variety of puzzles for your team to solve, even some that had me scratching my head at first before getting that "are you kidding me?" moment of how did I absolutely miss that. A great room for a couple, but also plenty of tasks to complete making it good for a larger group as well, even if you'll be a little squished together at first.
Scooby-Doo™ and the Spooky Castle AdventureEscapology - Town SquareEscape roomIRLI wanted to love this game so badly as a Scooby-Doo fan, but I just couldn't. I don't feel as though the room is entirely at fault for that which is slightly redeeming. This was my final game in my visit to Vegas and it was quite a bummer of a note to end on. I'll give Escapology another change at a location more local to me, and hope that others have better experiences at the location. My partner and I found that in more than one instance we figured out the correct answer to the puzzle, but the game didn't seem to be functioning properly. While that would be frustrating enough, our GM who was running the game didn't seem to be "caught up" with what we had been doing. They would suggest we do something that we had already tried five or more times, which just raised the frustration level in the room. The time I do recall we asked for a clue, we were given a clue that was something we had already completely figured out, and not the portion that we needed help from a clue on. Overall a disappointing way to end of an escape room trip.
Code Samurai - CLOSEDEscape The ArcadeEscape roomIRLWow, wow, wow! From start to finish a great time. I was really impressed at the quality of this game especially going into it without any info. I play most of my games blind (without reading reviews or digging for more info), but the fact that there was no info for Code Samurai had me searching and digging, which built a lot of suspense for the experience. Not only did it feel like stepping into a time past walking into the building, but the room felt like walking into a video game. I greatly appreciated the attention to detail in aspects such as color puzzles having additional components in case of color blindness. I can’t wait to see more games from this crew!
Pharaoh's Curse - CLOSEDExodus Escape Room - Rancho CucamongaEscape roomIRLWhat a fun game! Night at the Museum fans will enjoy a lot. I pleasantly surprised at how back to basics this room was, yet still had quality puzzles. My group didn’t need clues, but we did have a few moments where it seemed we might need one. Loved the use of space, and the clever use of the puzzles in the room. A wonderful game for first timers, newer enthusiasts, or even kids! Ended up playing this game on the weekend it closed sadly, but glad to have gotten to experience it, and I can't wait to see what comes next from Exodus.
The Shop of Theseus - CLOSEDRECONEscape roomVirtual My very first audio escape, and a format that I truly didn't think that I would enjoy, but I had such a wonderful time, and am looking forward to playing more of Mark's creations. I was paired with strangers, which wasn't a fully new experience for me, but it was fun to play with actual enthusiasts instead of people who just stumbled upon an escape room out in the wild. It did take our team a little bit to figure out how to mesh, but once we did we had a wonderful time. Many thanks to Mark for putting up with our foolish shenanigans and wishes to stray from the plot lines in ventures such as saving the fish friend. What a treat to have included with our Recon 2023 tickets.
Only Murders In The Building [Season 3] - CLOSEDThe Escape Game - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLI've always had great visits to The Escape Game, and this promo game was no different. The GM's and staff were fantastic and welcoming, and excited to have us play. Found the choice of base room to use a good one as the puzzles worked well within the theming of the show. I do wish that there had been an alternate option to solve the one scented puzzle, as myself and one other player in my party have scent triggered migraines, and that was quite a struggle for us. I did mention to the staff that it would be helpful to have an additional solve on that and they were thankful I mentioned it. We all enjoyed our little gift for playing the room, and had a great time.
Kraken the Case (a.k.a. Changes in Latitude)Zero Hour Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLLooking for an escape to your nearest island paradise? Look no further than Kraken the Case. A laid back set design mixed with a surprisingly delightful degree of difficulty in puzzling. This room hosts one of my all time favorite puzzles that I still rave about regularly. The story did feel non linear at some points causing my group to get stuck trying to find our next task. With a 30% success rate I wasn't surprised when this room was my first DNF but I greatly enjoyed the style of puzzling and plan to return for redemption, along with the chance to check out their other games.
Grim Stacks: Books & Binding - CLOSEDPuzzle Effect - Bakersfield [prev. Bakersfield Escape Room]Escape roomIRLA first game played with Puzzle Effect for any location, and I couldn't have picked a better first game. Played as a solo I found it some of the puzzles tripped me up and others were a breeze. Had a wonderful GM to help me through the moments where I was tripped up. The game flowed well and I enjoyed the variety of puzzles, didn't feel like too few, or too many either. The set build was very well done, and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how well it helped the storyline move along as well. I'll be back next time I'm in town.
Shipwreck LagoonEscape WestgateEscape roomIRLReview is based upon a beta test play, as well as a solo play. Stepping into Shipwreck I was very impressed at how immersive the space felt, and greatly enjoyed the attention to detail, something I’ve found Escape Westgate does incredibly well. An incredibly mechanical lock heavy room, but I found that the locks were fairly broken up with other tasking and I didn’t particularly find it tedious. Everything flowed well together, and I really enjoyed how straight forward the puzzles tended to be. I always look forward to my visits to Westgate, and can’t wait to play more of their rooms.
The Lost Tomb - HeroEscape WestgateEscape roomIRLMy first solo escape played on a whim, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Phenomenal production value, and well thought out puzzles. I greatly enjoyed the challenge of some of the more active puzzles, and even managed to impress my GM with my skills in one of their more difficult puzzles. The effects in the room were wonderfully done, and I found myself very drawn into the storyline because of that. I did have a few moments where I was completely puzzled, but the GM was wonderful in pushing me the right direction with just the right amount of nudging.
Rugrats: Search For The Losted Toys - CLOSEDThe Escape Game - Las Vegas Forum ShopsEscape roomIRLCalling all 90's kids! This is a must do if you're in Vegas to me. It's such a fun throwback to a beloved franchise, and a well done re-skin of the Playground room. There's a good variety of puzzles, and I found myself stumped a time or two. This room is doable as a solo play, but it's a large enough room with a good amount of puzzles that it's a great option for larger groups as well. Always have a wonderful time playing games at The Escape Game and the team here is just as wonderful as any of the other locations I've been.
Ark Of The Covenant - CLOSEDCinema Escape Rooms - Los AlamitosEscape roomIRLCinema Escapes has the theming down to a science! Rooms themed for popular shows is for sure a hit based on how busy the lobby was. Booked as a last minute game, Ark of the Covenant was a fun way to spend an evening with my friend. We found the props really well done, and the puzzles were fun, even if we tried to find every route around actually solving them as they were designed. From start to finish we had a great experience for our first visit. Our GM was friendly, and invested in our success in the game. It was a really fun interaction with them throughout the game. They even managed to spook me at one point which had us all giggling.
The DepthsThe Escape Game - Las Vegas Forum ShopsEscape roomIRLWow, what a fun game! I enjoyed it so much the first time, I’ve played it again since. The puzzles were a fun mix of complex, and simple but they still had us scratching our heads at some points. A very creative use of props in this space, and I found the puzzles to be spaced out well. A room where good communication will help aide in the escape, and have a better experience, although entirely doable as a solo play. I did come across some lights that weren’t functional during my group play, but as always The Escape Game makes it easy to check in with your GM and verify if something is amiss.
Escape The HydeoutMission Escape GamesEscape roomIRLEscape the Hydeout is a wonderful play on the Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde storyline. A nice variety of puzzling that jumped greatly in difficulty at certain times, but the level of detail was up-kept through the entire experience. Plenty of puzzling for a larger group to complete, especially if you work well in smaller teams. Some puzzles really did need our full group to complete in combined brain power which is a fun challenge. I greatly enjoyed the attention to detail with the theming of the soundscape and the lighting changes. The staff at this location were friendly and helpful, even with our group coming in waves in terms of arrival times. Very much looking forward to playing other games at this location.
PlaygroundThe Escape Game - IrvineEscape roomIRLMy very first escape room, and I was honestly hooked after this. I played with a larger group (10 total) and the room had plenty for us all to do. We found that splitting into groups of two worked well and we were able to be fairly efficient in completing most of the puzzles. It did take a while for us to get a hang of the format for the game, but it was the first time any of us had completed an escape room. The puzzles were a nice mix of difficulties, and we all had a great time. Love the format of games from The Escape Game as well as all of the staff that I've encountered at various locations of theirs.
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