Hope EndThe Ministry Of PeculiaritiesEscape roomIRLHope End is absolutely one of my ALL TIME favorite escape games, especially in SoCal! I will start off by saying it’s slightly scary. Probably not so great for children, unless they’re super brave! There is a live actor, but they’re not…too scary. There’s no chasing, not really there to scare you except unsettle you a bit… They’re there to make the experience unforgettable! 😁 There’s only a few moments that’s a bit scary but it was more from the sudden appearance than anything scary scary, otherwise this game isn’t designed to scare you, rather just unsettle you. 4 people is the absolute minimum. I don’t think they can really fudge that limit to accommodate lesser number of players. Slight spoiler, you do get separated momentarily in the beginning, hence the minimum number of players. From even before you enter the door, they are all already in character! They only break character at the really end when you’ve finished and my they were absolutely AMAZING. The puzzles weren’t too difficult, but you can tell this room was designed as an EXPERIENCE, and less so trying to make it so difficult that the pass rate is low. They WANT you to finish the game, so you can experience it in its entirety ❤️. For our group, we went in as a group of 4, and I think the difficulty was just right! Lots to see, do, find, and explore! Some dexterity involved haha. 🤣 The story is PHENOMENAL. Most escape games you can go through and forget about the story. Not this one. You are engaged and stay engaged to the story throughout. The puzzles make sense and adhere to the main storyline. There were a few locks, but all of them were to theme, no combination locks at all. They make you believe (down to the smell lol), that you’re in a different time period. The set was absolutely on point! They did very well to bring the manor and story to life with the lights, sounds, set designs, live acting, etc! I would absolutely absolutely recommend Hope End to anyone hoping for an unforgettable experience!
The Weeping WitchCross Roads Escape GamesEscape roomIRLHoly 💩! This room is definitely scary scary but one of the best games we’ve played so far! 🤣 For anyone brave enough to play, I highly highly recommend this escape room! There is a live actor. She will try to scare the poops out of you. Multiple times. No contact. But you will be all out of poops by the end of the game 🤣. The story was IMPECCABLE. Not once have I forgotten what the “mission” for the room was. Many escape rooms are just puzzle after puzzle and you kind of forget what the original mission was. Not this one. You’re trying to banish her. She wants to stop you. The immersion was perfect too! The puzzles themselves require you to do things that would really make it seem like you’re performing a ritual. When we were reading the “spell”…let’s say we were screaming it 🤣🤣 The set, the room space isn’t very big, so not ideal for large groups, but each decoration choice, each creepy ass doll, (including the very special GM one, ahemBellamyanem), are all there to build the experience and I think they did a phenomenal job with it! There is something different about this room that I absolutely loved. Most horror themed escape rooms are kind of…stressful the entire way through. Not this one. You know exactly when the witch is going to come, so the other times you are “safe” and Bellamy, our helper, kept interacting with us in character to really keep the mood from becoming scary scary. He told us jokes, made us tell him jokes, lol, but was in character the entire time! The humor I think adds to the experience by making it not so stressful the entire way through, so your experience is still positive, while allowing for the thrill of the scare. Also the difference between laughing my ass off and then pooping my pants heightens both, so I love that choice the designers made for The Weeping Witch! Some of the puzzles are a tad bit on the harder side, especially with the…location of certain things you’re supposed to find to solve the puzzle. Though once you have all the pieces, the puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult! Only tip…be brave 🤣 Our group was a group of 4 and with a few hints, we got out with a minute and two seconds to spare. I’d say 4-5 is probably an ideal group size! More if everyone is afraid hahaha! Overall, The Weeping Witch is one of my absolute all time favorite escape games, especially in SoCal! For anyone who loves horror or is seeking thrills, I would absolutely recommend this one!
The Last SupperQuest TavernEscape roomIRLLoved this game so much! Definitely one of the best in the area! There is a live actor, there is loud noise, no chasing, our live actor/GM was very into it and made the experience very memorable for us! Warning, there are jump scares! Maybe don't let the scared one of the group go first anywhere... Puzzles weren't too hard! There were less puzzles comparatively with other escape rooms and it was more of an experience and some improv! Definitely definitely recommend!
Through The Sugar GlassQuest TavernEscape roomIRLI absolutely loved this escape room!! I’ve been to 3 of the escape rooms at Quest Tavern so far and they’ve all been super fun and high quality! This one is great for little children tag alongs but do require adults to solve the puzzles because some of them are a bit on the harder side. Candy!!! You can eat them!!! Need I say more?? 🤣 But if you’re somehow not convinced, then super immersive puzzles that are NOT lock reliant, lots of sounds, lights, fun and cute things to do! Non linear so it’s a lot to take in in the beginning! Theme is consistent and cute! Great for groups of 3+. We did it as a 2 person team and went slightly over time lol. Our GM Patrick was kind enough to let us finish because we were close enough to the end. All the puzzles were novel and unique and I enjoyed it from beginning to end! 🥰 Thank you again for the wonderful experience!
The Magic CottageInfinity EscapeEscape roomIRLIt was super fun! The atmosphere and the set, the story, the “hint NPC”, gameplay, puzzles, were all perfect! Loved them all! The set was very well made, you start off in a slightly spooky total darkness environment save for one candle and you need to solve some things first before the lights turn on. Nothing broken, highly technical! No combination locks save for one cryptic lock, everything else opened by putting correct items into the correct place, and some key locks, etc. Decoration was detailed and the guide “NPC” was pretty cool! The gameplay was super fun! It wasn’t tedious and there were many novel puzzles, some that may require some, ahem, skills. Won’t say what kind, but, skills. Puzzles requires you to look closely 👀 Some things are easy to miss in this room 😅 The part I loved the most about the room was probably the story! Most run of the mill escape rooms have a story that you could really do without. Like you finish the game and it was fun, but the story was whatever. You forgot what you’re trying to do. But this room makes you actually stay engaged in the story. Setting is two sister witches got themselves cursed and you’re here in their magic cottage to undo the curse, but only for one witch. One is evil. The other one is not. You have to choose. I love that novelty! But also every part of the room is engaging with that story setup. The sisters themselves appear (not in person, NO LIVE ACTORS) to make their case, and it’s up to you with clues in the room to help you choose. Choose right and you get out 🥰 Choose wrong and you may just be trapped forever 😈 Lol. But yes, really loved it! Again, there are NO live actors, the room is not meant to be scary and there are no loud noises or jump scares, but the room is quite dim the entire time and you start off in a completely dark room. For kids that aren’t afraid of the dark, this room is perfect! For people with a fear of the dark, maybe not! Only thing I will say is a slight bummer, is the GM for our group 💀 He was super nice! Great guy! But he gave us hints immediately, without us asking for them, constantly, and not in character. We don’t usually use hints unless stuck or short on time, so it was a bit of a bummer. Felt rude to say “please don’t help us” though we probably should have lol. We did have 2 kiddos with us though, so he probably thought we might need that nudge. Even then, I wish the hints came in character… Other than that, the room was great! Overall, I highly recommend this escape room! Thank you for the wonderful experience!
The Fun HouseCross Roads Escape GamesEscape roomIRLVery fun game! We didn’t ask for many hints, but our GM Mina was in character throughout and enthusiastic and helped to make it an unforgettable experience for us. Children friendly, not scary, wacky, lots of cool props and locks left and right. This room was pretty puzzle/lock heavy and would be a bit difficult for younger children, but I’m aware that they have a kids version (that we did NOT play), but the option is there which is very cool!
Prison BreakEscape Room 66 - Laguna HillsEscape roomIRLA lot of lock puzzles! We went in as two people, but ideally it would probably be better to have at least 3-4. There are a LOT of puzzles to solve. We got a lot of hints because time was running out when we usually don’t use any for other escape rooms. The puzzles themselves were not bad. The set pieces and designs were well made. It was hard at times to figure out what each code went to which lock because there was just that many. The room was nonlinear so everything was everywhere. The room didn’t feel particularly like a prison break aside from the initial separate cells, which was unfortunate. Still had fun though!
The Buried ProphecyQuest Tavern - UplandEscape roomIRLLoved The Buried Prophecy! We’ve now done all the rooms for the Quest Tavern! The Buried Prophecy is their only one at this location, though they’re supposedly opening up a new one soon! Not scary, but dark atmosphere (you’re in a tomb!) The set is pretty amazing! They’ve done a really awesome job making it really feel like you’re in a tomb! The puzzles are pretty novel and different, not heavily reliant on traditional locks. Each puzzle was different and novel and fun to work through! Not terribly hard! The first half we sort of breezed through. The second half tripped us up in several places where our wonderful GM Diego stepped in to give us small nudges in the right direction! Difficulty I’d say was a Medium, leaning towards hard a bit. We went in as a group of 2 and got out with about a minute to spare 🤣. There’s a side quest thing where you can find 10 coins in your room and get a discount! We couldn’t really split our attention much that way since we’re two people, but if we had 3 or more, we definitely would’ve tried searching for those too! Ideally I’d say 3-4 people would be perfect! Space isn’t very big, so maybe not very good for large groups! As a review for all of Quest Tavern, I absolutely loved each and every one of their rooms! I would highly highly recommend all of them! My favorite though would probably still be the Last Supper! Overall, still highly recommend Buried Prophecy! And a special thanks to our GM Diego for being super friendly and welcoming and facilitate an unforgettable experience!
Mission's Breakout: The Ultimate Bank HeistMission Escape GamesEscape roomIRLLoved this one! Probably the best one so far (we’ve done 3), set super well made, atmosphere really nice. Nothing scary at all. Difficulty was medium hard I’d say? There were a few times you get parts of the clue but you don’t have all the things necessary to solve it yet. We didn’t know and spent a lot of time on it. There were quite a lot of combination locks in this room. A good blend of tech locks and traditional locks, I’d say! We were a group of 4 and got…2 hints? We finished with about 7min to spare. Our GM was super friendly and enthusiastic, spending time with us before and after telling us about other playthroughs, funny or memorable moments, etc! Thank you so much for a wonderful experience! They’re located on the second floor, but floor 4 if you go by the parking lot elevator. Next to the theater! Pretty big store and hard to miss. They have 10% discounts if you book another room right after your game but for another day. 20% discounts if you book same day.
Escape Operation: End Of DaysMission Escape GamesEscape roomIRLLiked it a lot! There were no combination locks! It was a mix of buttons, things that turn, different inputs and plugs, etc! The game was designed well! Some of the puzzles were decently hard. I don’t think I would have made the connection without the hint. The other one we got a hint for was a faceplant it was so obvious, but we just didn’t SEE lol 🤣 Room was decently dark! Hope you have good vision in the dark! Also we went as a two person team and the room was quite large so it was FREEZING 🥶. Definitely bring a jacket if you’re like me and unfortunately run on the colder side 🫠 Room starts off dark dark and remains semi lit. Think underground bunker after apocalypse hits 🤣 It’s not scary at all though. No loud noises, nothing to jump out at you, gory elements, etc. I’d say…kid tag-alongs are fine if they’re okay with the dark, but this room would definitely be more for adults or older kids. Everything was made very high quality and nothing was broken or seemed old. I have high expectations for the rest of the rooms at Mission Escape! Will definitely be returning! Thank you again to our GM for sticking with us after for so long to book our next game! 🤣 P.S.! For anyone wanting to get discounts, they give 10% discount for right after game ends bookings and 20% discount for same day bookings! They do book up pretty fast though, so idk how often someone has the opportunity to use the 20% discount unless you go on the weekdays!
