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!
Magic UniverseMad LandEscape roomIRLOh. My. God. 😳 This is hands down, no contest, the best game I have EVER played. It’s not #2 on TERPECA for nothing! 😍 Words can’t describe how absolutely phenomenal this game is!!! Every single room, every single part of the entire game was an unforgettable experience! The set design was AMAZING. The lights, sound, and live actors work together to create an INCREDIBLE atmosphere and experience! The experience starts the moment you step through the front door. No GM to greet you, nothing to detract from the immersion. You. Are. There. And my goodness the story, the live acting, every part of the game had me slack jawed and giddy for more!! In terms of gameplay, the puzzles weren’t too difficult! It’s very much about the experience! They make great use of lighting and sounds to direct you to the answer and if you need a hint, the live actors will come out and help you along through acting. There are moments of complete darkness, but those are there to help the magic along! Not scary at all! For any kiddos and fans of Harry Potter, or, hell, if you breathe and are able bodied, you’ll love this room!! It’s not even a room at this point, it’s an entire castle and then some! They take lots of inspiration from Harry Potter, but the room stands fully on its own! No outside knowledge necessary at all! I highly highly HIGHLY recommend Magic Universe to anyone who has the opportunity to go and experience this MAGICAL escape room! Trust me, you won’t regret it! Some extra info! The location is slightly hard to find. You’ll arrive at a warehouse area. Go through the gates and straight around to the back where you’ll see a door with the signature M on it with a plaque on the side! There is an intercom to ring and get in!
UndercookedOmescape - SunnyvaleEscape roomIRLAbsolutely LOVED it! Undercooked is super unique in that you're not trying to escape, you're trying to complete as many recipe dishes as you can in 75 minutes! There are 26 recipes in total, some harder with multiple steps, some more straight forward. I'd definitely recommend a slightly larger group. We went in as a group of 2 and we did manage 14 recipes completed by the end with only light hints. I'd say a good group size is 4 ish? Minimum players to complete puzzles is 2! Though if you're only a group of 2, not to worry! You can always repeat the room and concentrate on all the ones you haven't finished the second time around! That's what we're planning to do the next time we come back! 🥰 If you played Overcooked the game, that very stressful song (you know the one 🤣) will be playing the entire time haha! I'd say it definitely takes inspiration from the vibes of Overcooked, but the actual gameplay is completely different. Overcooked is repetitive, Undercooked features puzzles, LOTS of it! It's definitely overwhelming in the beginning, but after we got oriented, we were rushing to complete the puzzles/recipes! Not scary at all! Super fun, albeit slightly stressful 🤣 Kids will love it! Great for small-medium sized groups! All flat surfaces, only one area needs 1 person to crouch and crawl a bit. No climbing needed. A few places of improvement... maybe we were going too slow in the beginning, but the GMs started to outright tell us how to do the puzzles when not being prompted 💀 I felt bad telling them outright not to, so maybe before going in, mention that you guys would like to have hints only when asked? Slight area of possible improvement, but (trying not to spoil anything), you'll need to write down a LOT of numbers in this escape room, but they only give you 1 little writing board for the entire group. They might give more for larger groups idk, but we were a group of 2 and only got 1. Which...normally 1 is enough if we're doing the same puzzles, but halfway through, or actually really early on, we decided to split up and completely different puzzles individually. I needed to write stuff down, but my partner had the board or vice versa. Would have liked my own board. I don't think this kind of difficulty was what they intended for. Overall, we absolutely LOVED Undercooked and this is one of the few escape rooms that I'd say is repeatable just because it's not designed to 100% completed in 75 minutes! And as I said before, because we split up, the next time we come, we can not only do the ones we haven't completed yet, but also the ones the other person completed the first time! (We had decided on this and tried very hard to not debrief afterwards and tell each other everything 🤣). Super super recommend this escape room!
Lockbuster Video60 to Escape - SchaumburgEscape roomIRLThoroughly enjoyed the experience!! The set was amazing and well designed and made! Things were high quality and nothing seemed old and broken. Very high tech room! I think there was maybe only 1-2 traditional locks in the whole room. Story was fun and interesting! The set design was AMAZING! Really wished I could see how it works but unfortunately that’s a secret 🤣 Not scary at all! Kids would love it! Puzzles weren’t too hard. I’d say Easy-Medium range? We went in as a group of 2 and finished with 17:46 to spare. Super fun experience! Would definitely recommend!
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!
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 Bridge BetweenQuest TavernEscape roomIRLA super high quality escape room just like all the other ones at the Quest Tavern, but this one would definitely rank one of the best ones here! I’ve done all of them and I’d say the Bridge Between is probably the hardest room at the Quest Tavern! It requires a minimum of 2 people, but to finish within the time limit of 75 minutes, I’d say 3-4 is recommended. Not scary at all! There is a LOT of puzzles and so much to do in this room. Not terribly a lot of seeking puzzles. Very immersive, including the hint system! Our GM was absolutely stellar in making for an unforgettable experience! The ending was super cute, though I did bang up my knee a bit 🤣 I guess that would be my only word of caution! Overall, I would not say this is beginner friendly, but enthusiasts who enjoy a challenge will absolutely love it! ❤️
The Founder's SecretThe Lodge of Lazarus CroweEscape roomIRLAbsolutely LOVED this escape room! Definitely one of my all time favorites!! The puzzles flow well from one to another and the mechanisms were all very novel and unique! No spoilers, but one part blew our minds!!! Look forward to it!! 😍 Not scary! Very immersive! Experience starts before the door haha. In terms of difficulty, we went in as a group of 2 and finished pretty fast, I’m estimating somewhere around 1hr? They didn’t have a clock lol. All the GMs were very enthusiastic and friendly! The entire lodge has the vibes of being among hobbyists sharing similar interests! The Lazarus Lodge is also a bar and cafe, opens at 4PM I believe! There are also puzzles you can do at the lodge! The puzzles are slightly on the medium harder side, so younger kids might not be able to fully enjoy the rooms! No scary elements though some props are slightly creepy 🤣 None in the Founders Secret specifically though. Just outside. Overall I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this escape room!! You won’t regret it! 🥰❤️
Cheesie's Pizza Party60 to Escape - SchaumburgEscape roomIRLThis is a VERY search heavy room! If you identify as someone that has to ask your partner where the keys (that are right in front of you) are, be prepared to be humbled 🤣 Jokes aside, there are fewer puzzles and just lots of searching and matching. There is a lot to DO though. The set was amazing and very immersive! Slightly spooky! Maybe not the best for kids or people who freak easily. Or perfect for kids that like a little bit of thrill! (You can make the kiddos search for things!) Choose the bravest to be the birthday person. Can’t back out of that role. Hahaha! I tried 🫠 It’s not too scary though, you just have to be okay with standing slightly close to the otherwise murder mouse. No biggie. 😋 We had fun though! Impressive set design, very few traditional locks! Would recommend! (Unless you’re like my husband who is a bit visually challenged 🤣)
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!
