Mind GamesBreakout Games - ColumbusEscape roomIRLRating: 3.5/5 - Unique, police detective simulator with fun actor interaction Pros: âNo puzzles, padlocks, or major searching, it's all about analyzing evidence and solving the crime. âVery unique, it is not really an escape room, I've never done anything like this even after 220+ rooms. âPerfect for fans of police detective TV dramas. âThe actor/GM adds to the immersion and interactivity. They are in a separate interrogation room that you can choose to enter when you want to, so they are not awkwardly staring at you while you examine the evidence. âThe interrogation was interesting, there is good opportunity for improv if you like bantering with an actor. âSome fun use of police tools, a small amount of tech involved. âThis is only available at this Breakout location and integrates the city of Columbus into the game. âThe employees were all friendly. Room for improvement: âThere was A LOT of information all at once, it was a bit overwhelming at first. âThe end goal felt a bit simplistic and not as satisfying considering how much extraneous info we had to dig through. I would've preferred a more classic mystery like trying to find a murder weapon, ruling out alibis, etc. âThe interrogation guidebook provided is extensive with tons of reading that was not useful. We often felt like we had no idea what to ask the suspect since most of the sample questions did not help us with the goal. âThe set is a bit plain/uninteresting. We played as a team of 2, I would recommend 2-4 enthusiasts.
Duke's Farm60 to Escape - GurneeEscape roomIRLRating 4/5: Fun room with good tech and a quirky theme âLove the goofy theming, quirkiness, and humor âMultiple rooms with an interesting transition âMostly tech based puzzles, minimal padlocks âGood use of lighting, audio, and voiceover âPuzzles were mostly enjoyable (except for 1) with nothing illogical or unintuitive âMany tactile interactions âGM was friendly âSatisfying ending âGameplay is fairly linear which works better for smaller groups Room for improvement: âThe audio puzzle that others have mentioned was annoying, though it's solvable if you use the provided writing pad and take it step by step. â60 to Escape's puzzle style starts to get a bit repetitive if you've played most of their rooms. I'd recommend teams of 2-4 enthusiasts. Our team of 3 escaped with around 5 min left and didn't use any hints. At least one player will need to crawl. Update: My ranking of 60 to Escape rooms (all locations) so far starting with my favorite. 1. Lockbuster Video â¤ď¸ 2. Cheesie's Pizza Party â¤ď¸ 3. Invasion â¤ď¸ 4. Pirates Curse â¤ď¸ 5. Mystery Manor â¤ď¸ 6. Hidden Temple â¤ď¸ 7. Duke's Farm â¤ď¸ 8. Blast From The Past đ 9. Starship: Final Frontier đ 10. Jurassic Outpost đ 11. Arctic Expedition đ 12. Museum Heist đ 13. Magic Heist đ 14. Containment đ
Containment60 to Escape - GurneeEscape roomIRLRating: 3/5 - Decent, but it's their oldest room and feels that way, my least favorite here Pros: âSet was decent and appropriately creepy âMany different rooms to discover âPuzzles were decent, nothing annoying or unintuitive âVery non-linear, lots of things to do if your team wants to split up. âLighting was dark and atmospheric, but they provided all 4 of us with bright flashlights âGM was friendly Room for improvement: âIt's very lock heavy, you open a bunch of locks consecutively with little reward. There is some tech though. âThis is their oldest room. Their newer rooms have so much more impressive tech, funny moments, animatronics, etc. âEnding was a bit unsatisfying, game ends on a boring puzzle There were a couple minor jump scares, but no actors so I'd say it's creepy but not scary. One person will need to crawl a short distance. I'd recommend a team of 3-4 due to the non-linearity, though our team of 4 solved it with 27min left and no hints. We got the record for the month so this is probably not normal, the GM said this was supposed to be their hardest room. We did split up and solve many things most things separately though. My ranking of 60 to Escape rooms (all locations) so far starting with my favorite. 1. Lockbuster Video â¤ď¸ 2. Cheesie's Pizza Party â¤ď¸ 3. Invasion â¤ď¸ 4. Pirates Curse â¤ď¸ 5. Mystery Manor â¤ď¸ 6. Hidden Temple â¤ď¸ 7. Duke's Farm â¤ď¸ 8. Blast From The Past đ 9. Starship: Final Frontier đ 10. Jurassic Outpost đ 11. Arctic Expedition đ 12. Museum Heist đ 13. Magic Heist đ 14. Containment đ
Starship: Final Frontier60 to Escape - GurneeEscape roomIRLRating: 3.5/5 - Awesome set, but lacks the typical 60 to Escape charm, they set the bar too high for themselves Pros: âSet looks fantastic, appropriately futuristic while going for the weathered look âGood use of LED lighting and audio âMultiple rooms to explore âPuzzles were mostly fun enough, though not particularly interesting or unique âNearly all tech based interactions, only a single padlock âEnding sequence was unique and fun âMany tactile interactions, I like that they avoid the use of touchscreens even though there are some screens âSome non-linearity, so the team can split up at times âGM was friendly and helpful Room for improvement: âOne puzzle requiring at least 2 people was frustrating because of the timing involved. It felt like a huge time suck. âThis is their newest room, but the puzzle style starts to feel a bit repetitive after playing most of their other rooms. âIt lacks the quirkiness, charm, and comedic moments of their prior rooms âNo animatronics or impressive/unique tech like in some of their prior other rooms (they set the bar too high for themselves đ) âIntro audio did not have any interesting visuals and felt way too long I'd recommend 3-4 enthusiasts, our team of 4 completed it with less than 10 min left with a couple of minor nudges for things we missed. One person will need to crawl. Update: My ranking of 60 to Escape rooms (all locations) so far starting with my favorite. 1. Lockbuster Video â¤ď¸ 2. Cheesie's Pizza Party â¤ď¸ 3. Invasion â¤ď¸ 4. Pirates Curse â¤ď¸ 5. Mystery Manor â¤ď¸ 6. Hidden Temple â¤ď¸ 7. Duke's Farm â¤ď¸ 8. Blast From The Past đ 9. Starship: Final Frontier đ 10. Jurassic Outpost đ 11. Arctic Expedition đ 12. Museum Heist đ 13. Magic Heist đ 14. Containment đ
Museum Heist60 to Escape - GurneeEscape roomIRLRating: 3.5/5 - Solid heist room, above average Pros: âSet looked realistic with some large artifacts and many details âMultiple rooms to explore âMix of tech, number pads, and physical keys. Little to no combo padlocks. âPuzzles were mostly enjoyable, nothing unfair or annoying âSome hidden secrets âVery non-linear, we split up and were constantly busy âSatisfying ending âGM was friendly Room for improvement: âThis is clearly one of their older rooms, it lacks the quirkiness, fantastical sets, animatronics, impressive tech, etc. of many of their newer rooms. âThe puzzle gating was not great, there were too many things available before we could use them. Due to the non-linear gameplay, I'd recommend 3-4 enthusiasts though it should be doable with 2. Our team of 3 solved it with more than 15 min left with no hints, though I think this puzzle style suited us and we all split up. My ranking of 60 to Escape rooms (all locations) so far starting with my favorite. 1. Lockbuster Video â¤ď¸ 2. Cheesie's Pizza Party â¤ď¸ 3. Invasion â¤ď¸ 4. Pirates Curse â¤ď¸ 5. Mystery Manor â¤ď¸ 6. Hidden Temple â¤ď¸ 7. Duke's Farm â¤ď¸ 8. Blast From The Past đ 9. Starship: Final Frontier đ 10. Jurassic Outpost đ 11. Arctic Expedition đ 12. Museum Heist đ 13. Magic Heist đ 14. Containment đ
Storyteller's SecretBoxarooEscape roomIRLRating: 5/5 - Beautiful, adventurous game with fantastic story, tech, AND puzzles Why I loved this room so much: âSet looked fantastic with many details. It is not the hugest out there but it makes great use of the space. âI'm a sucker for a good story and this was wonderful and heartwarming from beginning to end. âEverything was fully immersive and well integrated including the beautiful intro video and hint system. Great use of lighting and audio to add to the immersion. âFully tech based room with only a single padlock. Everything worked and there were some magical moments. âPuzzles were fun, varied, and satisfying with just the right level of difficulty. They were well integrated into the set/story. One or two felt like more task-like which I actually enjoy but there are plenty of proper puzzles for puzzle lovers. âVery tactile âObjects and puzzles were reused in an interesting way. âMore than 1 room to explore âSatisfying ending âWonderful flow with numerous surprises. âThe gameplay is fairly linear which worked well for our group of 2. âThe staff was friendly and designer of the game (Fro) was also super nice to talk to. This is an absolute must-play if you are anywhere near Boston, it ranks among my favorites out of 200+ rooms. I would recommend 2-4 enthusiasts.
The ObservatoryThe Gate EscapeEscape roomIRLRating: 4/5 - Challenging room, good for puzzle lovers Pros: âGood looking set with one particularly impressive aspect âUnique and satisfying puzzles, the game is very puzzle heavy and lighter on story âPuzzles were challenging and layered with some non-linearity, nothing illogical or unfair âThere are some fun surprises âMore than 1 room to explore âThe owner/GM was friendly and helpful Things that could be better: âThere is one intentional red herring puzzle and the materials used for some of the other designs were unintentional red herrings. âThe game is fully padlock and keypad lock based. While I don't inherently dislike locks, I do prefer if some tech mixed in so that not every puzzle results in a set of numbers or letters. Due to the challenging nature of this game, I do not recommend it for beginners. We played as a team of 2 and needed a lot of hints/nudges, I would recommend a team of 4-5 enthusiasts.
The Body ShopRed Fox EscapesEscape roomIRLRating: 4.5/5 - Unique theming with fun surprises and a sense of humor. Pros: âSet looked high quality with many real items you would find in a auto repair shop. âGood variety of fun, satisfying puzzles, nothing unfair or illogical. âMany puzzles used actual auto shop tools, it was a very tactile/physical/mechanical game. âMix of padlocks with some tech. It was a bit lock heavy for my tastes but at least they are appropriate to the theming and the lock mapping wasn't an issue. âIt's nice to see a novel theme that I've never seen before. âThere are some funny surprises, I love a game with that tries to make you laugh. â More than 1 room to explore â GM was friendly and helpful âNon-linear gameplay is great for more people Mixed feelings: I like the adaptive difficulty (they can add puzzles as needed) but it makes it unsatisfying when there are things in the room you didn't get to use. And while I enjoyed the game, the puzzle style feels a bit old-school for my tastes. I'd recommend this for teams of 3-5 enthusiasts, my team of 2 got a few bonus puzzles but not all of them and took almost the entire 60 minutes. This is borderline spooky due to some light horror elements, but it leans non-scary for me.
Gates of AtlantisMonkey Mind Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLRating: 4/5 - Atmospheric, tech filled room, great for small groups Pros: âFully tech based, there wasn't a single padlock, everything worked. âSet was appropriately themed with great lighting and audio that added to the immersion. âPuzzles were fun, varied, and fairly straightforward, nothing illogical. âMore than a single room to explore. âGM was friendly and attentive. Mixed feelings: â/âGameplay is fully linear, this is fine for smaller groups but may be an issue for teams of more than 2-3. Cons: âStory wasn't the clearest. âSome parts of the set looked worse than others. Due to the linear nature, I'd recommend this for 2 enthusiasts. I completed this solo (paid for 2 tickets) with 9 min left.
Witch's HollowStained Hourglass Escapes LLC.Escape roomIRLRating: 4.5/5 - Fantastic and whimsical with perfect theming for Salem Here's why I loved this room: âTons of tech, they still make everything very tactile/physical. Only a 1-2 padlocks. âSet looks good overall though some parts felt a bit plain âFun variety of puzzles that were satisfying and fit the theming well. âMore than 1 room to explore âInteresting surprises including a unique GM interaction âGreat special effects (including lighting and sound) that make things feel magical âAn opportunity to affect the story âFriendly and helpful GM I'd recommend 2-4 enthusiasts, but there is a 3 minimum. It is definitely playable with less than 3, I played solo with 4 min left and minimal hints, but paid for 3 tickets. I'd say this is "not scary" but it could be borderline spooky for some people just because witches are inherently spooky.
