EnchantmentRed Door Escape Room - EncinitasEscape roomIRLThis was a fun room. This was my 61st game (55w - 6L) and I played with three other adults with similar statistics. We had 16:32 remaining but required a couple of hints (which is rare for us). I think the room is mostly linear (although we did solve one puzzle, accidentally, out of sequence) and mechanical (lots of combination locks). Everything in the room was in working condition and the room was well decorated and in theme.
The NeighborSteal and EscapeEscape roomIRLThis was an interesting game, sort of a narrated story with a Siri-like assistant. This was my 59th room (53W-6L) that I played with three other adults with similar statistics. We escaped with 1:18 remaining and no hints? The room was beautifully decorated and everything was in working condition. A room with an assistant is not really the type of room I enjoy, but it was still fun.
The Lost ExpeditionSteal and EscapeEscape roomIRLThis was a fun room with great props. The "timer" was unusual - a fuel tank where your time for escape is based on how much fuel you consume / are left with. We had 20% tank upon completion. This was my 60th room (54W-6L) that I played with three other adults with similar statistics. It is a role-based game, but you can swap and share roles so don't be too worried about which role you are assigned.
ElixirExodus Escape Room - Anaheim Hills, CAEscape roomIRLThis is a beautifully decorated room! This was my 58th room (52W - 6L) which I played with four other adults with similar statistics. This beautifully decorated room is mostly-non linear, split tech-mechanical, and medium difficulty. All of the puzzles were in tip-top condition and fit within the theme beautifully. We played all three rooms at Exodus today and escaped this one with 7:46 remaining (unfortunately, we needed two hints). Our GM was great, we asked that she not give us any hints unless we specifically asked for them.
Vendetta 15 [prev. Villains Vendetta]Exodus Escape Room - Anaheim Hills, CAEscape roomIRLThis is a great room! This was my 56th game (51W - 6L) which I played with four other adults with similar statistics. We played all three rooms at Exodus today and this one was my favorite of the three. I love non-linear games, nostalgic themes and decor, and lock & keys - this room checked all three boxes! Three of our five players said this was their favorite Exodus game (the other two liked Olympus a little more). The room decorations and puzzles were fun and in perfect condition, there were plenty of puzzles for everyone to solve, and the lighting was good (hey, it's the little things...). Our GM (Chad) was very friendly, welcoming, and respected our request for no hints unless asked. I don't think we needed any hints and we finished with 24:54 remaining. Don't let the time fool you though, the puzzles were challenging, I just have a couple of reeeealy smart teammates.
Olympus: Eternal WinterExodus Escape Room - Anaheim Hills, CAEscape roomIRLThis is a great room! The decorations were beautiful, the novel puzzles were in tip-top condition, and the staff was wonderful! This was my 56th room (50W - 6L) which I played with four other adults with similar statistics. We played all three rooms at this location today and two of our members said this was their favorite of the three rooms. One of those players said it might even be her favorite of all time. Wow. Three of us studied Latin and ancient Greek in school, so the Greek theme and letters were particularly nice touches. We'd say this is a medium difficulty room, perhaps bordering on the hard side. The GM (Chad) was very respectful of our request for no hints unless we asked for them - we eventually asked for one, I think. (7:00 remaining when we finished). We'd also say it is mostly non-linear and more tech than mechanical.
Treasure IslandBrain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLShiver me timbers! This was a great room! This was my 54th escape room (48W - 6L) which I played with four other adults with similar statistics. The non-linear room is elaborately decorated with well thought out puzzles all of which are in tip-top condition. The GM was very friendly and respected our request for no clues unless we asked for them (we ended up receiving two). We escaped with 21:21 remaining but don't let that time fool you, it is a medium difficulty room with challenging puzzles (I just rode the coat-tails of my really smart teammates). I appreciated that the timer was set for 75 minutes, because, come on... who likes to fail? The location was easy to find, parking was easy, and the rooms were terrific. We solved three rooms today at this location: Mad Scientist, Treasure Island, and Flynn's - all are amazing.
Flynn's ArcadeBrain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLI liked this room - a lot of effort went into creating an authentic Tron-themed experience. I don't know much about Tron, so most of the details escaped me, but the room was impressive, nonetheless. A few of the puzzles had me scratching my head and asking, how did they do that?... This was my 55th room (49W - 6L) that I played with four other adults with similar statistics. We would say it is a medium difficulty room (perhaps on the upper edge of medium). All of the props and puzzles were in very good condition, the GM was friendly and helpful (and respected our request for no hints unless we asked for them - I think we asked for one or two?), and the location / parking was easy.
The Mad Scientist [prev. The Laboratory]Brain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLA biologist, a physicist and a computer scientist walk into an escape room laboratory... This sounds like the opening to a great joke - but no joke, this was a great room! This was my 53rd escape room (47W - 6L) and I played as a group of five adult players with similar statistics. The room was well decorated, every puzzle was in tip-top condition, and the puzzles were very engaging, with even a few very novel ones! The room was non-linear and very mechanical (lock & key). I love lock and key rooms - call me a Boomer. My favorite part about this room was the task board which allowed for all five of us to work on our own task tracks (we solved one quickly so the GM opened a sixth track of bonus tasks which was awesome!). After we completed the room (19:48 remaining) it was fun to walk through the tasks with the other team members to see what they solved. Each of us having our own task tracks was nice so that everyone felt like they were fully participating. This was not a scary room (we won't do scary!), parking was easy, and the staff were very friendly and playful.
PlaygroundThe Escape Game - Westfield UTCEscape roomIRLWe did not escape. We weren't even close... This was my 51st game (45W - 6L) and I played with two other adult players with similar statistics. While I still consider myself a bit of a novice, this is not a medium difficulty room. The puzzles were logical and really fun, but the sheer number of them requires a much larger group to divide and conquer. The booking limit is 12 people, perhaps that should have tipped me off! If you are against receiving hints (like us), I would recommend a group of 6-8 people. Smaller groups might succeed if you constantly ask for hints to keep the pace going. I also recommend only one person working on a puzzle at a time (the room is mostly non-linear), again, because it is hard to zip through so many of them. With all of this being said, I think this is an amazing room! I really, really liked it! I want to give it a heart but I'm downgrading it to the thumbs up only because we went in thinking it was a 6/10 difficulty room. The puzzles were very fun, logical, in great condition, different, playful, and (as I mentioned) numerous. Parking was easy (it is in UTC mall near Macy's) but free only for the first 2 hours.
Ruins: Forbidden TreasureThe Escape Game - Westfield UTCEscape roomIRLThis was a fun room! The decorations were top notch, the experience was very immersive, the puzzles were in perfect condition, and the staff was extremely friendly. This was my 52nd room (46W - 6L) which I played with two other adults with similar statistics. I still consider myself a bit of a novice because I ride the coat-tails of one of my teammates. We finished with 8:33 remaining, but we needed five hints - ugh. We usually play without hints, but we would not have understood one puzzle without hints. I recommend playing this room with a group of 3-4 players. I would also recommend using your phone flashlight. The room is mostly linear, however, I think you can work on two puzzles simultaneously (but probably not more than that). My only criticism is Escape Game's policy of shared bookings. I feel like TEG is the last business to have this policy. But in their defense, we asked that no one join our group today and they kept our room closed for just us. Thank you!
Operation Avalanche - CLOSEDTop Tier Escape RoomsEscape roomIRL"A biologist, a physicist, and a computer scientist walk into an escape room..." - it sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? But, yes, this was a great room for our STEM squad! This was my 50th room - Yay! - (45W - 5L) which I completed with a group of five players with similar statistics and ranging in age from 22 to 59. We got off to a slow start, then everything seemed to click all at once. We escaped with 10:37 remaining and we requested only one hint. But that does not mean that it is an easy room, it was definitely hard. We needed all of our brains contributing ideas and looking at the puzzles from different perspectives. The room was decorated well and all of the props / puzzles were in top working condition. The room was non-linear so no one in our squad was left standing around with nothing to do. The room was also well lit, which we really appreciated.
Pirates of the Mediterranean: The Curse of the Crystal Cavern - CLOSEDTop Tier Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis was a great room! This was my 49th room (44W - 5L) which I played as a group of five adults with similar statistics ranging in ages from 22 to 59. I still consider myself a bit of a novice since I ride the coattails of my teammates quite a bit. The decorations, story and puzzles were top notch and in perfect working condition. Despite having a couple of skeletons in the room, the game was not scary and could be enjoyed by kids (with adult chaperones). The room was mostly non-linear and mostly mechanical (lock/key which we love) so everyone had something to do and no one was standing around bored. We finished with about 20 min remaining and no hints, but I would not say it is an easy room. There were several puzzles that required a few different brains to come up with solutions. We're looking forward to trying Avalanche tomorrow.
The Bayou: The Legend of the Midnight RavenThe EntrapmentEscape roomIRLThis was a fun room! Bayou was my 48th escape room (43W - 5L) but I still consider myself a bit of a novice - mostly because I ride the coattails of my teammate, Baby Squirrel. :) I played with four other teammates with similar statistics ranging in age from 10 to 59 years. We consider this room to be on the hard side of medium difficulty, mostly because of the number of puzzles needed to be solved. The room was mostly non-linear so everyone had something to work on. In fact, after we escaped the room, we went back inside so people could explain what they did on their puzzles while I was working on another one. The room decorations and props were impressive and immersive. The puzzles were a mixture of high tech and mechanical (lock & key), but maybe slightly more tech-y. Everything was in working condition and the story flowed very well from the intro video.
The Disappearance at Fogmore ManorThe EntrapmentEscape roomIRLThis was a very fun room! This was my 47th room (42W - 5L) so I still consider myself a novice, especially since I ride the coattails of my teammate, Baby Squirrel. Today I played with four other players with similar statistics ranging in ages from 10 to 59 - it was nice having younger brains leading the way. As prior players have mentioned, the room is linear but I didn't feel like anyone was standing around with nothing to do. If fact, a couple of puzzles require more than a couple of hands. Despite moving at a pretty fast pace, we barely finished in time (50 seconds remaining). We received a couple of nudges, primarily along the lines of , "read it again..." The decor was lovely and everything was in working condition. The puzzles were a mixture of high tech and mechanical.
Irvine School of Wizardry and the Goblin's SecretsHidden DonkeyEscape roomIRLThe Goblin's Secret is my new favorite escape room! The set design and props are the highest quality and so detailed. I felt like I was in a room designed by Disney or Universal! In fact, there is a part during the story when my group and I were like, "OMG - what?! This is SO cool!!" (When you play the game, you'll know which part I'm talking about...). This was my 45th room (40W - 5L) so I still consider myself a novice (I totally ride the coat-tails of one of my teammates, BabySquirrel). I played with two other adults with similar stats. We agree that this is an amazing room. It is mostly linear, although there are so many puzzles, that everyone in my group contributed something to each puzzle. The room is a nice mix of tech and mechanical. The puzzles are of medium difficulty, but they are numerous so the room feels more difficult than a typical medium room. We finished with 4:03 remaining and no hints. I would highly, highly, highly recommend it for all ages and abilities.
Irvine School Of Wizardry And The Dragon WandHidden DonkeyEscape roomIRLThe Dragon Wand is an amazing room! The set design, props, and puzzles are high end and very immersive. This was the second room I played at Hidden Donkey tonight and I loved both. In total I have played 46 rooms (41W - 5L) so I still consider myself a bit of a novice. Tonight I played with two other adults with similar stats. We finished with 12:33 remaining and used no hints. We agree that this mostly linear room is medium difficulty so it was nice to have three brains looking at the puzzles from different angles (and checking each others' math). I would definitely recommend this room for all ages and abilities.
Jewel of the SeaIntrepid Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLShiver me timbers! The room decor and special effects were fabulous! Everything about our experience was high quality - we loved the puzzles (especially one! You'll know which one after you play...) and the whole Intrepid staff was amazing. This was my 44th room (39W - 5L) so I still consider myself a novice. My family says I need to change that label to "intermediate", but since I ride the coat-tails of one of our players, I'm sticking with "novice" awhile longer. I played with two other adults with similar stats and we escaped with only 2:50 remaining after three hints. Three players felt like a good number in this mostly non-linear room as we all had something to work on. We played all three rooms at Intrepid today (Relic, Subway, and Jewel) and loved all three.
The Stolen RelicIntrepid Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLI was really impressed with this room! The decor, puzzles, and props were amazing! We encountered several puzzles which were novel for us, but they were logical which made us pretty happy. This was my 42nd escape room (37W - 5L) so I still consider myself a novice and I played with two other adults with similar statistics. We felt the room was fairly linear with a nice mix of techy and mechanical puzzles. The staff were very welcoming, enthusiastic, and patient with us. Before entering the room, we were told a fun story and our GM was very animated - it really added to our excitement. As an added bonus, customers who have a little time before or between playing rooms should attempt the quests in the lobby. We usually try to play without hints, but today we needed one but finished with 13:19 remaining.
The Haunted TerminalIntrepid Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis was a novel theme for us. We never do scary rooms, so I was a little nervous about the ghost theme. But not to worry! If you are a scaredy-cat, like me, this room is fine. It is fine for kids too. This was my 43rd room (38W - 5L) so I still consider myself a novice. I played with two other adults with similar stats and we escaped with one hint and 10:13 remaining. I think the room is medium difficulty, mostly linear, and a nice mix of tech and mechanical. The staff were very friendly, welcoming, and enthusiastic about the story. Everything was in great shape and very in theme. As a small side note, if you have time before or between rooms, you should attempt the quests in the lobby.
![Vendetta 15 [prev. Villains Vendetta]](https://images.morty.app/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/ee6bcace-9026-4d89-96a2-4cefbb2440fa.png)
![The Mad Scientist [prev. The Laboratory]](https://images.morty.app/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/085b235a-03b9-4140-94b4-9b14936a8d7f.webp)
