Busboom

Reviews

Reviews

Election Day

Election Day

Appleseed Avenue

  • Escape room
  • Other
The easy tag line for this room is that it's CSI meets the Muppets. But part of its delight is that it understands that both of these shows are often misunderstood. The Muppets are built on the adult premise that though the system may be broken, the show must go on. In many ways, it's an example of how to live inside the disarray of the adult world without falling into despair. CSI is built on a child's need for simplicity and resolution. A body appears. Experts assemble. Evidence comes into focus. And within the hour, the world is made legible again. The game leans into these formulas and gently parodies both. In Election Day, the CSI side of the game relies on stock characters, attention to procedure, and heightened melodrama. The Muppets, meanwhile, are political, earnest, crass, and sometimes ruthless. It's a room fluent in its own parody. NOTES + This game is partially a murder mystery as well as an escape room. It asks you to keep your feet in both game styles, just as the game asks you to straddle the human/puppet divide. +The onboarding into the puppet world is fun and on theme. +/- I'm not always a fan of screens in escape rooms (not a detractor, either), but this made good use of them. Future games on Appleseed Avenue might find even more opportunities for evidence made of felt rather than pixels. +The game features a split start as you decide whether to be on the medical or detective side. You can choose whether to directly or indirectly collaborate, and the game has a few options for communication. +The split start also has a brief moment during the beginning for competition between the two sides. In some ways, this mirrors the inter-department competition of the real world. There is a minor consequence for who wins and who loses that is very funny. +Yes, these are puppets, but you get to know their story and their personalities. The game has a fun time playing with the familiar tropes, using both exaggeration and puns to great effect. +There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to the story. There are heightened moments of tension and suspense, but it's a kind of cartoon criminality. I don't think the ending is ever in doubt, but I didn't think to ask if they have a fail ending (which could be fun). +/- We were a team of four and finished with 20 minutes to spare. We weren’t rushing, but wish we had taken longer to enjoy the world they had built on Appleseed Avenue. +/- Most of the puppet interactions are on video. The video work is done extremely well, but I would love to see even more live puppetry in future games. (not sure how feasible this would be)
THE ENDings [Immersive Experience]

THE ENDings [Immersive Experience]

Strange Bird Immersive

  • Escape room
  • Other

𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 �𓅝𓃄 �𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿 𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 𓂨𓅝𓃄 𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿

Magic Universe

Magic Universe

MadLand

  • Escape room
  • Other
Magic Universe is a game that proves escape rooms are capable of transporting us as fully as any Hollywood blockbuster or Broadway stage. It is, in the truest sense, world building. The first thing that hits you is the scale. I have seen impressive sets before, but this is different. Compared to Magic Universe, even theme parks feel lacking. (Universal Studios should sue just to understand how they were outdone) The game, especially in the first half, has many extraordinary moments. There’s one where you look up, the light hitting your face in an almost impossibly cinematic way, and something happens. When I looked over at my two adult children who were playing alongside me, it was as if they were five again. They wore the same expressions as when they were young and small and certain that magic was real. The first half also had: * elegant blocking and choreography reminiscent of Broadway * incredible acting by people who inhabit the characters so much that you can almost feel the stories behind their eyes.tonally precise writing (you’d be forgiven for thinking it came from the pages of a beloved fantasy novel) Somewhere past the midpoint, the world ever so slightly frays at its edges. With an achievement of this caliber, it seems silly to quibble, but the second half does have its stumbles: * there’s a room that is noticeably underdeveloped compared to the rest. * The puzzles aren’t as strong. * The final set piece is spectacular but devoid of meaningful choices. It expands the world visually but shrinks it emotionally. But all of these seem small compared to what Magic Universe achieves. It’s something that, in the months to come, will cause me to think back on its corridors of candlelight and talking portraits, its vast towers and enchanting characters. In some ways, it’s impossible to discuss Magic Universe without talking about the Canadian titan lurking in the background… Magnifico. It’s certain that people on Discord servers, Facebook groups, and in rental cars between cities will debate which is greater… Magnfico or Magic Universe? Out of the four people I played rooms with in Spain, all chose Magic Universe. I see it differently. Magnifico has grandeur, consistency, and raw narrative strength. Every scene builds. Every puzzle belongs. It nails the landing. And it has the rarest of gifts in storytelling, a soul. Magic Universe has greater individual moments. Its peaks scrape the sky. But comparatively, it is uneven. This debate, however, misses the bigger point: we are witnessing an inflection point. There are moments in every art form when something changes, permanently. A door opens that cannot be shut. Magnifico opened one. Magic Universe another. And because of these two games, somewhere in the months and years to come, new doors will appear. These two games are visions that promote more visions. We are lucky to have them both.