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Reviews

Reviews

Le Château du Supplice Éternel [The Castle of Eternal Suffering]

Le Château du Supplice Éternel [The Castle of Eternal Suffering]

Sauve Qui Peut - Saint-Jean

  • Escape room
  • IRL
In a trip of great escape rooms in Quebec, this is the one that stood out as the most well-rounded blend of immersiveness, game design and story (poignancy/emotional resonance plus humour!) It’s an amazing game, only rivalled by Wardrobe for Sale in my experience for this balance. I cannot commend the owner enough for prioritizing providing the full experience for everyone. The story deserves being experienced in full, and knowing that we would be nudged along if needed allowed our team to really enjoy the large scale of the game (in contrast to some rooms in Quebec that still boasted of their low escape rates.) As two people in our fifties, we were a bit concerned ahead of time about how scary the game would be, and how physically active. The owner encouraged us to just do it, and I’m glad he did. It has a few moments that are a bit scary, but the tension is always released with humour or empathy. The physical part is more doable IMO than many family-themed rooms in Quebec that take excessive crawling or climbing. Overall, this is a superb, not to miss game for people between 16 and 60-ish, well worth traveling for.
Storyteller's Secret

Storyteller's Secret

Boxaroo

  • Escape room
  • IRL
The atmosphere, story and aesthetics were A+ - a really lovely, immersive experience with a satisfying, inspiring ending. With just two players, some of the gameplay was slowed down by us running back and forth between areas trying to figure out what had changed after certain actions (the otherwise lovely background music was so loud it masked clueing sounds) - thankfully the great GM helped us with nudges. The hint system was one of the nicest I’ve seen. Bring a flashlight if you have trouble with vision in darker spaces! One piece of equipment apparently didn’t work as intended in our game as we were able to get an item slightly out of correct sequence. Overall very highly recommended and well deserving of its multiple accolades!
Agent Z.E.N.

Agent Z.E.N.

Mystery Soup Escape Rooms [prev. Lock & Clue Escape Rooms]

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Projet R.E.S.E.T. [Project R.E.S.E.T.]

Projet R.E.S.E.T. [Project R.E.S.E.T.]

Immersia Escape Games

  • Escape room
  • IRL
It’s hard to write a spoiler-free, fair review of Project R.E.S.E.T. because you’ll either love the mechanic that drives the game or hate it. I’m of the latter camp, so this ended up being my least favourite game at Immersia. I can still appreciate the genius of the idea and especially the execution of it, and our GM was great as the in-room character. The set is pretty IKEA, so less spectacular in many ways than the other rooms at this location (until it is spectacular for another reason!). Due to the mechanic, the puzzles have to be on the simple side, so the inclusion of two process-y/time sink puzzles wasn’t the best for a team of two (again because of the particular mechanic!) If you are very patient and/or enjoy a certain type of video games, you might adore this game - it’s just not for everyone. The title is brilliant :)
The Body Shop

The Body Shop

Red Fox Escapes

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This was only the third escape room we’d ever done, and months later it remains a gold standard for us - immersive, unique, humorous, with diverse, logical puzzles and good flow. I don’t remember any bottlenecks for our two-person team, and the room scales for bigger/smaller teams. The owner who ran the room is great, and took the time to talk to us about the design and philosophy afterwards. The Body Shop tends to be my top recommedation for a Boston area room (along with Boxaroo).
Witch's Hollow

Witch's Hollow

Stained Hourglass Escapes LLC.

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This was our second escape room at Stained Hourglass and well worth the wait for it to open. Despite the Salem-obligatory witch theme, I didn’t find the room overly kitchy, and Stained Hourglass thankfully avoided the gory-silicone-body-parts type of design; the room works well for families and those averse to gore. They made some really cool choices with how the room starts and how you interact with the puzzles and the GM; just like The Boring Office, it at times called to mind much bigger and super high-end rooms like Escaparium’s Wardrobe for sale. The puzzle design was varied and flowed satisfactorily with few bottlenecks, and there was laughter and delight along the way to the end. Clearly this team is very talented, and we can’t wait to play their third room!
The Cellar: Dead End [prev. The Cellar II: Saul's Revenge]

The Cellar: Dead End [prev. The Cellar II: Saul's Revenge]

Mystery Soup Escape Rooms [prev. Lock & Clue Escape Rooms]

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Our team of two chickens decided to become braver and try a scary room: this was a great intro to the scarier side since it was more creepy than terror-inducing; i.e. it was still possible to think. This room is recommended with a 3-person minimum which makes sense; our fairly experienced 2-person team barely got out in time and had to get repeated nudges to cover our search fails. The character in the room really makes the game, and there was a nice little piece of story to work out too. Of note: one person needs to not be claustrophobic to be able to play.
A Very Merry Mystery

A Very Merry Mystery

Mystery Soup Escape Rooms [prev. Lock & Clue Escape Rooms]

  • Escape room
  • IRL
The Inheritance: A Very Merry Mystery is a complete rehaul of the previous The Inheritance game, changing everything but the footprint. Story, puzzles and interior are all new, so it’s a great play both for new players and those who have done the original The Inheritance. We liked the previous game very much, but the Christmas- themed new version is a real treat. It’s puzzle-rich, but because the puzzles are at an accessible difficulty level, keeps the players moving and solving speedily. The puzzles flow logically and are wonderfully on-theme. This would be an amazing introduction to escape rooms for kids and families, but it’s so well designed that it was equally a delight for a couple of enthusiasts. As always, the owners and gamemasters are great. I’m almost tempted to borrow somene else’s kids to get to do the game again.
The Heart of the Mountain

The Heart of the Mountain

Beyond Escape

  • Escape room
  • IRL
It’s so refreshing to come across a room you haven’t already seen a dozen times (don’t get me wrong, I love those Egyptian tombs, too)! The story and the texture of the world The Heart of the Mountain built are really lovely, utilizing lesser known Nordic mythology. Along with the world building, the puzzle design really shone: it’s clear, clean and logical. I think it’s the first game our team of two has ever played where we didn’t need any nudges; not because the game was too easy, but because it felt so well designed (and/or playtested). We did a day trip from Boston to do all three rooms at Beyond Escape and it was well worth the trip. Also, everyone working there from the designer-owners to the GM we met were just great. Would highly recommend as worth a trip!
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