Devlin ManorNo. 1 Escapes - Sky ParkEscape roomIRLDecent enough room. Pretty beginner friendly and I’d definitely recommend not bringing too many people. 2-3 really should be the max for this. Lots of crawling back and forth. Story was kind of all over the place. Nice and simple for a date night or to introduce someone to escape rooms!
Holcomb’s Lost GoldBig Bear Escape RoomEscape roomIRLWell executed room! Loved the set and had a ton of fun with this one!
The Experiments of Dr. UrsaBig Bear Escape RoomEscape roomIRLAwesome challenge room! One of the more engaging rooms we’ve ever done as far as difficult puzzles and really needing to think and put things together. Non-linear and you will use things multiple times which added a neat twist to the critical thinking aspect. Had a blast and Tanner and Dalton were great!
Flynn's ArcadeBrain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLAwesome room! Everything here is really good but the vibes and atmosphere fit together with the styles of puzzles were amazing! Definitely recommend any room at Brain Games but if you like Tron this is for you!
Dragon AlleyKeystone Escape GamesEscape roomIRLI’m leaving the overall rating blank here as I had a very polarizing experience to the rest of our team. The decorations and theming were great and the hint system was really cool. The puzzles were pretty straightforward and tied in to the theme decently. I, however, had a terrible time in this room. This is because there is a puzzle involving aligning a painting by rotating some parts of it that was TERRIBLE. It requires at least two people and is so unbelievably time consuming and not at all engaging. It’s not really solving a puzzle, just turning a knob you can’t see and someone else has to tell you to keep going or stop or go back. The problem with this is that you’re required to do it 18 TIMES. I spent so much time stuck in an isolated room separate from everyone that when we were finally done the rest of the team had already solved 75% of the rest of the puzzles. This all meant someone is going to get stuck doing that job and doesn’t really get to see any of the rest of the room happen. OR the team can stop and do this incredible tedious puzzle together and waste a bunch of time where really only two people can participate. This “puzzle” wasn’t difficult, it was just time consuming for no good reason. The three members of my team that weren’t involved in that puzzle seemed to have a good time, but the two of us that got stuck doing that one both felt like the experience was ruined by that puzzle. We’re over 100 rooms played now and we’ve never been so frustrated by a puzzle like that before, and it had nothing to do with being able to solve it or not. I don’t want to be too harsh and leave a dislike for this as it wasn’t a problem for the full team, but given my experience I can’t bring myself to like or love it either.
FreakshowDeadline Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLSimply amazing experience! The theming and design was great, the puzzles all fit the theme really well too. Everything flowed together and they used the room very well. While nothing was used more than once, you had to revisit rooms multiple times for different clues and puzzles which was great. Had an awesome time and would recommend to anyone!
Santa’s Naughty or Nice List - CLOSEDWild Goose Escapes - IrvineEscape roomIRLFun redesign of an existing room for the holidays! The puzzles were different enough that, while the room felt familiar, it didn’t feel the same. Cute Christmas theming and just a fun atmosphere overall. We had fun!
The HideEscape Room Era - AnaheimEscape roomIRLHad an amazing time with this room! Having just done one with a similar gimmick we found the execution here to be awesome! Game wasn’t super scary though did a really great job of building tension and had a couple great jumps for folks in our group. The layout and puzzles were satisfying to complete. Special props to the staff. David on the phone was amazingly helpful and kind. Then at the venue Jacob, Gage, and Stephanie were absolutely incredible hosts and really went the extra mile to leave what I’m sure will be a long lasting impression. Thanks a ton!
PinocchioEscapade GamesEscape roomIRL𓆜𓋘𓄁 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 𓅟𓂿This review contains spoilers.Unscramble𓀗
The Invention Room - CLOSEDEscapade GamesEscape roomIRLFun though straightforward game! A couple of unique puzzles and one riddle that I’m not sure we would have ever solved without a hint, but maybe that’s just us. 4 is a great group size for this as anything more and you’ll feel a bit cramped. We enjoyed our experience!
Wicked WonderlandEscape Room 66 - Laguna HillsEscape roomIRLHad a blast with this room! 66 does such a great job with their props and set design! The puzzles were unique and worked really well and the story was a lot of fun! Definitely recommend!
Motel 66Horror EscapeEscape roomIRLFun little room! Ambience was good without being overly scary. A couple inventive puzzles and a couple that took a little head scratching to figure out how we were supposed to solve them. Overall had a good time!
Captain’s Quest [VR]Norwegian EncoreEscape roomIRLThis review will be a tale in two parts. First, as others have said, this is not an escape room put on by folks who run escape rooms. It seems as though it was designed by someone and then left in the hands of the cruise ship employees, which is obviously not your typical experience. We absolutely had a couple things not reset correctly, and we definitely had the game a little over explained to us for sure. Parts of the game felt a little worn down, though we didn’t experience anything obviously broken, and didn’t get the “hey this is broken so I’ll tell you when” bit that others did. Must have been repaired recently. It’s a short room at 45 minutes, and if you have experience with escape rooms, the puzzles will be very straightforward for you. On the flip side, the staff member running our game was friendly and enthusiastic. The room itself is very well themed and the props and puzzles were on point for the theme. The VR start was a little unnecessary but VR is the theme of this section of the boat so it makes sense that they’d include it. We didn’t have any issues with our VR either. There was a good mix of tech and old fashioned locks and a couple unique puzzles that, while simple, we haven’t seen elsewhere. Bottom line, if you’re new to escape rooms, check it out and give it a shot, but know that rooms do get better so if you like this at all, keep trying em! If you’re experienced with escape rooms, keep your expectations lower, but don’t avoid it! It’s a fun little room that’s inexpensive and will be part of your cruise memory when all is said and done.
The StorykeeperLocurioEscape roomIRLWhat a fantastic room!! The set design was really awesome and, as the name would imply, the storytelling was great! Awesome mix of puzzles and props and unique challenges. This one was super fun and a must do!
Heart Of Bastet [prev. Red Giant]Lara’s Labyrinth - San Diego [prev. Quest Room]Escape roomIRLVery fun room! Such amazing set design and props for atmosphere and puzzles. The theming was amazing throughout and had some really fun challenges to overcome. There were two pretty finicky puzzles that didn’t work or were very particular about the way they needed to work, but overall we had a great experience that I’d recommend to anyone!
40 ThievesMindTrap Escape Room - TemeculaEscape roomIRLVery solid game with some really fun and unique puzzles. Great set design and atmosphere too! The game provided a lot to do so good for a group of 5-6. We had a ton of fun and the game promoted collaboration and communication in some neat ways too!
Cold CaseCloud EscapeEscape roomIRLHad an amazing time today!! Really great room that does a great job to build tension and keep the excitement going. Our GM Hayden was awesome and we had an absolute blast. Definitely add this to your list!
ExcaliburMindTrap Escape Room - MurrietaEscape roomIRLExcellent set design and really fun props! Game was very straightforward and somewhat simple. Smaller groups will make this better as there’s not a ton to do. Even though it is nonlinear the room is spread out so sometimes you miss something if it gets solved quickly and you’re far away. Overall high marks for ambience but the puzzles, while well themed, were a bit too simple to have really loved this room. Good experience overall!
RockBand - CLOSEDEscapade GamesEscape roomIRLHad a great time with this room! The theming of the puzzles was really awesome and the owner was great! Very family friendly and beginner friendly room and better for small groups for sure. Thanks a ton!
The Red Balloon [prev. Attic] - CLOSEDCloud EscapeEscape roomIRLHate to give these guys a dislike, especially since they’re so new. As others have mentioned this is more of a find and place walkthrough of a story. The game is very narrative driven, but unfortunately for us, we felt that it took away from the experience and the story that they’re telling is really just kind of depressing. Here’s some pros: the staff was very friendly. The space was used well with some creative areas to explore and not just a square room. There’s some unique ideas in here to make the room spooky and creepy without feeling over the top scary. The cons: first off, the room feels OLD. It’s very basic technology and despite this room being opened just three weeks ago at the time of this writing, it’s already falling apart. Some props were very difficult to use, images were peeling away, pieces were broken, doors didn’t close when they were supposed to. I fear what this looks like after a few months of being open. The hint system being just a walkie talkie you carry around with you was also immersion breaking. While I understand not every game needs a thematic and elaborate hint system, it was disappointing to have them put so much effort into telling a story to then just have to walkie talkie someone if we needed help somewhere. There was a lot that wasn’t clear. For a game that wanted to take you from one place to the next in a linear fashion, there often wasn’t instructions on what to do there or any rhyme or reason to why you’re doing things. Some puzzles are solved simply by trying combinations of solutions to find out how they’re wrong. While it wasn’t egregiously bad, it felt frustrating at times because it played out slowly so most of us just sat around waiting. Overall it was a big swing and miss for our group. I appreciate the big swing and attempt to do something different, but the execution just wasn’t there for this one.