Neighborhood WatcherThe Escape Ventures - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThe live actor in this room really made the whole experience feel more alive. There was a general sense of time pressure not knowing if the actor would be appearing again soon, and thematically, the actor's roles fit the room very well. The puzzles were not overly difficult, but they typically had two or more steps (like find the values, and find the order). And again, each puzzle seemed very in theme to the room. This room was a lot of fun for me. My group had specifically requested no jump scares which I think personally I might have enjoyed adding in, but certainly great without, and it was great that they were able to accommodate our request.
Operation Arctic Storm: The Final MeltdownThe Escape Ventures - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThere are quite a few stages as it were to this room where each one helped give a string sense of forward progression. Once you cleared one stage, you were off to another, and you don't have to worry that you might need to come back for something. The flavor added by the live actor was well done, and above and beyond an intro story told at other places. The actor was in character with verbal interactions during game play too, and then joined us towards the very end. The puzzles had a familiar "escape room" feel where you need to count and apply reasoning. There was a fun sense of humor as well about the storyline and from the actor. Definitely a great room!
Bros for Life: Fraternity HeistThe Escape Ventures - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThis room has a pretty cool theme, and many of the puzzles fed into the theme in various ways. This was the room at this location I struggled with the most. There were a few puzzles that didn't click for me, and we used 3 clues. In some instances we solved a puzzle before we could use the result, or tried to solve a puzzle before another one was complete that was a necessary precursor. Over all a good room, just wasn't as high up the list as their other rooms for me personally.
Outage: No VacancyThe Escape Ventures - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThe theme was decent and did what it needed to do, create a reason for us to be solving puzzles in the dark. The live actor chimed in here and there but wasn't a big part of this room. The puzzles that were solved in the dark were all tactile enough that they are quite doable (once you find them). There were just me and one other person and we bumped into each other on occasion. We had a good laugh, but I bet it could feel tight with a largish group. There was one puzzle that I wasn't sure if I would be ruining my chances of solving it by changing its start state. Instructions specifically for this room make a point of calling out the initial state of puzzles implying that if you change the state and don't remember what it started at then it could be a problem. But honestly I'm not sure I recall any puzzles where that was the case.
Puppet Heist: The Hand Of LifeThe Bureau Adventure 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 GateEscape Room NoviEscape roomIRLThe room was very well produced and plays on a pop culture theme that isn't done everywhere (Stargate). The puzzles largely made sense / worked as expected, though there were a few hard to find places where you struggle to figure out what to do with a tool or clue. We used 4 hints and 2 of those probably saved use from just looking around for "the spot" for many minutes so if you start to get stuck, don't be a hero and ask for the clue so you can continue with actual puzzle solved verse a scavenger hunt. Our game master was very clear with the hints, almost to the point of they could be slightly more cryptic, but over all I think it kept us moving along and in one of those cases, we had overlooked something that we would have cursed ourselves for later. There is one puzzle that seems a little more disconnected that we would have liked, but I suppose that's subjective. All in all, we had a good time and felt clever at the end, so ... good stuff.
Scooby-Doo™ and the Spooky Castle AdventureEscapology - Universal CityEscape roomIRLThis room was very well themed and had high production value. That said, I would hope that's the case because regular cost was $50 a person (they have the typical fathers day sales and such if you are on their mailing list). We got a several hints and I think the game master unlocked certain puzzles for us that seemed like we were getting "stuck" I have 5 poeple in my group and a family member had missed one of the critical items in a dark area of a chest so that's on use. Always a little bit of a mixed bag playing with family where a clue gets over looked by a very occasional player, but you are having a bonding experience. I think being near a theme park, this is heavily factored in and you are more likely to escape than not, though it still feels pretty organic, and the puzzles are certainly solvable. The highlight of the room is certainly the tight integration with the intellectual property, the theme really shines through.
Eye Of HorusErebus EscapeEscape roomIRLTL;DR: Clever puzzle concepts completely overshadowed by severe maintenance issues, broken tech, and a lack of immersion. The GM tried to save the experience, but the room desperately needs a hardware refresh. Immersion & Onboarding Narrative immersion was non-existent. We were dropped into the room without any onboarding—not even a laminated brief or a basic intro video to establish our characters, our objective, or the in-universe reason for the 60-minute timer. Where as the set creation had a lot of attention to detail when it was first build. The surrounds though didn't explain so clearly what it is your trying to do (what are the triggers that get you our of the room) Puzzle Quality & Flow The underlying puzzle design actually has great bones with some genuinely clever twists. Unfortunately, the flow is heavily compromised by the room's physical condition and a few frustrating design choices: Missing Tools: We were stalled by worn-out Velcro on a scrambling puzzle. This was compounded by a lack of provided note-taking materials (no dry-erase boards or scratch paper) and a strict "no phones" rule, making it incredibly tedious to track information. Accessibility: There is a heavily color-dependent puzzle located in a very dark area. Our group of 4+ was given exactly one unreliable flashlight, bottlenecking the whole team. The Hint Economy: The venue offers unlimited hints and 3 "bypasses" (where a puzzle is just skipped/solved for you). While some might like this, it feels like this generous hint policy is being used as a crutch to compensate for failing tech and broken logic, rather than to genuinely aid the player experience. Tech, Triggers, & Maintenance This is where the room truly falls apart. Many of these issues are inexpensive hardware fixes that are actively breaking the magic: Comms System: The Wi-Fi was down, meaning the GM couldn't utilize the in-room screens and struggled to deliver hints properly. Failing Triggers: Several puzzles were solved correctly but the tech failed to trigger, forcing the GM to manually override and pop them open for us. Worn Hardware: Maglocks would click, but the spring-loaded doors wouldn't pop open. We literally had to hit the doors to force them ajar. Broken Puzzles & Red Herrings: A mirror alignment puzzle appeared physically impossible to solve as intended. Worse, several drawers belonging to disabled puzzles were left ajar. This created massive confusion as teammates naturally assumed they had just unlocked them, leading to time-wasting red herrings. Final Verdict: I bet this room was fantastic on opening day, but the current wear and tear makes for a frustrating enthusiast experience. I have to wonder if the original designer would still be proud to run this room in its current state.
Mystical ForestEscape Room ZoneEscape roomIRLThe story is pretty light (not a big deal to me, but figured I'd report back), and the parallel possibilities for certain puzzles caused a little backtracking because we confused one solve result for another. But my friends and I had a good time. The 2/5 difficulty is probably about right.
Escape The Colosseum: The Underworld MazeThe Great Escape Room - ChicagoEscape roomIRLThere are a couple of gripes that I have for this room / run / location. The switched communication methods with the GM literally as we were walking into our room (walkie-talkies instead of monitors or intercom?) who was not familiar with how to use them effectively and had to swap out ours repeatedly because the signal was clearly poor. There were some issues I had with a broken lock that popped apart, some misleading don't touch stickers masking the solution to a puzzle, "parallel" puzzles that were not obvious (you solve something and nothing happens because you didn't solve it in the expected order), and an inability of the GM to explain how some of the puzzles are solved asking if we really want to know how the specific parts were supposed to come together and was pressed looking through notes. I had asked if they had an escape rate percentage or a best time and I was told they don't track that anymore. All the pieces together gave me the sense that there wasn't as much attention to detail that I am accustomed to.
