LockandClue

Reviews

Reviews

Project Minotaur

Project Minotaur - CLOSED

Quest Room - Hollywood

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I appreciate what they are trying to do with this room and for the most part it is a really exciting, unique escape experience. Very light on puzzles and the ones that do exist are not presented very well. One in particular was a cheap premade puzzle available on Amazon for $20 and could easily have been done a lot better than it was. The majority of the experience was about survival and this was where the game really took off. Lots of physical violence to avoid and a scary presence to stay away from while working through a twisting maze. One really nice story element as well that elevated the ending. Overall, I appreciated what was created here, though I didn’t enjoy it overall as much as I would have liked. The other three members of my group did seem to like it more than I did. It definitely is worth a go if you’re down for the brutal physicality of the experience.
The Kidnapping

The Kidnapping

Breakout Games - Marlborough

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is one of the worst games I have played in the ten years I have played escape rooms. I went with two friends, one who was visiting from out of town, and I was embarrassed that this room was so bad and I had chosen it. This is supposedly made for up to six and the three of us had to squeeze by each other to maneuver around the room and look for clues. When it became clear that this was the entire experience, I sat down on the bed and looked at the one security camera and told them how bad the room was. I’ve never done that before. It’s rooms like this that hurt the escape room community as a whole.
The Willows

The Willows - CLOSED

Just Fix It Productions

  • Haunt
  • Other
This is just a top notch experience. I was truly impressed by the performances, and how much the actors lived in their roles. I was truly drawn in to the experience and immersed to the point of having genuine reactions to what was happening in the story. Everyone’s experience will be so unique as Willows excels at moving people around between different characters and different parts of the mansion. It seems like a lot of money to pay, but it is definitely worth it to experience this one-of-a-kind production.
Madness: 1917

Madness: 1917

Doors of Divergence

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Following the completion of Heresy and a short break, we were brought back into the story world by our entertaining bartender and continued our version of the narrative. It’s hard to say exactly what an effect our decisions from the previous experience had on this one, as we only played through them once so but I did enjoy the beginning of this one much more. There was more of a story and build to a climax as well in this experience vs Heresy. Some of the acting scenes in the middle of the experience seemed a little long and were less interesting than the puzzles we were working on, but some of this could have been the opening-weekend awkwardness with the actors still getting used to their roles. They weren’t quite as grounded enough in their roles yet to draw the player in to their story. There was a great climatic scene where a critical decision had to be made quickly, but first an activity had to be completed and that added some excitement. The ending we got was okay, but felt a little unsupported by what had come before it. Much of this might be ironed out as the performers gain more experience, but this is where it was at the time of my play-through. Overall, definitely better than your average escape room experience and a unique experience overall.
Defenders of the Sunken Realm

Defenders of the Sunken Realm

The Keepers of Balance

  • Escape room
  • IRL
From the moment our group stepped through the door we were immersed in the story and this was carried through to the very end. Great care and effort was taken to create and maintain immersion. More physically demanding than most rooms, the environment was fun to explore with great feedback from the puzzles and environment to let you know when you’re on track. Some very high end special effects with great performances by the two actors involved at certain points of the game. (Without being intrusive) A really great time.
Ruins: Forbidden Treasure

Ruins: Forbidden Treasure

The Escape Game - Murray

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is a professionally done room, but in its streamlined version, played like a solid game instead of an immersive adventure. It was well-themed and very professionally built, but lacked character or surprise. The majority of the room was built to be indestructible though one part of the last puzzle was not working properly and after about five minutes of struggle was seemingly bypassed with the room operator explaining afterward that it was “very finicky “. Aside from that everything was solid, with good logic. I had a very experienced group of five and we completed it in about 40min with no hints. Overall, a decent time, though nothing I would go out of my way to recommend.
Whatever Happened To The Garretts?

Whatever Happened To The Garretts?

Maze Rooms - West LA

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Maze rooms has always entertained me. Their rooms always seem to find ways to subvert expectations. The puzzles in this one grow organically out of the 80’s theme and will delight those that were kids during that decade. The puzzles use basic escape room logic but are presented in a fun and engaging way. Like most Maze rooms I’ve experienced they can seem a little rough around the edges but still shine brightly and have a great payoff in the end. Garrett’s does a great job in creating an immersive environment, moving the story along, and creating a story climax that truly makes the experience feel like a lived adventure.
Gold Rush

Gold Rush

The Escape Game - Las Vegas Forum Shops

  • Escape room
  • IRL
A really solid, well-designed game. One of the more enjoyable ones I have played. It is not a difficult room by any means. I went through with an experienced couple and we did it without any hints. However, I feel that this was more because the puzzles were presented very clearly and so easy to solve logically. Overall, the main thing that makes this stand above other games is how fun it was to play. There were some great thematic puzzles and a couple great reveals. Great for an experienced group of 2 or 3.
Escape Blair Witch

Escape Blair Witch

Escape Blair Witch

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Extremely immersive and full of some movie-studio level set-pieces. Acting was excellent. Puzzle were pretty basic but not in a boring way and were very organic to the story. I did the VIP (private) version with three friends. I will say that it does seem that the experience is broken into two halves and if you don’t finish the first half before the halfway mark timewise you are moved on. I would say that if you are the kind of enthusiasts who are focused on best times and puzzle challenges, this might not be for you. However, if you can just stop and enjoy the theatrics and let them motivate your movement, you will have a great time.
Omega Mart [Immersive Art]

Omega Mart [Immersive Art]

Meow Wolf

  • Escape room
  • Other
As others have said, this is immersive art. It has a story you can delve in to but the story is not very cohesive. There are a lot of things to find but with so many people going through at the same time, you see plenty of people going through the secret doors before you can actually discover them. For me I think what I needed to be engaged more with Omega Matt was an overall story objective. There were checkpoints that you could register on the ID card you can purchase for $3 but this seemed more like a scavenger hunt type of thing than any kind of real achievement. I wasn’t really solving any mystery as much as just marking off that I made it to a certain location. Maybe it was just overhyped to me and I expected too much. I just felt that the more I dug into the story the more I wondered what the heck my goal was in all of this.