The Crystal Maze Live ExperienceThe Crystal Maze Live ExperienceEscape roomOther Not a traditional escape room, but a series of challenges following the structure of the TV show. If you're unfamiliar with the show it's not a problem, we still had a lot of fun - think something like Legends of the Hidden Temple meets Double Dare, if that helps! We really enjoyed it despite no familiarity with the show, and our teammates (who grew up watching the show) liked it a lot too. Variety of puzzles, each completed by 1 or more player while the rest provide encouragement and advice from the sides. You're led by a host who gives you instructions along the way, which keeps the energy up and helps you understand what to do next. Overall, would absolutely recommend!
絶望要塞 - Impossible Games [Despair Fortress - Impossible Games]Fuji-Q HighlandEscape roomIRLA really cool concept, and it offers an English translation! However, one of the early puzzles was a word puzzle, and it didn't work well in English. It was translated directly, so each puzzle lost its meaning - any double meanings, rhymes, and colloquialisms were lost in the word for word translation. It made the puzzle impossible to do, and at the end when we figured out what the answers were supposed to be, we realized there was no possible way to come to those conclusions without having done it in Japanese. That said, we had a lot of fun with the other puzzles!
221 Baker StreetEscape London - IslingtonEscape roomIRLWe would have enjoyed it more if we were given a chance to figure things out for ourselves, but our GM jumped in to give us hints for nearly every puzzle. To be clear, he was lovely and just doing his job! But we didn't ask for this, and hardly any time elapsed before they'd chime in, so we didn't get a chance to try much ourselves. The GM couldn't hear us either, because he'd give us hints about things we already knew or had solved, and he didn't hear us ask him to let us do it on our own. For example we found a code and needed to test it on multiple locks to see which one it opened, but our GM chimed in twice during this testing with a hint of how to find that same code (which we'd found and were even repeating out loud to make sure we remembered it correctly). When we did actually need help with the final puzzle, he chimed in a few times with nearly the same hint each time - which didn't really relate to the question we were asking out loud. It made it less of an escape room and more of a guided tour. He was very nice and surely just doing his job, but it took away from the experience a lot. I would recommend establishing with the GM that clues are only wanted when the players signal for them.
Robot RebellionThe Bureau Adventure GamesEscape roomIRLFrom the reviews and the introduction we got from the GM, it seems like people come into the room expecting a traditional escape room and are disappointed when it's not that. Knowing it was different before playing, I liked it - knowing it's less an escape room than it is an experiment with video game development. This room has a handful of escape room type puzzles, mixed with a variety of video game elements. Some of these are traditional game elements - things we recognize from games all of us have played at some point. Mixed in are many alternative game elements - things that are less familiar. Instead of standard controllers like we'd see on an Xbox, there are a variety of other inputs that require moving around, using objects in the room to impact what's on the screen, or controlling gameplay using objects you'd never use to control your PlayStation. And while there are several screens, they're highly collaborative - requiring everyone to play a role with real-world elements. While there are some escape room type puzzles in the first half, it's otherwise very different. The key framework of an escape room is usually to get out within 60 minutes - here, it's essentially to rack up the highest score within the time frame of each room. Overall, the room feels like an experiment - one with high production value, but clearly testing some things out that aren't often done in escape rooms. It wasn't my very favorite room, and there are aspects I felt could be changed. But there was a lot to like, and I hope this is room something The Bureau and others learn from and keep trying to perfect with future rooms. I think this room could be a big hit with the right audience - people expecting an immersive video game using non-traditional elements, not people expecting a standard escape room. I'd love to see how this room is received within the video game dev community and how they'd build on it for future game ideas.
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