Irvine School of Wizardry and the Goblin's SecretsHidden DonkeyEscape roomIRLOne of the best rooms we have done to date. The owners put a significant amount of care and detail into this room that makes it almost unbelievably realistic. The.... transportation is something I have never seen before. The game play and their unique way of adding or subtracting puzzles based on your team's speed through the game is amazing. I don't think we have played a game that does this and it makes the experience all the better because we truly feel like we got ours money's worth. 10/10.
The AviaryTHE BASEMENT: A Live Escape Room Experience - Kansas CityEscape roomIRLThis was fun. We made it up on the leaderboard as a team of two, so I don't feel like this is very hard, but it's definitely time consuming, and I can see how if communication is bad or there are a ton of people trying to talk at once this would be difficult. It wasn't harder than the original Basement room, which we have escape but not with much time remaining. It was still really fun, I wouldn't do it with more than 4 people, but I think there's a hard version so maybe with that. Was it the best room ever? No. But it was very linear and would be a fun one to play with newbies.
Pyramid ParadoxTick Tock Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis room BEGS for 3 or 4 players. We escape with two and 4 or 5 hints. There was a point where you really need 3 people, but we managed. Having a third person would have allowed another person to work in one area while the other two completed other puzzles. It was a fun, tech heavy room. And it was exciting with tech puzzles I haven't see before in other places.
Civil WarBreakout LawrenceEscape roomIRLTwo people is not enough. We have done a lot of escape rooms and seriously never fail to escape. We didn't make it and there was still quite a bit to get through. I think it being dark with just lanterns didn't help. We had to do one puzzle 4 times because it wasn't working, but we were doing it correctly. The biggest issue was you really need three pairs of eyes to make it the easiest. It was a really well done room though, and they explained the ending which sounds super cool. I'd recommend it for groups of 3 or more.
Alice In WonderlandBreakout LawrenceEscape roomIRLIt was good. We did it with 2 people and it was a constant flow of puzzles for 2 people. We made it out with 13 minutes to spare. It was generally easy, I think we only used 2 hints and we probably could've still gotten through without them. Room needs a little TLC for sure but it's still good.
Sister's SecretThe Unlockables - San DiegoEscape roomIRLTLDR: Good, not great. Non-linear feel is overwhelming, but the puzzles were good. Mostly locks (keys and codes). Rec 3+ people. Really good game. Escaped with two people and a handful of clues and some nudges from our GM. Lots of locks and puzzles to solve them/find keys to open them. The puzzles made us think, but some are only "harder" because of the dim lighting. Good story and I liked that there were clues to the puzzles hidden within the other puzzles (totally non-linear) to help you in case you get stuck on them. A couple of them helped us, but mostly we had gotten through the puzzles before we got the clues. The GM was great and sounded spooky which went along with the theme. Overall, a really solid game and we both agreed it was one of the more challenging rooms we've done as a duo. The non-linear play was overwhelming at times and I see why it's a 75 minute game. With 3 or 4 people, I'd see this feeling a lot faster paced and not as overwhelming. I gave up puzzles a few times and went back to them later.
Heart Of Bastet [prev. Red Giant]Lara’s Labyrinth - San Diego [prev. Quest Room]Escape roomIRLI think we did this in 30-40 + some odd minutes as a team of 2. It was definitely on the easy-medium side but WORTH it. We loved the puzzles and the ending was hilarious and fun. A couple of these puzzles felt like "ahhhh I'll just go through it all until I get there" but they weren't able to be solved that way which was good. I loved all the rooms and the use of tools to get through to find the heart. Gm was phenomenal.
CannibalLara’s Labyrinth - San Diego [prev. Quest Room]Escape roomIRLGreat game only made better by Maddie, the gm. We had a great time and I loved how the puzzles were so different from normal escape rooms. It was fun to do things we don't normally "get" to do in rooms. Maddie was awesome and we had booked 2 back-to-back rooms when she recommended we do this one instead of our originally-booked second room. I think she made a great rec and we were pleased with the level of difficulty. It wasn't too hard, but there were a couple sticking points we had to get through as a team of two. The ending felt super anti-climactic after the ending for Heart of Bastet, but it was still funny and played right into the theme. This felt like back to basics on an "escape" room with lots of unique takes on locks/combos/keys/etc.! I'm glad we did this one because it was a good challenge! Still a fair amount of "tech" involved to keep it from feeling super key/lock heavy.
The Third GateThe Third Gate Hotel Escape RoomEscape roomIRLThe GM was great. I liked that the clues were simple when they're given because it adds to having to still solve. This game is BIG. It just kept getting bigger. I loved all of the set and the little things that go bump when you solve them. There were a couple of hiccups in game play, a few things we had to be told to push harder and stuff like that, and one clue that didn't open. The GM spotted us a couple of minutes for the technical difficulties and we needed every second. We played with 2 people and I could see this being perfect for 3-4 people. It's linear, but not to the point where you all have to work on the same thing. Because of its size and the amount of puzzles, I would've liked a couple extra players to get through it faster.
The Asylum: The Doctor's SecretLost GamesEscape roomIRLThis game was fun. I liked the atmosphere and the GM was great and funny. The puzzles took a little more brain power than we are used to, but they're all super good and pretty easy, just time consuming. We played with our normal 2 people and our brains were tired from a long day and another escape room, and we still managed to get through. The last clue stumped us for awhile and because they're a little more time consuming than most, it made up for the clues being more or less "easy" because you still had to take the time to figure them out and play the game. For the amount of ratings, I expected this to be a little bit better, but maybe we need to go back for playtime. Flowed well and the clues/puzzles almost all required you to work with each other, which I liked.
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