Obama's Mission Manoa - CLOSEDBreakout WaikikiEscape roomIRLSomeone needs to take Obama and his daughters to a real escape room ASAP as this was not the example of our community that should ever have been shared with them, or anyone else. I thought it couldn't be horrible and was worth doing a room the president had done, but I was oh so very wrong. Think of the earliest, homemade, repetitive lock room that you have ever done and then add bad puzzle flow and an overhead projector with transparency slides and you have just a taste of what you would experience in this room.
The Toy FactoryTales of Torchdale [prev. Escaperoom Antwerp]Escape 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
Sibling ShenanigansEscape AstoriaEscape roomIRLThis is a lovingly crafted homegrown escape room. They took a small space, single room experience and really provided an enjoyable puzzler's game. Some puzzles were a bit of a time suck and could slow down newer players, but the GM was fast on the nudges and eager to make sure you have a good time.
DreamEscape Artists - OrlandoEscape roomIRLWe went into this room really wanting to like it. The premise is excellent, but we really struggled with a level of sensory overload through the experience that made puzzle solving more frustrating than fun. Without going into spoiler territory, I have two notes for future players reading this. 1: There is crawling and it is not on any kind of padding or cushioning. 2: If you struggle to focus with sensory overload then this may be a hard room for you, especially if you find sounds distracting.
Blackbeard’s BrigDutch Blonde ExperiencesEscape roomIRLThis looked at first glance like a reasonably well decorated room with a bit of tech, more than I expected going in. Unfortunately it was a rough ride with logic jumps between puzzles, giant tech fixtures not turned on or included in the game at all (I suspect it broke and they just bypassed it), and a very anticlimactic ending. If you already visited the Yoda Guy (not to be missed in this town!) and had enough sun with some time and money to burn then go for it - but you have been warned.
The CollectionEnchambered Live Escape Room AdventureEscape roomIRLFun and high tech room with immersive decor and good puzzles. Really love the attention to detail here!
ZookeeperCityscape GamesEscape roomIRLSo. Frickin. Adorable. This is a perfect room to bring a new player or young player to as their first introduction to escape rooms while also being an enjoyable room for experienced players to appreciate. Clear puzzles, clever theming and an overall good time.
Evil Dead 2 - CLOSEDHourglass EscapesEscape roomIRLThis room was straight up campy fun, just like the movies. Puzzles were clear, enough to do for a group of 5 and solid tech components.
Journey To OzTreasure Valley Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLDid this room as a group of 4 and that is a good group size, I wouldn't go over 6. Fun room overall with good decor and a nice story. My major criticism is an over reliance on listening to triggered audio to get key puzzle information that it is basically necessary to write down. It slowed us down, not because we did not know how to solve the puzzles but because we had to cycle through the audio again to catch the start of the information.
The Box - CLOSEDAmazing Escapes of BoiseEscape roomIRLThis room is a brilliant example of how creatively puzzles can be layered into a small space. Everything flowed smoothly and required just enough creative thought to solve that it remained challenging and fun. I did it as a solo experience comfortably, but two would be perfect as well. For anyone with claustrophobia concerns, the experience takes place in a room about the size of a standard elevator with plenty of light and high ceiling.
Curio City - CLOSEDAmazing Escapes of BoiseEscape roomIRLThis is an adorable journey through a curio cabinet. It has perfect flow and completing it solo is a very zen experience that gives you time to reflect on your own treasures and childhood favorites.
Countdown to Terror - CLOSEDAmazing Escapes of BoiseEscape roomIRLGreat room with a lot of puzzles to solve that would be just right for a group of 4 to 6 players, more if you are all newbies. As with the other rooms I did at this business, everything made logical sense once you looked at it right.
The AgencyEscape the Room - BoiseEscape roomIRLAs with all other rooms I have done with this company, there is zero clarity in flow for this room which leads to frustration instead of joy when getting to a solution. It is almost like the puzzle designers assume you will figure out the solve based on knowing what the resulting next step is...when you don't know that information until after you solve it. I strongly suggest escaping from escape the room.
Steampunk AirshipPortland Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLFor a room that has been around at least 6 years now it is holding up against more current competition in the area. Set design was nice and puzzles were very clean overall in terms of flow. Our group of 5 blew through the room and were told we were second fastest ever, which is quite the feat for a room of this age. Everything worked right and made sense, but there wasn't a clear storyline flow to the puzzles. The actor was kind of pointless in the room, they just watched us go after the initial introduction and said a few transition statements here and there. As a previous reviewer noted, one of the puzzles seemed to be broken by the way the actor described it but I actually think it was never meant to be an included puzzle and was just poorly placed decoration.
Murder In LondonWunderland GamesEscape roomIRLDon't let the screaming kids and noisy arcade atmosphere scare you away when you walk in the door - the room does not match it's environment at all! Excellent set design and interesting puzzles. Downsides were low lighting, some mechanics in need of repair and one problematic puzzle (I wont say more, just that iykyk).
Fortune TellerGlowing Greens [prev. Mental Trap Escape Room]Escape roomIRLThe room is beautiful and the design quality is solid through nearly everything....for the first two thirds of the experience. After that things fall apart and left us with a sour taste about the room overall. I think it could use some playtesting adjustments, not even a wholesale overhaul, and it could be a room I love. All that said, the GM was a huge detractor from the experience. As a previous reviewer noted, they were short with us and basically lectured us for at least 10 minutes straight before starting the game. They also interrupted the game over the speaker to give another small lecture while we were trying to listen to game content. I know this was a staff person, not the owner who we had the pleasure to meet when doing their other room, but be warned that this could happen to you as well and it wasn't fun.
Alien InvadersRed Herring EscapeEscape roomIRLThis room is a hot mess and I strongly encourage avoiding it. It starts out very clean with a decent premise and some creative puzzles, but then the puzzles start to have no explanation or guidance. You are provided with a verbal explanation for some things via a radio that is staticky and very hard to understand with no reply button to try and hear the guidance again as needed. There is a built in timer (they say it is AI) where the puzzle is auto solved for you 15 min after it was unlocked, but there is no indication that this step happened...it is just done and the next thing triggers.
The Disappearance of Flight 1313th Gate EscapeEscape roomIRLReturned to 13th gate to try my third room with them and this was a solid gameplay experience. The others I did there (Anubis and Cavern) were grand in scale and set design but struggled with puzzle flow. This one had a smaller and simpler set, but the puzzles flowed pretty dang nicely. We got out literally on the buzzer with our team of 6 and had a great time.
UndercookedOmescape - SunnyvaleEscape roomIRLThis game had me in the zone and sweating as much as I expect I would in a real kitchen. We played as a team of 4 and had a great time, once we got through the initial understanding of how the room worked. One negative with this room is that the gap between the introduction and really understanding what you have to do in the room is pretty wide. It took us way too long to get actually started and I don't fault our team for that, I fault the introduction process.
Ghost PatrolTrivium GamesEscape roomIRLThe first part of this room was wonderful. Excellent puzzles, great set, clever premise. The second half was challenging in a way that detracted from the enjoyment for part of our team. There was a lot of spatial problem solving in the second part of the room, which was ideal for two on our team, but the other two of us were literally standing there just watching with nothing to do for quite a while. Still enjoyed the room overall, but this bottleneck of a single kind of puzzles ended up as the focus of our conversation for the whole drive home.
