The Buried ProphecyQuest Tavern - UplandEscape roomIRLAs always Quest Tavern kills it. I will confess that this might be my least favorite of all their rooms, but least favorite of a bunch of gems is still amazing. The set design as always is immaculate, honestly I just didn't love the puzzles this time. Still highly recommend, Quest Tavern my GOAT.
Only Murders in the Building [Season 4]The Escape Game - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLA fun variation of their heist game that is a lot better than the heist game. I don't think it has anything that great about it, but the puzzles are solid in my opinion. Honestly my biggest gripe is that the story with the puzzles makes absolutely no sense, but that is true for like all of the Escape Game games.
Murder in LondonThe Ultimate Escape Rooms - Marina Del ReyEscape roomIRLThe set design is fantastic, if you are coming for the vibes this is pretty darn good and I recommend. Unfortunately when it comes to story and puzzles this is one of the worst I’ve done. The “puzzles” are not puzzles, they are tasks that require virtually no critical thought except some memorization, most of this room is looking for the clues rather than solving them. Taking our time and goofing around to intentionally try and get some more time playing still left us with over 15 minutes left when we escaped. And the puzzles try to fit into a story, but they make no sense and there’s a weird mix of the puzzles having no connection and also being linked to the story. If you go for puzzles this one is unfortunately completely lackluster, like I said really cool atmosphere though.
Witch's CauldronQuest TavernEscape roomIRLAnother banger from Quest Tavern. Genuinely my favorite Escape Room company, both in gameplay and management/employees. Fantastic spooky vibes and fun in all the best ways.
Frost Base ZRabbit Hole Recreation ServicesEscape roomIRLPhenomenal set design and story, with the tech being insanely immersive all around. The story beats are really fun, and completing the puzzles feels like an activity in itself with how thematic they are. Has a genuinely jaw dropping beginning, and each room opening up feels Disney-esque. My biggest issues are that this is a fairly linear room that has a bunch of clues to puzzles that you cannot solve till much later and makes it fairly confusing for what to be focusing on (only other gripe is there was a puzzle that felt insanely difficult to solve because it required a lot of force to flick switches so we assumed we couldn't flick the switches that you need to know are flickable).
Special Ops: Mysterious MarketThe Escape Game - IrvineEscape roomIRLSuper fun beginning and while it has an engaging end I do think it kinda falls off versus the start (and you want to build up the room as you go through). Has one of my favorite room reveals of all time that is done just perfectly, just think the ending room needs some tweaks in its puzzles. While fun it is pretty straight forward and feels less exciting and more pure analysis. Still a very good room, and one of the (if not the) best "The Escape Game" rooms.
Schmaylor ShackNorthwoods Escape Room LLCEscape roomIRLA couple interesting puzzles with a lot of steps, but there really isn't enough puzzles here to make up for the lack in decor/story.
The Amazing Argo: A Steampunk Adventure!Experience Machine - Upland [prev. Mind Suite]Escape roomIRLVery fun steampunk decorations and some solid puzzles in here (along with fun stuff you can wear). At the same time the story itself is pretty lackluster and for me there was a bit too much blacklight based puzzles. It's a fun room, but it lacks a compelling narrative or any "wow" moments/puzzles.
SOSEscape Boats - DublinEscape roomIRLThe fact that this is on a boat alone makes this such an awesome experience. From there the puzzles are mostly alright, nothing too fantastic (though I really liked the end). The biggest issue we had was we got stuck for around 20 minutes because a cabinet with a glass window (which has a lot of "Do not touch" stickers around it") was open the entire time, while we assumed that you have to be able to look inside to get clues. While this is our fault in addition to what I think is some poor design choices, the fact that the game master didn't tell us it was open at all during that time irked me as a game master myself, as I would never make a group struggle in regards to something of a similar situation (especially for about a third of their time).
The Trials Of MerlinTrapped! Escape Room - UplandEscape roomIRLFantastic design and atmosphere with puzzles that are fun but more like quests/tasks than anything truly challenging. Highly recommend for the thematics of it (genuinely they are fantastic) and if you like more high tech designs, my only negative is the simplicity of the puzzles.
Code Samurai - CLOSEDEscape The ArcadeEscape roomIRLOne of, if not, my favorite beginnings to a room and just an absolute blast of a world they crafted for the escape room. It's a tad small and a couple things could use maybe an update at a future date, but the puzzles are all fun and the story and interactions are great.
The Heist - CLOSEDThe Escape Game - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLA well-crafted set can't save this room from some bad puzzle designs and an overdone story with little uniqueness to it. There were a couple puzzles that made little to no sense to me in their design choice, and I found myself questioning choices in the room way more than appreciating them.
The TreehouseConfusion EscapesEscape roomIRLSet design and atmosphere here is one of the best in the business, if you like asthetics this is a must do. For me the only real problems are the puzzles as I didn't think they were all that great.
13th BasementExit Game OC - AnaheimEscape roomIRLAbsolute blast of a room, the flow, puzzles, and environment are top notch with some great moments and awesome game masters. Wish it was a little harder, but outside of that I got no complaints.
Zoe - CLOSEDEscapade GamesEscape roomIRLAlthough this one is shut down, I would like to think their revamp is just as good if not better.
One Eyed JackTrapped! Escape Room - Las VegasEscape roomIRLSuper unique and a fun room, the puzzles and atmosphere, while never being insane, are very consistently good.
Down The Rabbit HoleTrapped! Escape Room - UplandEscape roomIRLThe most adorable escape room in existence, feels like you're in Alice in Wonderland.
Pandora’s BoxTrapped! Escape Room - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLIf you're looking for immersion this is the room to do, special effects, fun story, in-character interactions and reveals all make this top notch for those who care more about asthetics than puzzles.
Grandma's SurpriseTrapped! Escape Room - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLFun room, fun asthetics and theming, great for beginners and younger people.
Operation: X-13Trapped! Escape Room - Los AngelesEscape roomIRLLackluster room design and pretty shoddy puzzles make this one in need of an update. The character interactions are super fun, but they're really the only saving grace.