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PicklesMcGee13
Reviews
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22
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19
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93
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PicklesMcGee13
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Experiences (22)
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Escape rooms (15)
Haunts (2)
IRL (15)
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Operation Arctic Storm: The Final Meltdown
The Escape Ventures - Orlando
Escape room
IRL
This was so fun! Man, all it takes is 1 solid escape room to remind me why I love them so much. Side note, this was the most informative GM prep speech I’ve *ever* gotten on how to play a room - THANK YOU. Do you know how many locks I’ve messed up because I simply couldn’t get them to open properly, despite having the right codes etc? & Chris not only explained the rules but also double checked to see if we had specifics + rewent over stuff with our group. Bless you sir. Originally I wanted to play the Watcher but my group voted for Arctic (Watcher I’ll be back for you someday my beloved) and we all had a blast! The story went a bit more creative than just “you’re at an Arctic station” which I really appreciated, & I also loved the amount of rooms! They didn’t have the fake snow going for our group which was a bummer but we still had fun. I do hope they can bring it back though because I do think that would add just another level of fun to the experience! A lot of reviewers say this room is super physical so I was expecting to have to parkour up a wall or tunnel or something but it was way less than that, it was honestly super chill & if you’re really worried about you can look at the other reviews that say exactly what the one physical thing is, or reach out the business! I really recommend this room for team building because working together is necessary on this one! That being said, more than 4 people & it will get a little tight - we were 4 adults & def got cramped at times, but I’ll take it because I’d rather have more rooms that extra space! It’s a lot of fun overall + a very solid experience. Check it out if you’re all interested, & even if this room doesn’t call out to you, def look at ALL their other options - this company is awesome and I really think they shouldn’t be missed! I can see why they have such positive reviews & awards - thanks again Chris and Escape Ventures!
Stash House
Stash House
Escape room
IRL
This was such a blast! I was hesitant about this house only because I didn’t know what to expect and a room about trying to become a gang member and proving yourself by going to a house to flush drugs didn’t seem like a super great topic for a group of white people to be “playing” at in 2022 given the history. Now having gone, I will say that the story is more campy, like “what if you wanted to work for Tony Montana” and you’re breaking into his penthouse rather than a staged house for a gang. You are told that you’re there to try to become a part of a gang but there’s nothing that you have to do beyond solving normal escape room puzzles. We had such a great time. We did it with a group of 4, but I will say that we are a very solid team who works super well together. We were able to split up the puzzles between teams of 2 and switch off when needed which I think helped us get out quickly. I would not recommend doing this with a group who has trouble communicating or has several people who try to lead, nor would I recommend this for beginners at all. You have to work well as a team and have an idea of how escape rooms work. There’s not a ton of story but it’s not needed and I think what was there was pretty cool. I really enjoyed the puzzles and found myself able to bounce around - if I got stuck on one I could hop over and see what the other people were doing and help with that. They were also pretty linear puzzles which I really loved bc you didn’t have to keep going back and tracing your steps or figuring out what you missed out. It also helps out with the story when you can solve stuff like that. I can see why this one is hard - I don’t THINK it’s “expert level” but it is not a beginner room and experience with other rooms definitely helped us (although who am I to judge this is the first “hard” room I’ve ever done). I think this room is perfect for people that want a more “grown up” or “realistic” room or just enjoy crime genre. I wasn’t super excited to go bc I’m not into that genre and I had a blast! Also for an hour and a half I thought the price was very fair (just wish we didn’t beat it so quickly only bc we were having such a great time!).
Something's Out There!
Maze Rooms - West LA
Escape room
IRL
Something's Out There!
Maze Rooms - West LA
Escape room
IRL
TIP: We were SO immersed we lost track of time! I recommend you ask for verbal time checks if your team needs them! You know when something’s a well known classic, but then someone does it SUPER well & suddenly it’s the best thing ever again? Like chocolate cake is great but then when you taste one that’s so amazing you can’t ever go back to any other chocolate cake but that one? That’s this room. This room’s theme is not unique, but boy, it does it *so well*. It was beyond immersive, from the moment you step in. You WILL get scared. The sounds are great. The atmosphere. The sets. The puzzles. And yeah, other escape rooms have all that but they just nailed it. One major note is that this is NOT a supernatural room - I was hoping it would be since that’s my favorite but I don’t regret booking this for a second. I just wish they’d taken a more creative theme/story because for me, with Garrets they really went above & beyond expectations and this one was not that creative story wise. However: boy, from the second you start, they knocked it out of the park. I want to go into detail about all the cool stuff but I can’t ruin it. Who would like this room? Horror fans of serial killers. Who will not like this room? Children and chickens. It got us GOOD. And, like, repeatedly. For context, I’ve only ever done a couple scary rooms before this (the Orphanage, Pig Farmer) and neither of those consistently kept up the tension or the scares (I don’t think that was the point necessarily in those rooms but I would’ve appreciated it). There are NO scare actors in this, but you don’t need them. I was on my toes from the jump. This would be a blast to play on a date or with an adult group of friends who like getting scared. The puzzles flow so well too, they were fun and engaging and almost no locks! They really got creative, and yeah, they’re not the hardest puzzles (it’s a medium room) but I will take creative>impossible any day. I appreciated that even though there wasn’t a lot of story, the way they told it was REALLY great and it just kept pulling you deeper & deeper in. I would still personally rank the Garrets higher than this from a story perspective (the ending of Garrets). Beyond that though, or if you like more grounded stories, this one is absolutely worth it. Also, it’s newer, so nothing is broken or worn down, although I think that’ll actually help this room in the long run aesthetically. I feel like this room for sure will win some kind of award in the future, even if it’s just for the little details. It was a blast, if any of this review resonates with you, I think you’ll love it. Mild spoilers below, but here’s the type of people who would absolutely love this room: . . . . . . . . . . . . . - fans of: Friday the 13th, The X-Files episode “Home”, the Hills Have Eyes, or anything killer hillbilly related.
Whatever Happened To The Garretts?
Maze Rooms - West LA
Escape room
IRL
This is one of the coolest ones I’ve ever done and DEF not what I expected even after watching the trailer on the site. Best way I can sell this with no spoilers is IF YOU LOVE STRANGER THINGS/80s you will probably love this!!! I booked it for my friend’s bday who is into cold cases….. in the end it goes WAY beyond non-fictional cold case genre but also it was SO much fun that it was the perfect. 10/10. Such cool, inventive and thoughtful puzzles and SO immersive. We all loved it and got a chance to shine. Thank you! Who would like this room? Minor spoilers below! . . . . . . . . . . . . Fans of: Stranger Things, the Twilight Zone, and unexplained weird mysteries/conspiracies!
The Alchemist
Escape Room LA
Escape room
IRL
I wasn’t a fan of this room but we also failed big time so feel free to call me biased. Also, played several years ago, so my memory might be hazy - therefore take this with a grain of salt. This was precovid so you were allowed to book rooms with strangers, which I did. I think the MINIMUM for this room was like… 10 people? And man, did they mean that. We were a part of 10 right before the GM came up to us and told us people had dropped out of the booking… Nothing we could do so we went ahead. The first room wasn’t that crazy, we got a little lost and also skipped through a puzzle or 2 but the second room was our downfall, and I don’t know if it continued after that but it didn’t matter because we didn’t. They split the group into 4 smaller teams so you could each work on 4 element puzzle, and we only had enough people for 2 teams, so we got stuck pretty quickly, plus we had limited hints (the GM was super awesome through all of this btw and very funny). Our time ran out and that was that. I think mostly it was very hard (which it was advertised as being) and we were beginners so that’s on us entirely, but I didn’t find the puzzles themselves to be that fun to do. It was a long time ago but I do remember there were elements of figuring out codes and science-y puzzles that I didn’t find engaging. I thought it would be more mystery and fantasy based but they really went literal scientist/alchemist with it, which was a disappointment to me. It was kind of fun but I think that was more that I enjoyed my friends company, and mostly we left feeling kind of bummed and underwhelmed by the experience. The set was ok - lots of stone from what I remember and stuff like scales and books - but I’ll be sure to research more carefully before I come back to this venue. I have a feeling with the right amount of people picking/having a better idea of what the story is, we’ll have a much more fun time, but for now, not a fan of this particular room. I know it’s closed, there’s a video of it on YouTube if anybody wants to see what it looked like!
Grandma's Masterplan
60Out - Melrose
Escape room
IRL
I want to first be clear and say that the staff was so super sweet and kind - they even helped me to book the room when I had questions about accommodations. That being said, this room was not good. This is the second room I’ve done from 60Out and not liked - which is weird bc the first one had amazing sets but a subpar story but this one had both. If you want a better room that’s crime related, I’d check out “Stash House”, or “The Heist” from Escape Game LA if you want a more family friendly option :/ A couple disclaimers - I’m not trying to sound snobby. I’ve played 13 rooms. I’m not an expert. But I’ve done some really interesting ones too and this was pretty disappointing. It’s a fairly popular room from what I gather online, and even won a best storytelling award (which I don’t really get; it’s an interesting twist but doesn’t pan out at all imo). Also, I know the room is older but yikes, is that why the sets were super bleak? I didn’t really care about the equipment being visibly used if the room is loved for being a classic but this was so like… basic. It had a couple of parts I felt were immersive but overall was lacking so much. I think this room is good for young families, maybe? But if I were a kid I don’t think I’d be super engaged unless I was REALLY into heists, and even then I think I would try to find a room somewhere else that does it better. Here’s my breakdown - They call this one “expert level” - I’d put it at a medium. Most of the puzzles were really not that impressive or innovative. There were a couple that stood out but mostly it was fairly predictable or just like, a puzzle for the sake of a puzzle. There was one moment of placing things in a certain sequence that didn’t even fit into the story at all. Sometimes we could guess how stuff was going to work out without even getting the prompt - plus most of the ones that were hard were just hard because they weren’t very logical, not because it was outside of the box or anything. The story is a cool twist - granny was a bank robber, you have to collect your “inheritance”, heist ensues - but given that prompt, it felt so lackluster. ***(Slight room physical description below if you consider that a spoiler)*** I knew we might be in trouble when I walked in - Granny’s room was really barren and dull colors, with very few decorations or set dressing, and this unfortunately stayed consistent for the whole game. I know people physically tear escape room sets apart but this was so sparse, plus it wasn’t a fantasy set or anything, it was an old woman’s house, I thought that’d be pretty easy to decorate or even replace stuff if it gets worn out - I was just hoping for a little more. Granny’s background was barely explored - even once revealed, I was hoping maybe the first room was supposed to be plain because it would open to like a secret super room with weapons or pictures of her being this total badass, or maybe that like her sweet old lady stuff was actually a bunch of spy equipment or clues disguised, but no. It was basically a black room. Given the theme of heists, there’s so many cool ways you could take that and make it interesting or do like different types of puzzles to break in or extract stuff but this was so basic and again, the sets were very bare bones and plain colors. It’s pretty easy to guess a puzzle or figure out the entrance when there’s like a grand total of 5 objects in a room. I did like some parts of it but not enough to where I felt like I was getting even close to what I paid for. For the price and the time (40$ / 75 minutes) I thought we were getting a bargain but this was pretty disappointing and I really don’t recommend it to anyone. I doubt I’ll do another 60Out - that’s two duds now and I just would rather save my money and do a more expensive one that’s amazing. Thank you once again to the staff - you guys are the sweetest and I’m sorry I’m writing such a harsh review when the people working there are so lovely - I just wish the rooms could be as fun as you guys.
The Orphanage
60Out - Koreatown
Escape room
IRL
This one was cool but a bit of a bummer only bc based on the reviews I thought it was going to be… More? It’s really only scary in the start and then kinda is just creepy and ominous after that. Production value was pretty cool but when you get into the room you think it’s going to be bigger and more detailed than it turns out to be. I realize red herring visuals are a thing with escape rooms but I really thought we’d be getting to do much more than we actually did. The story/lore can basically be summarized in a sentence (no spoilers from me but it’s not a complicated story or anything) and there were lots of things that I thought were going to be super fun to explore/discover/solve and then just turned out to be nothing. My team solved the room pretty quickly but we do work pretty well together (not a humble brag I promise I just apparently know a bunch of geniuses bc they solved some stuff faster than I could lol), and I know this was an easy level room but I thought we’d at least an hour out of it. That’s on me though - overall the staff was fantastic, the sets looked really cool, and there were some inventive puzzles. I just wanted more. I would probably recommend this room to high schoolers or younger adults that like horror, cause it’s not super scary or super difficult and has unlimited hints if you get lost. I just wanted more bang for our buck, and was looking forward to solving a cool mystery, alas. Also there are NO live actors, and you will have to crawl a very short distance, heads up!
Magic Kingdom
Maze Rooms - Vermont
Escape room
IRL
Not gonna lie, had kinda a rough time with this one for multiple reasons. I can kind of imagine how hard it is to create an escape room and I thought there were some cool parts to this but unfortunately there were too many setbacks and disappointments for me overall. We did escape, but I’m not sure how. Many traps went off incorrectly or at the wrong time, and I wouldn’t even be mad except that some things were broken on top of that, and a lot of the story that didn’t align with what we were being told to do. I respect it is a “non-linear” room but for us there was a lot of chaos going on. The room was a bit “clunky” and I think probably best suited for younger teens who like fantasy. I personally think it’s too confusing for littler kids, but to be fair we were all adults. I also didn’t get the layout of the rooms if we are being honest - the aesthetic vs the story didn’t quite make sense. I can’t get into more without spoilers, and I do want to give kudos for some of the fun aspects of the room that are there (although the talking Jackalope that’s in the trailer doesn’t happen, which was a bummer and one of the main reasons I booked the room - not sure if it’s broken or they just did it for the website). As always with Maze Rooms, my group had fun, but none of us really liked the room that much. We are always grateful for the memories but I would not book it again, nor can I recommend it. I am interested in checking out “Warlocked” by Questrooms or anything by Quest Tavern - perhaps if you are like me and love fantasy, that is the way to go. I know this review sounds very harsh, and we did have fun but overall it is not the best Maze Room.
Men In Suits (MIS)
Maze Rooms - LAX
Escape room
IRL
Good and bad things for this game, but ultimately I can’t recommend for the price unless you’re a huge MIB fan. Also there is one puzzle I am BEGGING y’all to change if you’re reading this. More below but for anyone with sensory or germaphobe conditions, this puzzle was a bit too far. Men in Suits is one of their newest rooms, and I’m sure the price reflects that, but at 40 per person for a group of 6, rather than 32 per person (closer to other prices for Maze Rooms that I’ve paid), given the story and the puzzles, didn’t really seem to even out in the end. If you’re super into MIB, maybe you’ll like it, the sets are pretty good, the puzzles creative as ever (but also a bit disjointed). However, I really enjoy MIB & didn’t love this room so take it with a grain of salt. The little story there is doesn’t make sense, and you don’t even get to see the main thing you’re looking for at the end. The puzzles are creative (as always with Maze Rooms) but felt disconnected. I realize it was supposed to be hard but there’s a difference between tricky and just doesn’t make sense. There were things we had to go back and rely on that weren’t super logical to follow, or puzzles that didn’t have to do that much with the at-hand mission. I’ve done about 7 rooms so I’m not an expert but it wasn’t well connected and didn’t flow IMO. I’m going to get into one that I have the most problem with, as did my group, keeping it as spoiler-free as I can. There’s 2 puzzles that require you to (blindly) pick an object up. That object was COVERED in grease or something (or, as my group declared in horror, “lube”). I’m sure it wasn’t, I think it was supposed to be alien slime or spit, & I’m also sure it’s to make it easier to grab, but it was disgusting and my group was begging me for hand sanitizer. Please for the love of god change that puzzle. Put gloves next to it, alcohol wipes, put it in sanitizer gel, attach it to a string to pull it out, put a working sink in the room, ANYTHING. That was super gross and not in a fun way. ESP since you can’t see what you’re doing when you grab it. I feel bad for nitpicking stuff - I’m sure it’s super hard to make these rooms, there’s a lot of fun visuals and cool ideas here, care was put into details and out of the box puzzles, and I can tell fans of the movie were creating it - but unfortunately I wish there were still time tweak it bc it just doesn’t flow as well as it could and the story lacks. Also it was only air conditioned in some parts of it (if you’re doing this in fall/winter ignore that). Ultimately the group still had a blast and I don’t regret going, but if you have the choice I would 1000% recommend Whatever Happened to the Garrets instead. It’s not a far distance from this, has a way better story+puzzles, and some similar sci-fi elements (or does it… dun dun dun). TL;DR: MIS is maybe fun for teens and family, but could be improved and there are better ones out there from Maze Rooms to try.
Bloody Elbow
Quest Room - Koreatown
Escape room
IRL
Want to say right off the bat that our group had an grand time and our “dungeon master” was incredible. I think their name was Danny, and let me just say that Danny needs to be a stand up comedian or comedy actor because that dude was pure gold. And was pretty patient with our group, as well as in character for the whole game. All that being said, I don’t think I’d really recommend this particular room unless you really, truly love dungeons! It’s not a bad room at all, I just think that if you want a more unique experience (especially for a steeper price point than other escape rooms) you should probably look at their other rooms! (Perhaps Red Giant?) For Bloody Elbow though, I was hoping from the website description that there’d be more witchcraft elements or a bit of a mystery for this room, but not really. Basically it’s what it says on the site, you’re locked in a dungeon & there you stay. Even the separate “components” (other doors than the main one) are dungeon based. I do have to say that it’s their “easiest” room and while we did escape we were certainly stumped quite a few times! We had some newer players in this group but I was happy we weren’t able to rush through it, and would be excited to try their harder escapes. I’d rate Bloody Elbow at a medium hardness. I’d also like to say that thankfully there wasn’t any crazy crawling or climbing features in the room, nor any “germaphobe” components (some reviews mentioned puzzles involving movement and ‘germaphobes beware’, so I was a little wary). The set is great for a dungeon, it feels and looks like a dungeon. I did think there were some cool puzzles, and I loved that it was linear and involved multiple components regularly. While I’d call it more thrilling than scary, I do think that it’s too scary for kids, as there’s dead body(ies) parts and fake blood. Teens and young adults will probably get a big kick out of it though. Like I said, I just wish there’d been something else involved in the story, but our group had a great time. And while now that I know the full experience and would recommend doing a different Quest Room over Bloody Elbow, I would like to say that we had a blast and I can’t wait to try something else from this company again! Thank you Quest Rooms!
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