Operation Arctic Storm: The Final MeltdownThe Escape Ventures - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThis 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 + re-went 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/fun 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 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 pretty chill & if you’re really worried about you can look at the other reviews that say exactly what the one “hardcore” 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 over 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!
Something's Out There!Maze Rooms - West LAEscape roomIRLTIP: 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.
Reign Of Terror [Season 2023]Reign of TerrorHauntHaunted houseI can’t recommend ROT enough. TLDR; think of it as a GIANT Knotts Scary Farm/HHN maze! Here are some tips, full review below that! - I buy my tickets online so I can pick cheaper days to visit but they sell @ door too - the online tickets give you a timeslot but I’ve been late before and been fine. - The parking is plenty + free (bc mall) but the wait time is LONG, at least an hour unless you get there super early or get VIP tickets. I usually get in line as a group so people can peel off for the bathroom/get food, ice cream etc. Also once you get closer they have scare actors that will come up to you in the line + fun props/theming. - Once you get inside there is not a bathroom! The mall has tons of nice bathrooms outside the venue, & there will be time to go bc of the line. - For both the line/haunt itself, I do NOT recommend heels - the floor moves at times + I think you’d be pretty tired by the end of the night from standing in line. - If you miss all of October, they do a lights out version the 1st weekend of November where you walk the haunt with a glow stick + a Krampus version for Xmas - I personally enjoyed the glow stick but I’d only recommend it if you’ve already done the walkthrough bc all the beautiful details get lost in the dim light & it’s hard to tell what you’re seeing at all. I vote Krampus > Glowstick if you miss out on October but still want to go. - For free pictures, I would recommend taking pics with all the cool props/actors in the main outside area as you’re in line - they have a professional setup inside too but that one costs. - Since you’re in line a long time + once you’re in there’s no break, I recommend making a night of it - my friends & I usually go out to eat/drink beforehand or go see a movie. - Earplugs could be a good investment if you have a hard time with loud noises + a mask if you have a smoke machine sensitivity (there is a lot). - If you’re really scared, there’s a walkthrough on YouTube but it’ll show EVERYTHING so I don’t recommend it unless you want spoilers. The trailer is great though! - Lastly, help them help you - if you see the line inside the house getting clogged, either hurry through or wait & help them space it out, otherwise you’ll miss out on the scares. There are actors inside stationed to help with this but it was a really big problem year past because people were being jerks + standing around or not moving so it got super clogged and we could see what was coming. First of all, 140 rooms! In a MALL! THAT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR! That should tell you what you need to know right off the bat. Secondly, they have all kinds of animatronics + production value - I always tell people it’s like walking a scary fun house! Fourth, at 35$ a ticket, it beats out HHN + Knotts by a ton - yes you only walk through once, but I usually make a night of getting food or watching a movie beforehand, waiting in line, and then walking through for like 45 minutes (takes a long time to get through)! It’s a perfect alternative if you’re looking to save money but get the same level of production value. Fourth, there’s so many different themes & they’re adding in something new every year so there’s something for everyone! I will say that they usually reuse what they’ve done years past, so I don’t recommend watching a walk through (unless you’re really scared or don’t care about spoilers), and if you’re someone who wants something new each year I think you can probably only do this once - but I love it for that reason. They keep the same stuff which means they actually invest MONEY into the robots working + have incredible sets/props already around! I make it a point to take people with me every year - if they haven’t gone they’re in for a treat and if they have then we get to see what new twists they added! I think they have a new scare zone/theme for this one, for example! The actors are always amazing, I always get got by at least one thing even though I’ve been at least 3 times. I can’t recommend it enough for a fun night!
World of IllusionsMaze Rooms - HollywoodEscape roomIRLThis was such a fun night, but the room isn’t perfect. There’s a couple puzzles that just aren’t super well thought out, and one that just didn’t make sense at all. Not to spoil that one puzzle, but it was color based and my whole group of 5 got a different color sequence than what they said it was. I don’t want to accuse the owner of being color blind but all 5 of us agreed. I had such a great time though. We all worked super well together, it’s so much fun to look at everything, some of the puzzles were truly fun and inventive, everyone got to do something and excel (to be fair though my team works really well together). It’s definitely not always linear or clear puzzles, which I wish were more thought out but we were able to ask for help so I was ok with it. It’s very whimsical but also a bit mysterious. Not what I would call creepy or scary but def has like a “dark carnival/magician” thing going, which I only mention bc I was worried about it being a little corny but it was great. There was one broken painting but it didn’t effect our gameplay and I’m sure they just hadn’t had time to replace it when I was there, so no points docked. I would not recommend it for beginners just bc I think there’s probably other ones you could do where the puzzles are a bit more logical/you know what to expect a bit more (maybe Fun House? That one is on my list) but I will say that if you LOVE this theme and can work well together, go for it! Maybe I should lower this review to a thumbs up but we all had such a solid night that any puzzles that didn’t make sense were easy to overlook for us.
Whatever Happened To The Garretts?Maze Rooms - West LAEscape roomIRLThis 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!
Heretics [prev. Bloody Elbow]Quest Room - KoreatownEscape roomIRLWant 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!
Stash HouseStash HouseEscape roomIRLThis 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!).
The Pig Farmer: Cult Of The 7 Sins [Outdoor]Escape Woods Escape roomIRLLet me start off by saying we did not win this one but it is an ambitious room & we still had fun. I’d put this at like a 6 but there’s only ‘thumbs up/down/heart” on this app so there you go. This is an OUTDOOR escape room - you’re in a small circle of little trailers (20 ft or so). There is a lot going on here - someone from Hollywood, hire this team to write you a serial killer mystery series! The concept was very cool. 7 deadly sins but used as a basis for a cult… There was a lot of detail in the written text + someone really did a great job with the mythology of the killer’s ideals. Although I’m not sure why they did pigs AND the 7 sins since there was so much I felt like it could’ve been 2 different, but great, stories. I’ll get the critiques out of the way so I can go back to praising it. The story is cool but there’s a LOT of it - there was a whole book with tons of pages+text that our group got lost on. Also, because it’s an outdoor game, a lot of props are worn. Not broken, just used + weathered. Which does go with the story, but exercise caution & don’t go running into trailers - watch your step and open/close things carefully. Much like their other outdoor escape room, there’s a LOT of padlocks in this one, but there are some puzzles beyond that. I will say that we got stuck on one lock and then at the end the GM was trying to show us how to open it & he was also struggling so it made us feel validated lol - to be clear, it wasn’t broken, it was just a hella hard lock. I’m not sure if I would recommend it to a lot of people because it was very hard, but in like a “we must’ve translated a number wrong and this padlock won’t open, try again & again” kind of way (not a direct example, no spoilers). Also you’re not in a huge area like their other outdoor room, which is literally a maze. So if you get stuck, you do start to feel it, or in our group’s case, get frustrated, but I will say that our group didn’t work super well together. We had a great time but there were definitely some miscommunications between us, so that combined with hard puzzles did set us back/cut the flow more than a few times. Also, it’s pretty dang linear - which is good but if you get caught on a puzzle you are stuck there and can’t, like, side quest to help in another direction. I think between this one and the outdoor maze, I would recommend the maze IF you know how an escape room works and have played them before already (can’t stress that enough, see my other review for the maze). This one is not for beginners at all, but Hopper’s Cabin, the Hunted & Sleepy Hollow all sound pretty cool, I’d probably give those a shot before this. Back to the good stuff - the story is really cool, even though I’m not sure it flows super well into the gameplay at times, but it’s really nice to see someone actually care about a plot & think it through with a ton of research. Please note this is not a mystery, you’re just trying to “get proof”. The GM was beyond amazing, totally made the game for us, he absolutely outdid himself and helped us even when we were being idiots, plus he was hilarious - hope he becomes an actor someday, he’d kill it. I do think they could’ve added an actor to play the farmer but most of our group was glad they didn’t because they were already freaked out by the idea. I SO recommend playing in the daylight/dusk - I can’t imagine trying to figure out some of the clues in the dark as it was already hard to see some of the stuff. Overall, I’d say this one was ok, but hard to recommend when compared to their other ones, and I *would* recommend their other ones because they do such a great job. Much love to the farm and employees!
The Maze: Curse Of The DragonEscape Woods Escape roomIRLTl;dr: This is a great maze. If you are trying to team build though, it is easy to get separated and not work together. If you have never done an escape room, it is not beginner friendly. You should know how to work together, when to ask for hints and what kind of puzzles to expect bc it’s even harder to get help when the game masters can’t see you and you’re lost and you don’t know what’s going on. This was a wonderful experience and I LOVED it, but not for beginners! For context, I’ve done a few escape rooms and have a core team who I work well with, but I went to this one with a group of newly-met coworkers to try and team build. I’d never done an outdoor escape room and they hadn’t done ANY escape rooms and thus with this being a maze, they got separated and stopped working and communicating with each other. They also didn’t know the protocol with asking clues and hints and therefore we ran out of time (though we did technically escape). This is just to say that all of that is on US, not Escape Woods! This is such a fun time! It’s a giant maze made out of wood palettes, but there’s also set building integrated into it. I recommend doing it at night with lanterns, it looks super cool (though it is a bit harder, but worth it imo). Doors move and open, though mostly what it is finding the path to a door with a padlock. You’ll have to work out the code, and then that goes to the next door and the next. It’s basically a padlock based maze but you do get a chance to separate and work on different doors (the downfall of my team lol). It def has an “outdoor camp” feel in the best way possible. I would recommend reading the description online before doing it bc it goes a bit deeper into the lore/story of the maze than what’s written in the actual maze itself. It is not spooky, and was a great time, even my team agreed that they all had fun. Again, I don’t think it’s the most beginner friendly just bc you should know how an escape room works and how some of the puzzles typically go, but like I said, as long as you’ve done one or two this is DEF worth it. The guides were amazing and lovely. Fun fact, we originally wanted to do the Pig Farmer but couldn’t book it in time. Once we failed the maze I asked the guides how hard the maze was compared to Pig Farmer and they looked at us and said “This one is considered easy” so THAT worked out in our favor lol! I’ll def be back to do more however! Thanks for a lovely evening guys!
The WillEnigma Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLI wish there was a way to rate rooms as like, not the best room but my group had fun. I think this room was first generation as well, so I don’t wanna be harsh in this review but I can’t give it a thumbs up either. This room wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst. I need a thumb in the middle. I can’t recommend the room ultimately but it was my first one and it was enough that I wanted to keep trying escape rooms! However, this is not a poetic review about my journey into escapedom. It’s about the room. Meh! That’s my review. I will say that partly it was on me - this room was a surprise gift to me, and I didn’t get to pick it. Literally any other room at this location would’ve been more up my alley, but like I said, still had fun. As I recall, you’re trying to find a will, and the guy who wrote it ends up being from a secret society I think? There was almost no story. There were two rooms - one was a study, and the second, which opened through a secret bookcase was also… a study. It ended with you getting the will. Not a ton of effort went into the immersion/lore there, which is unfortunate because the set wasn’t really impressive either so it just ended up being… ok. And unremarkable, which for the price wasn’t great, even in 2016. Again, I know this is a first gen room but still. I think a wild story with a contrasting second room would’ve impressed me a lot more. The puzzles I remember being hard, but it was my first room, so I doubt it was actually super hard. There were some scuffed/laminated up clues, and a couple kinda cool puzzles/triggers but nothing too exciting. They didn’t give us a starting point so we kinda just started poking everything which wasn’t the way to do it, because it was a linear room, so the flow wasn’t great and we were bumbling around bc we didn’t have a clear idea of what to do, it being our first room. The staff was cool, except there apparently was a kill switch button that forced all the doors open in the room - and if you pressed it, the game was OVER for some reason. I think it must’ve been connected to resetting the puzzles somehow? Because they were ADAMANT about us NOT touching it at all, otherwise we’d be kicked to the curb, and I don’t know why they’d freak out so much otherwise. Well, and I still don’t know how, the button went off, of course. They came in to boot us, but we protested our innocence and they let us stay, if a little reluctant. No one could figure out what happened. I get it, but also, maybe don’t have a panic button and just leave the door unlocked? Like I said, first gen room, so maybe that was a thing back then. And I still don’t know wtf happened to set it off. But beyond that the staff was ok, as was the room, and here I am today, still loving escapes. So cheers!
![Reign Of Terror [Season 2023]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/d875da8e-faec-4906-ab3c-10195d555a8b.jpeg)
![Heretics [prev. Bloody Elbow]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/19484bfe-3a27-4e45-9d7b-46df4e3701c7.jpg)
![The Pig Farmer: Cult Of The 7 Sins [Outdoor]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/d29feea6-0a41-463c-98fd-29cd18e9b688.jpg)
