The Last Video Store in AmericaEscapade 360Escape roomIRLI loved this room. The GM is always very enthusiastic and loves to talk to us about escape rooms, both other ones as well as how he built his. This was such a cool room for me because I love movies and TV, and there are tons of references throughout. If you don't have a ton of movie knowledge, it might be slightly harder just because you'll maybe need to reference materials instead of just knowing some answers. It also allows for a lot of parallel puzzle solving instead of being very linear. There are some really cool puzzles that are unique and most importantly fun. The GM says he often doesn't have the best production values, but I find the quality of the puzzles and the thought that goes into making it an enjoyable experience the most important thing.
Jurassic EscapeMind Trap Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLMind Trap always has extremely impressive production design, but the last two rooms I did here left my frustrated due to puzzle designs that were unintuitive and just not fun to do. I feel like their Jurassic room goes back to pairing their extremely strong sets with good puzzles. We only missed one thing, but even the stuff we solved on our own still felt clever. This room isn't as over the top as some of their others, but it has some really cool moments. Overall, I would put this into the same category as their Mafia and Vampire rooms.
Last CallGame Theory EscapesEscape roomIRLThis was a pretty engaging and fun room. The theme is very unique, giving it a lively vibe. There were a few puzzles here that I had not seen before, and even if some of the other puzzles weren't necessarily innovative, they were well integrated into the props in the room in a way that made them feel more interactive and rewarding. The production design here isn't necessarily going to match some of the more exteme rooms, but there is a strong foundation and great polish since everything just works smoothly. Definitely a fun room and worth your time.
Shipwreck IslandChallenge Accepted Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis was a pretty polished ground up redesign of an older game I had done a long time ago. The atmosphere is pretty good and immersive, and the puzzles are mostly intuitive even if one or two felt too simple. The technology was impressive because I was not expecting certain actions to actually result in things opening or changing, though I felt like it was so fine tuned to following instructions that when we were trying to take a shortcut at the end, it wouldn't work. It was our fault for not taking our time though. A fun option and nice to see this location come back!
Mad ScientistParadox SquaredEscape roomIRLThis was an awesome room! From the beginning, the GM is fully in character, immersing you into the atmosphere. Initially, you might think the room feels a bit bare bones compared to other larger productions, being a single room. However, after doing over a hundred escape rooms, this room still managed to surprise me with unique puzzles I had never seen before. There is still technology in the room, and it's impressive that it works even if it doesn't feel as special effects oriented. I think this room is actually fairly challenging as well, especially with the unique puzzles. I loved it! It's all pointless I tell you.
Behind The CurtainTwisted Limits Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLAnother fun room at Twisted Limits. All of their rooms feel distinct and unique. This one required a lot of physical movement and carrying things around. It did get slightly frustrating at times, but it still was a great room. I really liked how certain things were hidden. The GM here is an enthusiast who just purchased a few other locations, so I'm excited to see what he does next.
Curse of the Hidden TemplePuzzleConnect Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis was our first room at this location. I really liked how polished and responsive all of the technology was. Everything happened at the exact right times without anything feeling finicky. The production design isn't necessarily as crazy as some other rooms, but it does feel immersive. I think these rooms are on the easier side, but they are still very entertaining
Frozen In Time: The Race To Save Christmas!PuzzleConnect Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLI enjoyed how this room felt like it had more parallel puzzles than their tomb. We missed some obvious things, but it wasn't a fault of the room as it had clear clues to point us to the correct solution. Everything worked nicely and the GM was really awesome. I think this one didn't feel like it had as many unique puzzles or production elements, but it was still a great time
Monster MayhemIpanic Escape Room - St. CharlesEscape roomIRLI really enjoyed this room. It feels more like a theme park experience with the production design and automatons that talk to you, but everything did work smoothly. It was pretty fun to navigate through the room, and unlike the Dragon Slayer in this room, the dialogue and automatons did not feel as frustrating in terms of how much time they took to go through their interactions. My criticism for this room is that it's just too easy. Often times, completing a puzzle would lead to the screens or dialogue just telling you the code you need. There is also a puzzle that involves you having to find a bunch of things scattered around the room, and we were never able to find all the items. We had to resort to guessing and checking to get through that puzzle. I do wish the monsters were integrated more into the puzzles, with each set of puzzles to get one of the data discs that you need being related to a specific monster.
Executive DisorderTwisted Limits Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLI was very impressed with The Passage from this company, and I was excited to try their other 90 minute room after that. We drove over an hour to get here, yet everyone in my group felt it was worth it. It might not have the same wow factor as The Passage in terms of set design, but it does still feel like you are entering a governor's office. The clues and puzzles all feel purposeful instead of just random things you are solving to progress through the room, as if this person actually took a lot of care to keep their information safe. It's a challenging room, and with 4 people, it often felt like we were all doing different things at the same time in a very non-linear way. The GM was very nice and kept us focused on the right things without actually telling us how to solve the puzzles. There are some really clever things in this room, and I love the way the puzzles are integrated into the environment. It's a really fun room and a great option for those looking for a real challenge.
