Moriarty's ManorMindFox EscapeEscape roomIRLVictoria was such an amiable and considerate game master! We felt very welcomed and that we were in good hands. The game was so creative, immersive, and had a wide range of puzzles that would appeal to all types of thinkers. Absolutely loved every part of this game!
Witchly Ever AfterOmescape - San JoseEscape roomIRLThis was such a beautiful, whimsical game. The set is so cute and perfectly captures the fairytale spirit. Puzzles were a great blend of accessible and, yet, challenging enough. There was a creative mechanism I hadn't seen done (well) in other games before. Definitely family friendly but meaty enough to be appreciated by adults or enthusiasts, as well.
Meow or Never: Cats, Puzzles, and Purrsonal FinanceWealthTrek - BostonEscape roomIRLFor context, this is a federal credit union that developed an escape room experience to teach finance concepts through immersive storytelling. WealthTrek took a specific topic (I won't state it here to avoid spoilers) and transformed it into an engaging, informative, and all-around well-designed experience. Their learning objectives are cleverly baked into a multi-arc narrative, taking you on a journey through a chain of different situations that kick off with you needing to feed your friend's cat. The room draws on simplicity for its interior aesthetic, adorning the walls with just enough dƩcor to fill the space without visual clutter. Everything you need is in the room, creatively woven into the set dressing. And the hint system is impressive for its desirable ability to nudge at the appropriate moments without pulling you out of the experience nor interrupting story beats. Each puzzle you solve makes sense from a story perspective, and nothing feels like a stretch in logic. The challenge level hits the sweet spot between complacently easy and frustratingly difficult - I found myself constantly engaged, not ever worrying about time passed nor hitting any bottlenecks along the way. And the best part is, I learned some new things! You get a great summary of what you were taught by the end of your (learner's) journey. And last, but not least, the customer service was stellar. The WealthTrek team were super friendly and engaged with us before and after our game time. Shout out to Tiliah, John, and Gandhi! We felt like such VIPs! This was such a well-crafted experience that checks off exactly what they sought out to accomplish - making financial literacy more accessible. I'm excited to see them expand this to their other branches with newer topics!
Operation Ares: Escape from MarsKryptic Tales Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLThis was a cute space-themed room! I thought that the puzzles fit perfectly into the theme and story, and they definitely required a lot of collaboration, decoding, and patterns recognition. I found this to be a ābig brainā thinking game mixed with some great physical prop usage and mechanics. There were many opportunities to divide and conquer, but the more you diverged, the more youād come together again (ā¦that will make sense if you play the room!). My team and I really enjoyed this experience and we felt super satisfied after finishing everything.
Return of the RadiationDorm ScapesEscape roomIRLTyler has done it again! What a creative use of 2D space. This mural is not just gorgeous but so cohesive with how it captures the narrative. There are enough visual elements to keep you occupied without the risk of overstimulation. Each part of the mural is crafted so intentionally and you really engage so thoughtfully with all three walls presented to you. There was enough challenge for satisfying gameplay, yet nothing felt too obtuse or unreasonable - the rigor was just right. This was such an enjoyable experience, idesl for both enthusiasts and beginners alike!
VampireMaze Rooms - TarzanaEscape roomIRLThis room is great for slightly larger groups (perhaps inching toward 6-8 as opposed to the more common 4). Thereās a lot to do and there are elements that really do require 4 players at a minimum. This means that there are a lot of opportunities across a sprawling room to run back-and-forth or to shout out things to each other to try and be more efficient. Definitely a teamwork oriented game (in a very good way!). Some creative interactive things are built in for some fun surprisesā¦really great and on point for the vampire theme. :)
Jurassic IslandQuest FactorEscape roomIRLI played this as a unit of 2 and I think thatās the right amount of people (if both are experienced players, I guess). I thought it was an immersive dinosaur-themed experience, from start to finish. I was taken aback at just how dinosaur-y it was ā enthusiasts will love it! There was a lot of interactivity that I thought kept us busy and on our toes (in a good way), and we found that to be great. Overall I thought it was a solid experience! We came out feeling satisfied with the game.
Wild WestPanIQ Room - San JoseEscape roomIRLI found the theming of this room to be its strongest asset ā it definitely transported you into the Wild West era. The way the puzzles were built into the space made a lot of sense for the theme and added a high level of immersion to the game. As for the puzzles themselves, there were a handful (which, in a room, I believe to be a lotā¦) that didnāt quite make sense logically. It felt like some big leaps and assumptions had to be made (in ways that wouldnāt quite be a playerās first choice). Iām still impressed by the set for what it is and what it tries to accomplish, but I do feel like some of the puzzles were more puzzling than satisfying.
Pirate BayMaze Rooms - TarzanaEscape roomIRLThis room was okay. The puzzles were alright and we found them to be some good, basic escape room puzzles. Nothing stood out, but nothing in particular to complain about ā except one device that slightly went awry (losing us a fair amount of time). It was a small space for what it was, and despite having some neat pirate-themed decorations all throughout (with a clever twist), my group and I thought it was good, but not great. We thought it was fun, while it lasted, but that wasnāt very long.
Task Force AgencyEnchanted Escape Room - NorthridgeEscape roomIRLI thought this room was a decently fun experience! The immersion in storytelling was there ā there were some nice elements that made me and my team think we were really part of a task force solving crime. The puzzles were fair ā a lot of decoding and analyzing documents, which was admittedly in theme with the room. I found it to be an overall enjoyable experience!
