Malediction - CLOSEDQuest Room - KoreatownEscape roomIRLWhat a wild ride! We did the After Dark version so...get ready for some spicy! What happens in Malediction stays in Malediction... Fun actor interactions, immersive puzzles, and lots of engagement!
The Ghost of Blackstone ManorBoggled Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLGhost was a great puzzle gauntlet! With a narrative sending you and your team through a multitude of puzzle pathways, your team can divide and conquer. Nonlinear problem solving that converges toward the end, there is plenty to go around. Beautiful props, high tech puzzles, and a lot of magic and mysticism that is on theme, everything comes together really nicely. As usual with all of Boggledās games, donāt overthink! Their puzzles are elegant yet so simplistic. Loved the decor and design!
Escape the Ancient Ruins - Online CompetitionRaid the Room - OnlineEscape roomVirtual What a cute game! Its creative use of 2D JRPG gaming elicits Zelda or even PokƩmon. What a clever way to build atop Gather's platform and bring a well-designed escape room experience that leverages teamwork as the key to solving everything. Great use of multi-player elements, puzzles that felt just right, and fantastic in-game mechanics that help emulate what a team would do in a real-life (physical) escape room.
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!
Return of the RadiationNorm Escapes [prev. Dorm Scapes]Escape 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!
Election DayAppleseed AvenueEscape roomIRLThis was such an impressive immersive experience. The puppets, the plot, the puzzling - everything comes together into such a cohesive storytelling experience that highlights deduction, critical thinking, and collaboration. There is such a great mechanic that makes sense in-universe and all the elements of play are so thoughtfully designed. It is a 100 minute experience but my team was groveling for more - we were not ready for it to end. I cannot recommend this game enough. What a delightful, satisfying adventure from start to finish. Bravo, Matt and Pat!
Escape from the MeetingEscape from the MeetingEscape roomVirtual Set against the backdrop of an interminable Zoom meeting, you and your teammates need to complete certain tasks in order to "escape" the experience. I don't want to spoil too much, but I can confidently say the commitment to immersion is highly commendable (i.e. the conceit behind your tasks and how you submit them or how you ask for hints is hilariously on theme). Everything you do and all the materials you need to rummage through to solve your puzzles is fully on brand. You may, at times, legitimately feel like you're an employee at this corporation, for better or for worse! This game was such a breath of fresh air! Quirky, clever, and perhaps a bit too on-the-nose (in a hilarious fashion) about corporate culture and online team meetings. While inspired by The Office, I think a more accurate pop culture descriptor would be perhaps Silicon Valley (if the two were to ever have a modern sitcom lovechild, this game would be it). If you enjoy satirizing the minutiae and ridiculousness of a stereotypical white-collar/techie work environment, you'll definitely get a kick out of this game!
Host Your Own Escape Room - KyotoTalking TablesEscape roomTabletopThis game was...incredibly lacking, unfortunately. The puzzles were an odd mix of somehow unclear and too simple? Instructions and logic were unintuitive for the gameplay, the use of included props and materials was not particularly effective, and once you've figured out what they wanted all along, it was strangely simplistic (yet felt irrelevant to all the clues leading you up to that point). There was no scaffolding, and it felt like there was just too big a gap between what you're given and what the end results should look like. The experience ends up being rather unsatisfying.
Wizcape AcademyKey EnigmaEscape roomTabletopThis was expertly designed in terms of materials. There is an online storytelling component that keeps the narrative moving along (and serves as your hint system), but everything you need is meticulously printed onto roughly a dozen sheets and tools that fit into a flat envelope. They did so much with so little, with each physical card having clever, creative uses. My only (personal) reservation is that some of these puzzles got to be quite tedious - there is a fine line between challenge and busywork, and I think this teeters dangerously on the precipice. However, this was an overall enjoyable experience (and was deceptively difficult!).
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.
Wicked Witch60Out - Silver LakeEscape roomIRLI'm fairly generous with my rating system for escape rooms (look at how many thumbs up reviews I've given on Morty), but I have to say that this room was a huge disappointment. The biggest flaw (that ended up being a huge hindrance) was lighting. The dimness with zero sources of light in-room (unless you use the flashlight on your phone) deter you from finding some critical elements in the game necessary to solve the puzzles. Also, in the office chance you've played 4 Dreams in Seattle, there are identical puzzles/builds in the first act of the game.
Lost TreasuresRed Door Escape Room - EmeryvilleEscape roomIRLThis is definitely a game that emulates a video game and has each player toggle between different functions in order to collaboratively progress. (Think: something akin to Star Trek where each player needs to assume a station in order to steer the ship and engage with one's surroundings). Definitely requires communication, patience, and teamwork. Bring a group you're well coordinated with or you may end up getting flustered and turning on each other. š
Code GreenNorm Escapes - Online [prev. Dorm Escapes]Escape roomVirtual This was such a well-designed room! From the narrative to the set design (all done in a dorm room, mind you!), this was such a creative and entertaining adventure to experience. A great balance of prop usage, immersion, and puzzling, I found this to be a cute, captivating experience from start to finish. Great job, Tyler!
Escape from the Lockdown: The Strange VillageSCRAP Co. / Real Escape Game - OnlineEscape roomVirtual I found this to be an interesting premise, but the execution left me wanting something more. More immersive? More entertaining? Iām not quite sure. While I understand that the experience is a virtual adaptation of things meant to be done in-person with paper and pencil, among other analog physical puzzles, I had higher expectations for what video clips would bring to the table. It felt more tedious than engaging to play through all the video clips to understand different characters and their quirks. (I will say that language barrier may have contributed to this, as there is a lot of fatigue that comes with replaying dozens of clips and looking for clues while having to read subtitles that may be translated in a way that doesnāt quite set up the proper nuances). Overall, my friend and I found it to be onerous and had to take several breaks between rounds of videos in order to take a step back, refresh, and reset our headspace.
The Scholars of the Islamic World - CLOSEDMuseum of Islamic ArtEscape roomOther This cleverly crafted learning experience is a prime example of how to blend museum education with student engagement. It is a heist theme, with players having to find the missing artifacts (high-fidelity replicas of the real deal!) and place them back in the right location. Split into four wings, participants cycle through each station to interact with different artifacts and solve themed puzzles. Reflecting the rich history & culture of Qatar, the different rooms range from ancient astronomy & mathematics to art & music, with creative takes on how players would learn something and then immediately apply it (think: learning about the historical use of an abacus and then using it to solve a math puzzle). This "activation" not only promotes and teaches the museum curatorial content, but it offers participants a means of getting hands-on and tactile with their puzzles -- not something a museum could typically boast. I hope to see collaborations and experiences like this in museums (and other comparable spaces) so ubiquitous they become the norm.
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!
Operation Ares: Escape from Mars - CLOSEDKryptic 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.
Vampire - CLOSEDMaze 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. :)
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.
Flashback - CLOSEDEscape Room in a BoxEscape roomTabletopI thought this was really cleverly designed! For one of the earlier escape room in a box experiences, I think they did well in throwing puzzles and story that immerse you into the flashback theme. Thereās a creative mechanic toward the end of the experience that I hadnāt seen in any other experiences (boxed game or otherwise), and it made for a satisfying end to the series of puzzles to solve. Itās a great rainy day or stay-in activity!
