The Secrets Of Shadow PointWild Goose Escapes - Huntington BeachEscape roomIRLRoom #205. Fun. Lots of fake poop, which is always hilarious to watch people overcome. Without spoiling anything, I loved how much this one relies on a lot of teamwork throughout in order to solve most puzzles.
What Happened in Vegas?Wild Goose Escapes - Huntington BeachEscape roomIRLRoom #204. Wild Goose is pretty solid after taking over Fox in a Box. No fear of broken elements or bad resets. This one was fun and non-linear. Decent mix of puzzles and tasks. Could have used perhaps one more room as part of the narrative? Then again, it’s supposed to resemble a hotel room, so I reckon it’s fine.
S.A.S.H.A: Home Of The FutureWild Goose Escapes - FullertonEscape roomIRLRoom #203. Not my personal favorite type of puzzles and gameplay, so it was tough for me to get very immersed in this one. It felt purely task-based, but some of the team had no problem enjoying themselves and getting into it. The ending is pretty fun.
Starship | Interstellar EscapeWild Goose Escapes - FullertonEscape roomIRLRoom #202. My niece was in town, so it was great to have her guest on the team. Honestly, she solved a lot, so this room is definitely suited well for most ages. This room does a great job of mimicking the teamwork than an an actual sci-fi crew must have to make it through.
The Family CabinQuicksand Escape GamesEscape roomIRLRoom #200! Great way to ring in a big round number. Did it with the usual team and also had Jessica Penne hop in yet again. Quicksand is always great… they haven’t missed yet.
Ashley - CLOSEDExxcape GamesEscape roomIRLRoom #201. Yo, this was baaaad-bad. Definitely one of those escape rooms where the owner played like three rooms and decided to open up their own. It’s also super unsafe, as they have players running around in pitch blackness. I actually ran through the drywall at one point. Also, no attention to detail, like forgetting to lock the door that goes back into the lobby. The hired gamemasters didn’t even seem to grasp the concept and didn’t know answers to questions they should have. They also asked for lots of feedback, which tells me they didn’t beta test this one at all before going live. As someone who’s done over 200 rooms, trust me when I say: AVOID.
Blackbeard's BrigRush Hour Live Escape GamesEscape roomIRLRoom #198. Played this while visiting family. It’s within the Spotsylvania Mall complex, which was a trip. The nieces had fun. Pretty standard mall-based turn and burn escape room designed to push through as many people as possible to cover rent. Nothing too novel, but solid for sure.
Murder At Mardi Gras - CLOSEDRush Hour Live Escape GamesEscape roomIRLRoom #199. It was fine. The main criticism would be that all these room had open ceiling format, so it’s tough to immerse and communicate effectively when you are hearing other teams screaming while playing the various other rooms in the building. Nothing too crazy puzzle or theme-wise, but that comes with the territory on a mall escape room in a Civil War town.
Irvine School Of Wizardry And The Dragon WandHidden DonkeyEscape roomIRLRoom #196. This ended up being the final room for the core DRKØPS team, as Colin and Jestine retired after 100 rooms or so. What a way to go out! This room encapsulated all that makes escape rooms great. Highly recommended.
Prison BreakThe Escape Game - IrvineEscape roomIRLRoom #195. I remember the communications on this one being spotty and the reset wasn’t complete, so the gamemaster had to come in and fix some things during gameplay. That obviously broke up the immersion aspect. Weird that this one’s an award-winner on the app. They just have remedied a bunch of stuff in the past couple of years, which is good.
Arena - CLOSEDMindTrap Escape Room - MurrietaEscape roomIRLRoom #194. As brutal as advertised. We had put this one off for years because it didn’t sound appealing or fun whatsoever, but it kept getting recommended a ton before we finally decided to do it. Kind of makes sense that it’s permanently closed… it wasn’t for everyone, but I’m glad we played.
Jingle Bells - CLOSEDMindTrap Escape Room - MurrietaEscape roomIRLRoom #193. Another perfect room from Mindtrap. This one was set up in the remnants of Oz after it had been damaged in a flood and it was one hell of a room… can’t say enough great things about this place and the designers. They know what’s up.
