Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home [Season 2015] - CLOSEDHalloween Horror NightsHauntMazeFun, but insanely swamped (as was to be expected).
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.
The Willows - CLOSEDJust Fix It ProductionsHauntOther THE WILLOWS maniacally scratched every itch I had (for fresh immersive theater concepts) until it bled and bled and bled so beautifully. A maximum of 18 guests are allowed to attend each performance. Think dinner theater (kinda)… but it’s actually a wake being held for a recently departed young man by his rapidly-mentally-deteriorating family wherein you must quickly assume the role of one of the deceased’s friends in order to “yes, and” the whole experience. It escalates… boyyy does it escalate. Maybe a small dollop of Texas Chain Saw Massacre without the saw? One of the many things I loved is that it’s formatted to encourage interaction between yourself and the actors AND your fellow attendees. So because we shared an intense experience with complete strangers over a few hours, we actually made friends at this thing, traded contact info, and I even got to slow dance with my favorite new stranger in ages. It RULED.
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.
Cinema SlasherKnott’s Scary FarmHauntHaunted houseDawg… they had Frankenhooker split in two and stuck to a wall in one of the backgrounds. When there’s that much attention to detail on a niché property, you know the haunt is great.
Mesmer: Sideshow Of The MindKnott’s Scary FarmHauntHaunted houseKind of a staple, it hasn’t changed from year to year, but still very enjoyable and usually fast to get into.
Pumpkin Eater - CLOSEDKnott’s Scary FarmHauntHaunted houseOne of the cool aspects of this one is the sound design. I seem to remember lots of squishes. Pumpkin guts writes itself…
Wax Works - CLOSEDKnott’s Scary FarmHauntHaunted houseI always loved the exterior of this one a bit more than the inside. Not the best at the park, but decent.
Delusion: Nocturnes & Nightmares - [Season 2023] - CLOSEDDelusionHauntHaunted houseThis year’s edition of Delusion (an annual immersive theater experience) up in Pomona was called “Nocturnes and Nightmares.” It was considerably less intense, less dark (both in terms of lighting and subject matter), and involved way less physical exertion than last year’s cult theme and design. Something tells me that there must have been problems with audience members (or something along those lines) last year that led to this year getting intentionally tamed so much. Even still, there was a group getting kicked out as we were about to go in because a guy actually tried to punch an actor, the whole group kept taking out their phones to film (you’re explicitly told not to), and they kept disrupting the whole performance for the actors and fellow audience members.
Valley of Hollows [Season 2022] - CLOSEDDelusionHauntHaunted houseDelusion: Valley of Hollows. I’m going to be real: cults don’t move the needle or fascinate me whatsoever. Maybe losing battle raps to Charles Manson while he rotted away in Corcoran removed all the sheen (if we’re old friends, you’ve likely heard some of those recordings). However, I do love immersive theater, I love practical effects, I love narratives from 70’s California, I love historical sites becoming modern haunts, and I do love a large degree of physicality with my theater experiences. So this was fun… and a lovely way to celebrate the season. Out of respect for the performers, I didn’t take any pictures during the actual encounter, but it was a solid mix of indoor/outdoor scenes covering a lot of ground that was fairly successful in the immersion aspect. Overall, it more resembled a video game narrative and feel than anything else. The sound design could have been less ham-fisted in that regard, as noise was constant, a bit tinny at times, and I don’t think they trusted attendees with their own theaters of the mind. But moments of silence would have really helped make this thing more dynamic and creepy overall. Finally, the creature designs were fun!! There’s an eight-legged one in particular that I feel they should have leaned into more… Anyway, I’m glad I went. Not recommended if you have any physical impairments, as you will run, crouch, climb, and be stuffed into uncomfortable positioning.
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.
![Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home [Season 2015]](https://images.morty.app/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/ddecdcdc-0671-4498-a611-606dbad672db.webp)
![Delusion: Nocturnes & Nightmares - [Season 2023]](https://images.morty.app/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/00d0529f-219f-4325-b2d9-0f79322d7746.png)
![Valley of Hollows [Season 2022]](https://images.morty.app/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/a9a56f07-fd16-4329-a53b-906859a3dd0a.jpeg)
