The Bloody CircusBrainXcape Escape Room NYCEscape roomIRLThe Bloody Circus is beautifully crafted, but creates an awful bottleneck that makes the ten person room suggestion laughable. Every puzzle leads into another; your team cannot work on things separately, leaving a good chunk of the group just watching. The puzzles are a mixed bag, often relying on the fact that its hard to see (and demanding you not use your phone for light). It felt like the puzzles couldnt speak for themselves
Elevator to HellBrainXcape Escape Room NYCEscape roomIRLElevator to Hell is a mixed bag. Some of the puzzles seemed to need more of a jump in logic, and we leaned on hints. The atmosphere is great, but tight for the amount of people allowed. It's definitely a harder room, so I wouldn't recommend it to newbies. Overall I had fun
The City of AshesKomnata QuestEscape roomIRLExpect jumpscares! I enjoyed the various aspects of this room, and how the horror elements were weaved into gameplay. The puzzles were largely fair and flowed well.
Search for the GrailAmazing Escape Room - Montclair/BloomfieldEscape roomIRLOur cluemaster was great. Some of the puzzles showed some wear and tear, and there was at least one puzzle we solved with little effort on our part.
Cosmic CrisisThe Escape Game - BrooklynEscape roomIRLA room that encouraged collaboration, offered hints in a way that added to the immersion, and had a couple of puzzle types that were fairly new to me. The room design is top notch and my team had a lot of fun. There were six of us, two of which were not part of our group, and this is the ideal number for this room. You may prefer a private experience. There was an issue with one puzzle that was quickly remedied by our GM.
Moonshine MadnessPanIQ Room - NYC [prev. Clue Chase]Escape roomIRLSome of the puzzles were unprepared for use, and there was a physical bottleneck in which there were three puzzles towards the end. However, the room is well themed, and we had a good time.
PlaygroundThe Escape Game - NYC MidtownEscape roomIRLMy issues have little to do with the gameplay itself: The room has much too big a permissible number of players. Another group joined ours at the last minute and was essentially cut out of gameplay. We also had to wait for them to begin, despite the fact my group was on time. However, the playground is a lot of fun, has a lot of pieces that you could play with outside the room, and the puzzles were challenging but fairly accessible.
Prison BreakThe Escape Game - NYC MidtownEscape roomIRLI completed this room with three people, and I would not have wanted more. The room was a blast. The set itself was a lot of fun and made use of the jail setting for more than just decoration.
The Heist - CLOSEDThe Escape Game - NYC MidtownEscape roomIRLI completed this game in a team of four. I appreciated the story here; it was a more immersive way to approach the escape experience. A lot of fun and a gorgeous room.
Cartman's Escape Room - CLOSEDEscape The Room - ManhattanEscape roomIRLNot just a treat for fans, Cartman's Escape Room is also a particularly well done room. The theme is more than dressing, and in some ways, feels similar to being the player character in either of the video games. Funny and challenging
The Clock TowerEscape The Room - ManhattanEscape roomIRLAn incredibly immersive room where each member of the team felt like they could shine.
Guardian Of GothamPanIQ Room - NYC [prev. Clue Chase]Escape roomIRLI personally am not a big fan of rooms with video game elements. I think it removes some of the escape aspects. And in a lot of ways, Guardian of Gotham does not feel like an escape room. It is a room that requires cooperation to get through. On the positive end, some of the puzzles were a lot of fun to decipher and one of the few that could reasonably leave the whole team feeling useful
