7 Deadly SinsEscapology - Fort LauderdaleEscape roomIRLThis was pretty lackluster. The atmosphere was cool. Regardless, the story was pretty clunky. They use paper and big staples for some puzzles, and one of them cut a pretty big slice of skin off my finger. Not a paper cut, mind you. A slice of skin. Was bleeding, but they didn’t really care. The puzzles aren’t very fun, and some of them are pretty clunky or random. I have to say that the fx were cool in some parts though. I like creepy rooms, but this one was just meh at very best.
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient ExpressEscapology - Fort LauderdaleEscape roomIRLThe set is designed beautifully. It really makes you feel like you’re on a moving train. The story is good too. Sadly, the rest of the room is just okay. Escapology seems to try to make the puzzles overly-complicated to try and make the room tougher. I understand why, but it just makes a puzzle tedious when you need to solve a ton of smaller parts just to solve one puzzle out of many. The room has a ton of puzzles, almost too many to solve in the allotted time. I knew going into this that it was their hardest room. I just wish they’d taken advantage of the great set and story to actually make a room that was enjoyable. Not my cup of tea. Maybe it’s yours?
AntidoteEscapology - Fort LauderdaleEscape roomIRLIt was kind of lame. The employees weren’t really paying attention and didn’t answer for a long while the few times we asked for clues. The story wasn’t too interesting. The puzzles were overly-complicated in some parts. I love tough puzzles, but these were just tedious. Some puzzles were fun, and the rooms looked decently cool, but I was pretty disappointed with this one. Would probably rate a 3 or 4 out of 10.
Baldwin ManorEscape Artists OrlandoEscape roomIRLThe room design was good. It sets a creepy tone from the onset. The tech and puzzles were fun and interesting. There were some puzzles we hadn’t seen in other rooms. The story is the only thing I felt could be elaborated on a little. All the puzzles kept in line with the theme and were fun, but there were times where we weren’t really sure why we were doing something. Our GM, Katie, was nice and helpful. Overall, I’d say it was a solid room. Focusing on making it more immersive by addressing those things above could make it an incredible room.
Batman™: The Dark Knight ChallengeEscapology - KissimmeeEscape roomIRLThe set design was amazing. There weren’t a lot of puzzles, but that was a good thing considering the puzzles were very difficult imo. I liked the theme, and the game master was very helpful without at all being intrusive. Only thing I would change is that some of the puzzles could have been a bit more straightforward.
Cinema 7Will To Escape - OrlandoEscape roomIRLI really wanted to like this room. We did Disappearance with Will to Escape, and it was great. This room just felt like it was missing a lot. It wasn’t scary. The set design was cool, but a lot of things were rickety, especially for a brand new room. Many of the puzzles were overly complicated for the sake of being complicated. The game master wasn’t attentive for most of the game even though there weren’t many customers. She didn’t respond a bunch of times. It was very hot in the room. And there were puzzles that they’d apparently removed from the flow of the game that they left in the room and just told us not to touch. It was disappointing. Good idea, very bad execution. 3.5/10
Disappearance: Last LocationWill To Escape - OrlandoEscape roomIRLThe room was amazing. It managed to use a scary theme without being too “on the nose.” It was very immersive. The puzzles were all well-thought-out, unique, and fun to solve. The room and props were in good shape. The flow of the room was great and appropriate for one or many people. Also, the story was interesting, original, and clear. A lot of other rooms either over-complicate things to the point of making them irritating or over-simplify things. This room did neither. The game master (Trevor) was also very nice. He made the experience that much more immersive and fun.
Echoes at Murder HeightsPuzzle Corp. Escape Rooms [prev. America's Escape Game Orlando]Escape roomIRLThe game itself and the game master were both awesome. The game has a generous amount of scares, and there are a good amount of puzzles that don’t feel repetitive, with some very unique ones too. There are some puzzles that really challenged us, but in a fun way, and the design of the rooms captured the spooky vibe perfectly. Luis was an amazing game master too. He was attentive and made the game a lot of fun. We’d definitely come back here again.
HellevatorCloak and Dagger Escape Rooms - Coconut CreekEscape roomIRLHellevator is right. This experience was pretty y. The elevator bucks back and forth wildly and randomly and doesn’t stop. I had to sit on the floor so I wouldn’t fall and bust my head on a big metal object. It’s too loud to hear your partner. The puzzles literally fall out as you try to put them together. If you touch the stop button, which is near where other important things are (keep in mind you’re stumbling around), you reset the game completely and have to start again without time being added. The employee there was so nice, but even he couldn’t do the puzzles without turning the machine off. There was no story whatsoever. This was hugely disappointing. I love escape rooms. I’ve done about 20+, and this was probably the worst one I’ve ever done.
Jewel ThiefEdge EscapeEscape roomIRLIt was not too easy and not too difficult. The puzzles were unique and fun. The set design could use a little improvement to make the experience more immersive but it’s a solid room and a good time, and the GMs were very nice.
