Hope EndThe Ministry Of PeculiaritiesEscape roomIRLWord from the grapevine is that once you experience this gem of an escape room, anything else after will feel meh. The calibre of this escape room is just something else. If escape rooms were a sport, the Ministry of Peculiarities- Hope End would be the gold Olympian. There is all the Hollywood magic in this quirky, quaint, and brilliant escape room. Please make the drive out if you're in Orange County to experience this spectacular wonder. Before I begin more of my review, if there's anything you take away aside from going to the Minister of Peculiarities for Hope End, I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you request for actresses Paris and Ellie to be the characters in your escape room experience. Talk about nailing their performances! To find this place, look for the words "Billiard" on a building in a run-down/sketchy looking plaza, and you'll know you're in the right place. Honestly, this place deserves their own awesome signage on their building, but perhaps part of the charm is finding the space from the get-go. Here's 2 versions to my review: a TLDR and one with a bit more details. TLDR version: What an incredible escape room experience with immersive storytelling brought to life by phenomenal actors/actresses. The moment the doors open for you to enter the establishment, your adventure already begins. I strongly feel that having 6 people minimum is a good, starting number (even though the actual minimum number of people is 4) for your investigation. The story is that an estate, called Hope End, can't be sold because it's haunted. As agents working with the Ministry of Peculiarities, your mission is to find out how the occupants who once lived in this home met their demise. The sets throughout are characters themselves. The puzzles/clues range from easy to more challenging, but there are hints (like good, hilarious ones too) along the way. This experience is perhaps the most unique of any escape rooms currently out there, and the attention to detail and care that goes into this is evident in every corner and crevice of the space utilized. I cannot recommend this enough for a unique and memorable experience. --- Here's my detailed review (if you're curious to read more): 100/10 absolutely recommend this escape room without reservations. What an extraordinary and gripping escape room that is deeply immersive from the moment you set foot at the door of the establishment. I went with 5 of my friends, so I can say that I recommend having at least 6 people in your party to start with (again, 4 is minimum). In particular, please ask for Paris to be the actress in your story. She is worth more than her weight in gold for her performance. The duration of the mission is 90 minutes. Ticket prices vary for weekdays vs weekends. You may get a tad warm (not suffocating) during the experience because of the adrenaline, so I would not recommend a thick jacket. Travel light when you're there. Lockers are provided if you need them before beginning your quest. This is story-telling at its finest with notable acting. The premise of this escape room is that as agents, you've been summoned by the ministry to solve what happened to the occupants who lived on this ancestral home called Hope End. The home is deemed unsellable because it's haunted. Once upon a time, the occupants who lived here met their demise, with the peculiar exception of Dolores Wright (née Hope). And thus, your investigation begins. The mechanics of the rooms, the costumes, and the makeup are all fantastic. There are 3 rooms you'll encounter, each so unique with so much attention to detail, that it will take time to take this all in. At some point in your adventure, you'll wonder who you can trust. Be forewarned, there are also some eerie, jumping moments especially because you're in the dark at times. I am no escape room enthusiast nor connoisseur, and I'm definitely a novice. But I will tell you though that if I made it through, you will too. See, I tend to shy away from games, especially partaking in escape rooms, because I feel I am awful at them. I can usually imagine my anxiety kicking in, in enclosed spaces, and I would be the weakest link/dead weight to my team. Did I also mention that I am a first-class wimp? So be forewarned because there are elements about this escape room that can come off eerie, but the nature of it is not horror or gory. Thank goodness. So much imagination, heart, and love went into the creation of this escape room, that I could absolutely tell the moment I entered. I immensely loved the time I spent here with my friends because this escape room was so well-written and highly executed, so I will treasure this magical experience. I hope to be back soon to explore the other missions when the Ministry of Peculiarities sends word.
Pandora’s BoxTrapped! Escape Room - Las VegasEscape roomIRLFull transparency, I am an escape room novice. As usual, I’ll have a TLDR and one with more details. Please note that your miles may vary of course. Sal, our game master, was incredibly patient with us. TLDR: Pandora’s Box is an underwhelming escape room with frustrating puzzles, made even more disappointing by an unorganized structure to the game play and story. There is no real immersion into the world nor with any characters. This is not a scary escape room though, because sometimes it just gets dark, or things startle us. Here’s the longer review: My friends and I decided to look at some reviews on Morty and try an escape room while we were in Vegas. Based on the positive reviews, and this being listed as part of the “Top 12 Best Escape Rooms in Las Vegas” in the Morty App., we chose Pandora’s Box at Trapped Escape Room. Unfortunately, we were super disappointed. Your miles may vary. This room is 1 hour in game time. The mission is to figure out of the mystery of Pandora's Box before the archnemesis gets to the box to unleash havoc. When we first arrived at the establishment, my friends and I rung the doorbell, since we assumed the doors were locked as some other escape rooms do. A staff member came out to open the door for us and let us know that the doors were not locked. Oops. Once inside, we signed waivers and then watched a video on the safety measures we should practice during the escape room. Lockers were also provided for personal belongings, since cell phones are not allowed unless it’s needed for medical reasons. Tickets are about $43 to $48, and personally for me, this was not worth the cost for me. We entered another room where we were told we’re traveling by plane to be given information to our mission. I felt disappointed because this room had so space for the creators to immerse the participants into the world of Pandora’s Box, which is described by some as having influences of Indiana Jones and The Mummy. The narrative of the story was quickly lost as the game continued where we entered a room filled with crates and other things. One of the characters we had to interact with in the game was disappointing, because I felt the company did not take much care into the costume, makeup, or character of the story. Our game master was incredibly patient with us, but honestly, the structure of this escape room was super unorganized. There was no real sense of direction to the story the game room wanted to present, and for novice participants, that was so frustrating. My friends and I had to constantly ask for hints, and we were quite frustrated with the majority of the puzzles since it felt like we were reaching blindly around in the dark and got through on sheer dumb luck. Some technical stuff: At one point, we found a floor board that was loose with no screws, so we thought it was part of the game…only to learn it was not, and a staff member had to come to fix that. We also struggled to see clues on the projector as well, and at times, it was hard to hear the character. There is potential because the company has so much to work off, but here we are. I later learned that this escape room is not a small business. It makes sense seeing this, but I am learning more the more I dive in to explore escape rooms. For this reason, I believe this might be why the attention to detail and care is so lackluster here compared to ones that have a creator who pours their heart into their escape room. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this escape room if you're looking at a combination of immersion and puzzles. I prefer an escape room where I am drawn into the world of the story and there is a strong narrative that keeps me engaged and weaves in the puzzles as part of the story.
