Masters of MagicGatlin's Escape Games - Pigeon ForgeEscape roomIRLSUCH a cool room. They really pulled out all the high tech stops with this one. You feel like you’re the star of a magic show from the start, and the effects only get better the further you get into the experience. We loved how every puzzle fit the magic trick theme, including some classic magician props as well as highlighting the backstage experience. We were also thoroughly impressed with how each new room was unlocked! Our GM Alice was awesome. She was super attentive and did a great job of asking permission before providing nudges. There were a couple of places where some minor context was given as we were passing into a new room or completing a puzzle - if that’s provided across the board, we wonder if it could have been more immersive with some in-game narration or more of the “sticky notes” that were in one or two other places. Super minor though, we really loved the room as a whole!
Big Maw Bertha's Fussin' & A' Feudin' Moonshine Hill HootenannyGatlin's Escape Games - Downtown GatlinburgEscape roomIRLA moonshine “heist” escape room felt like the perfect theme for our time in Tennessee, and we’re so happy we visited! We absolutely loved the chaotic detail in the set and the unique storyline. There were some exciting puzzle elements that we hadn’t seen before, and we loved the interactivity of the ending. Our GM Travis jumped right into character from the start and did a great job of confirming if we wanted a nudge when we looked stuck. The set did rely a bit on finding elements vs. unlocking them more than we would have liked, and there was an audio portion that was rather long/difficult to hear, so the GM helped us by repeating things as necessary. Those were only minor detractors from the experience, though. We really enjoyed the quirkiness of the room as a whole and are still looking back and chuckling about certain elements. It’s a bummer this is public gameplay by default. There’s an option to make it a private room, but at more than double the cost for 2 players, we couldn’t justify it. Thankfully, we got lucky and it ended up being just us! And we were pleasantly surprised to be able to upgrade our tickets to experience other activities at Gatlin’s Fun Center, as well as receive a discount to all of their escape rooms for the rest of the week. We only wish we had visited earlier in our trip so we could have taken greater advantage of the offer — very worth it!
Classified: Operation Nine LivesEscape Artist Greenville - DowntownEscape roomIRLWe were able to complete Classified in its final month, and we’re so glad we did! What a quirky, unique room. The puzzles weren’t especially difficult, but we loved how the room kicked off — super unique and immersive. Our game master was Jordan, and he had us laughing from the start and throughout the mission. Super fun and worth the stop!
The VampyrThe Final DoorEscape roomIRLVampyr was a blast! We loved the space the room took up and felt immersed in the story from before the clock even started ticking down. Our game master was awesome; we really appreciated how she was able to turn the mundane “rules of the room” into part of the storyline. The room was one of the harder ones that we’ve done with two people, but none of the puzzles on their own were overly challenging & we had a great time. We loved the quirky way to ask for hints, and we thought the ending was satisfying!
The Body ShopRed Fox EscapesEscape roomIRLWhat a fun room concept! Super immersive from the moment you step into the mechanic shop set in the first room. It was fun to discover a new storyline twist with each room, and we felt like the puzzles fit well with each room’s theme. We did feel like we lost the plot of the story a little as the game progressed, though, and there were a couple of areas of the set that certainly looked like puzzles that never became available to us (I’m assuming because of choices the GM made with the controllable difficulty on the room). Between that and feeling like the plot never fully clicked, we walked away feeling unfinished even though we technically escaped with about 10 minutes left. That said, it was still a very clever and immersive room! The puzzles were an appropriate challenge for our group of 3. We’ll definitely be back to try other rooms here!
