kvaughanarts

Reviews

@kvaughanarts
Morty score43
  • Escape rooms42
  • Haunts1

kvaughanarts

Kyler Vaughan (They/Them/Theirs) | Orange County/Lee’s Summit

@ioatropos@jives@JaycobR

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and 6 others

Ink & Ashes

Ink & Ashes

Exodus Escape Room

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Just want to start by saying— Damn!! What a great game! Super immersive atmosphere that never really loses its momentum, especially when you get to some of the later stages of the game. The game flowed super well and the puzzles were unique and interesting, there wasn’t a single time where I found myself bored or frustrated with the puzzles! The room is what I would call non-linear, on account of the fact that you can work on multiple puzzles at once, but it has a more linear through-line that follows you as you solve the murder mystery. Our host Emmanuel was amazing! Super welcoming and accommodating, made sure to ask us beforehand on how we wanted hints or nudges which I really appreciated! Definitely a fun room, wish there were more rooms at this location, especially since the other rooms on the board sound super interesting and driving to Anaheim is a little much, at least for someone like me, but it doesn’t take away from the room experience itself! Seriously the last area of the room was just so so cool. Great atmosphere, amazing immersion, overall 10/10!!
Secret Passage

Secret Passage

Escape Code

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This game was SO MUCH FUN!!!! I’m an avid escape room fan, and try to go to one any time I visit a place, and I had found this one through Morty and saw it was highly reviewed so we booked it. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made on the trip! Immediately the staff was super nice and friendly, and we were able to get started super quick! Which I always appreciate :) The “room” (a word I use lightly because the space is HUGE and spans over multiple rooms) was so well put together and themed. The story was compelling, and eerie, and made us just the right amount of creeped out to be on edge, but there’s no live actors or jumpscares so we ended up freaking ourselves out 😭. The puzzles flowed super well and were perfectly themed, and the use of space was so well done. Having 6 people in a group was the perfect amount, as everyone was able to do enough work for it to feel balanced! The locks were also super nice as none of them stalled or broke, and there weren’t any directional locks (aka: my enemy). I wish we were in town longer so that we could do another one with this company! Their stuff was seriously so cool and we had a blast :)!! Highly recommend this room and the company as a whole!!!
Pyramid Paradox

Pyramid Paradox

Tick Tock Escape

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Tourist Trap [Outdoor]

Tourist Trap [Outdoor]

Scaventour

  • Escape room
  • IRL
So I am a big escape room fan, and came to Honolulu for vacation with my family. With there being 11 of us in total on the trip, not everyone wanted to do an indoor escape room on account of the beautiful scenery and surroundings already. Due to this, I wanted to look for an outdoor adventure that was good for kids. I’m very happy to report that Scaventour provided! Not only was our host extremely accommodating (letting us move our booking one day over due to a scheduling mistake on our part) but was very knowledgeable about the area we were in. As the name of the company implies, it’s definitely a scavenger hunt / tour more than anything else. The whole thing took about ~70-ish minutes, where we walked around downtown Waikīkī looking for clues to open various locks on a backpack, each pocket giving us the next step towards our “escape” from the island. I wouldn’t say the story is super tied to the game, but it provides a setup and ending that I appreciated! While completing the tasks, there was also a bingo board of things to look out for on our journey which, if blacked out, would provide us 5 additional minutes on our time! Since it utilizes the area around us, instead of being built around it, we focus a lot on what exists already, which allows for us to get a good look at the surroundings and enjoy Waikīkī!
Pyramid Paradox

Pyramid Paradox

Tick Tock Escape

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This was a fairly fun escape room!! I’m always looking for escape rooms with interesting puzzles and solid themes. The pyramid paradox was a fun way to spend the evening with family for sure! Although I did enjoy the room, I wish that there was a bit more narrative as to WHY our group was in the pyramid. Like, what if instead of just finding ourselves randomly in the pyramid, we were a group of students searching for our missing professor, or a group of researchers following the trail of a missing archeologist? It could be that I’m very into narrative-driven rooms, but I think it does a lot for the room. I’d definitely say that the highlight of the room was the unique puzzles, with some of them being tests I’ve never seen in rooms before; however they did cause some frustration. I appreciated that blank paper, pens, and a calculator were left in the room you to use, but I wouldn’t say the puzzles were super intuitive without a bit of nudging (though that could easily just be my group). I wish there had been more of an indicator of what puzzle should have been worked on next, or at least a confirmation at the beginning that the room was nonlinear. Overall, my group got out with about a minute to spare (with lots of help from our GM) and we had fun! It was a unique room that I’d recommend to anyone who likes a challenge! Just remember that you will have to do math!! Haha
Prison Break

Prison Break

The Escape Game - Kansas City

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This place was literally so cool! The room was super intuitive with its puzzles and had a very intriguing story, with detailed sets and super fun environments. As soon as we finished, my group decided to book another one. It’s so so fun, and even though we were with 2 strangers, the gameplay required a lot of teamwork so we worked together well! It’s definitely a harder game, with puzzles that make you think and problem solve. I liked the story a lot and like with all games if you play into the theme you’ll enjoy it a lot more! :)
Gold Rush

Gold Rush

The Escape Game - Kansas City

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This was, by far, the most fun I’ve ever had playing an escape room. My friends and I got super into the story, put on accents, and really got into character while playing the games. And our GM played into our tomfoolery so much, making our experience that much more enjoyable! The puzzles were extremely intuitive and super unique!! I’d never seen puzzles quite like them and it was so exciting to see how the game would continue and evolve. Not to mention, the atmosphere was absolutely AMAZING!! Again, I cannot overstate how amazing our GM is. He played so much into our hooliganism and surprised us at the end with an inside joke that my friends and I started at the beginning of the room! I also love that you’re allowed to take pictures in the room, it made it so fun to be able to record things and show people afterwards. I totally understand why other rooms don’t allow it, but I loved being able to show people the pictures from inside. Overall, both of the rooms I’ve done with this company have been OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!! I cannot recommend them enough, it’s only an hour of your time for an experience you will be talking about for WEEKS!!! Please go play their rooms, you won’t regret it!
The Grey Project

The Grey Project

The Exit Room KC

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is actually the 3rd time I’ve done this escape room (over the course of like, 5 years haha) and it still remains such a fun experience! As with all escape rooms, I think you get the most enjoyment out of rooms when you really get into the characters. Who cares if it’s silly, you’re ex-fbi agents searching for proof of aliens! It’s awesome! I appreciate that they provide paper and pens in the room, as it helps a lot with certain puzzles! This place rocks and I could spend hours in the lobby alone! We had a wonderful time!!
The Lost Treasure of Captain Blackbeard

The Lost Treasure of Captain Blackbeard

Nerdy by Nature Escape Rooms

  • Escape room
  • IRL
THIS ROOM WAS SO SO MUCH FUN!! From the moment we stepped into the room (prisoners of Captain Swan) the immersion was IMMEDIATE!! The room was so much fun, hand-built by the staff and obviously full of so much love! Eden, our GM was so amazing and gave us a ton of recommendations for more rooms! The best way to enjoy this room is to really get into character, pirate accents, referring to your fellow game members as “captain”, “first mate”, “matey”, “scallywag”, etc. it really makes it that much more fun!! Treating it like the adventure it is. My friend and I have now completed both of the rooms currently available at “Nerdy By Nature” and could not recommend the company more! As someone who works at an escape room, you can see the love put into every single corner of their games. Daphne and I had a blast, thank you so much Eden for the amazing experience!! We’ll be back for sure when the Scooby Doo comes out!!
The Initiation

The Initiation

Nerdy by Nature Escape Rooms

  • Escape room
  • IRL
My friend and I did The Initiation and had an absolute BLAST!!! Our GM Grace was so awesome and kind, and helped us out exactly when we needed! The puzzles were super satisfying to complete while still providing a challenge and a brain teaser, and when we got stuck it wasn’t because of the room, but because we just lost track of the resources we had already found (haha!) The GM Grace was definitely a highlight of the experience! As soon as my friend and I got to the car we booked the pirate room for tomorrow, just because of the amazing impression the first room left on us!! If you have an hour to spend unraveling secrets and becoming initiates, I highly recommend coming to play the room! The staff was amazing, the room was fun, and it was the best way to spend a Saturday night!! Thank you so much for the fun evening!
Omega Mart [Immersive Art]

Omega Mart [Immersive Art]

Meow Wolf

  • Escape room
  • Other
I absolutely adore the Meowwolf exhibits, I’ve been to 3 of their locations thus far (Santa Fe, Denver, and Las Vegas) and enjoyed all of them. If you’re looking for a trippy, out of body experience where you can spend hours laughing at the absurd, while enjoying thousands of art pieces uniquely designed and crafted I would highly recommend it. However, it can be an extremely overwhelming experience for a lot of people. Warnings about photosensitivity risk, vertigo, and epilepsy can be found around the exhibits. For those who can be overstimulated by sounds, crowds, lights, and other sensations, there are a number of helpful resources at the front desk. (I needed to get myself a pair of noise cancelling headphones, a fidget toy, and glasses to help with the sensations) That being said, there will be crowds. It’s unavoidable and what’s unfortunate is that, due to the location of some ‘puzzles’ and the time it takes to complete them, you find yourself waiting in lines just to get your turn finding out the information. My friend and I weren’t able to complete the storyline because we couldn’t get to all of the hints, which is very unfortunate. But we also get overwhelmed at crowds, so I know it wasn’t the fault of the storyline. I do wish that there were more kiosks so multiple mystery-solving groups could work at the same time.