Activate [Interactive Arcade]Activate - TustinEscape roomOther Super fun interactive arcade with about a dozen challenge rooms, each with 3-7 different games, each with many levels of difficulty. Every room has cooperative games; most also have competitive modes. Each level lasts about 60-90 second, so you’re never waiting too long for a game. Many of the challenges can be physically active, but there are also good options for those looking for less intense body movement. (The website lists the available rooms and describes the basic types of challenges if you want more info.) The tech all worked seamlessly, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We loved it so much that we’re planning to join the global league this fall!
Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient ExpressEscapology - CarlsbadEscape roomIRLThis room was challenging—in a good way. All the puzzles were well-themed and fair, and there was enough to do to keep us busy thinking. We were a team of 3 enthusiasts, and we got out with only 5 mins to spare. That’s rare, but we love it because it means we got our money’s worth and we had a lot of fun! Those who’ve read Agatha Christie’s novel will enjoy all the references, but the room also works well as just a general train murder mystery theme.
AmnesiaPuzzle Effect - PhoenixEscape roomIRLAnother great room by Puzzle Effect! Once again, we enjoyed the multi-layered puzzles the most, but we loved the mix of different kinds of puzzles in this room that challenged you to use all of your senses and various types of skills. We ran into a small tech glitch, but it wasn’t a huge deal, and they fixed it before we left so we could try the puzzle anyway. They even gave us a small take-home prize to find once we solved that puzzle—great customer service! We played as 2 enthusiasts who used no hints and got out with about 15 minutes to spare. Of the three rooms we did here, this was my partner’s favorite and my 2nd favorite after Grim Stacks (though Curse on the Emerald Sea was also really great!).
An Office EscapeCinema Escape Rooms - Los AlamitosEscape roomIRLIf you are a fan of The Office, this is a must-do escape room! When we first walked in, I spent a good 10 minutes ignoring all the puzzles and just enjoying the decor and finding all the Easter eggs or show references buried throughout the room. There is so much detail to discover and savor! If you’ve never seen The Office and are just looking for a good escape room to do, I’d say this one is a solid beginner room with a decent variety of puzzles. All the tech worked as it should, and you will have fun—it just won’t be as meaningful without some knowledge of The Office show. We’ve done 135+ escape rooms, and this one stands out as a positively memorable experience!
A Pirate's CurseEscapology - CarlsbadEscape roomIRLThis room flowed smoothly with good tech and well-themed puzzles—we just wished there were a few more puzzles to fill the time as we got out in only 35 minutes as a team of 3 enthusiasts. Great for beginners!
Ark Of The CovenantCinema Escape Rooms - Los AlamitosEscape roomIRLWay way way too easy for enthusiasts (we got out with 32 mins to spare and we didn’t rush). But recommended for a group of 2 beginners early on in their escape room journey with decent puzzles and a mix of physical locks and tech. Nothing was bad—it was just way too easy and short. The Office is still the only room at this location that is ❤️ worthy.
Battleship - The Pirate EditionNo. 1 Escapes - Sky ParkEscape roomIRL100% agree with another reviewer that this latest version of one of our favorite puzzle-grind rooms is definitely worth doing even if you’ve done previous versions at Not Another Escape Room (still the best version) and Deceptive Games because No 1 Escapes has changed out/added more puzzles. But we also don’t like how much time is allocated to the two rounds of battleship in between the puzzle solving. It feels like we have much less time in this version to solve puzzles in the main room, which is the whole appeal of a puzzle-grind room. We appreciated that our GM gave us 5 extra minutes of puzzle time bc we rushed through the battleship portion to get it over with, but overall we still got less than 60 minutes of our paid play time which is frustrating for a puzzle-grind room. Nevertheless, I’m giving it a ❤️ because I appreciate that No 1 Escapes has preserved this gem of a room, and puzzle-grind rooms are relatively hard to find. And I do appreciate the new puzzles to refresh the room. This game is also replayable bc you won’t get through all the puzzles in one run, and inevitably your teammates will solve puzzles you never get to see. And we appreciate that they’re offering a good discount to re-do the room. But it sucks that only about 30 mins are allocated to the main puzzle solving, which makes it less appealing to return.
Big Top BlastIt's a BlastEscape roomOther I knew going into it that this wasn’t an escape room but a series of mini games/challenges that can get progressively harder as you go. But It’s a Blast’s execution of this concept leaves a lot to be desired. My biggest issue is that several components were broken—and we did this experience in late February when they’ve only been open for 3 months. If your game is already so worn and you know about the issues but haven’t fixed them, that’s a huge negative and makes it so I cannot recommend this experience to anyone. Another major issue is that some of the games just aren’t much fun but felt tedious. Also, the point system makes very little sense and seemed arbitrary. There’s no real way to tell how well you did or what you could’ve done differently. I definitely wouldn’t go back, and if we hadn’t gotten 50% off to go in the first place, I’d be pretty upset about how much this experience cost.
Black and White CafeMindFox EscapeEscape roomIRLGood room for 2. Small space, but a good number of puzzles to work on together. A couple of puzzles bordered on tedious tasks; and sometimes you had to overthink, while other times you didn’t. A little uneven, but overall we enjoyed it. The atmosphere was spot on for what they set out to create. We were a team of 2 enthusiasts and got out with about 8 minutes to spare without rushing.
Black CatPlanet Escape RoomEscape roomIRLVery enjoyable room with great atmosphere & props, good tech & fun reveals, and a wonderful variety and number of puzzles! I even liked the story for once! If you also like cats, you’ll also enjoy this theme. We did this room as a group of 3 enthusiasts who purposefully stuck together to work on every puzzle so we wouldn’t rush through the room, and we got out with about 12 minutes to spare. We would definitely recommend this room to beginners and enthusiasts alike!
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