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Reviews

Reviews

Der Spielzeugmacher [Toy Maker]

Der Spielzeugmacher [Toy Maker]

Big Break Hamburg

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is about as good a room as we’ve ever played when it comes to a standard 60 minute, puzzle-oriented room. It’s not overly flashy or grand, but it has some really fun surprises in store. Puzzle flow was really good, we never needed a hint and we knew what we needed to be working on at all times. I thought the puzzles were reasonably challenging, some were a bit easy, others were a little tougher and took a few minutes to click. Overall we had a lot of fun and felt accomplished at the end.
Alien

Alien

Clap Escape - Escape Game Lyon

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I enjoyed this room a lot. If you’re a fan of the movies there will likely be an extra nostalgia boost, at least I thought so. I really enjoyed the puzzles, the room has great flow. You always know what you should be working on, even if that sometimes means multiple puzzles at the same time. The puzzles in some places feel like “video game” puzzles, and I think that’s due in part to Alien: Isolation being a major influence for the room. I don’t mind that, but it might not be your vibe. Spooky atmosphere, nothing crazy. Great set overall, lots of detail, very few red herrings, if at all. Extremely friendly staff. 👽
K.O.N.G. Protocol

K.O.N.G. Protocol

Escape Barcelona 2 3

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I loved it so much I bought the T-shirt. I’ll be honest, the first 45-60 mins are not great, but it really turns on for the second half and has some moments that made it worth it for me. The issue with the first ~hour is puzzle flow. You have a lot to look at and do, but it’s not clear where you should be spending your time which is frustrating because you waste time until a clue comes in. This is not the case in the second half in my opinion, so hang in there and know that you’re not alone. The spook factor, for me, was really good. Excellent tension, and a great set with thoughtful lighting. We don’t do a lot of horror rooms so our tolerance is relatively low, so YMMV. Try to have fun with it. I was grinning ear to ear for the last hour.
Birth Machine

Birth Machine

Mad Machines

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is the more highly regarded of Mad Machines 2 rooms, but it really didn’t do it for me. On the positive side, it’s wacky, silly, unique, and a well crafted theme I’ve never seen anywhere else, which is a rare find these days. However, for me it lacked on puzzles, which is too core to the experience to overlook. The first half of the room is a more traditional escape room style experience, but the quality and difficulty of the puzzles varied too much. Some were overtly obvious and easy, and others were very subtle and we veered off course a couple times, but, it was still on track to be a great room. The next half though I really didn’t enjoy. It felt to me more like a series of tasks rather than puzzles, and it felt like a chore to finish. It wasn’t “bad” by any means, but it somewhat ruined the experience for me.
Time Machine

Time Machine

Mad Machines

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This is a well executed and creative Time Machine themed escape room. It has a little bit of everything, and we were able to get through it with minimal assistance in a couple minutes under the time cap which is ideal. The set is very cool, and I enjoyed the puzzles. I will say, Mad Machines puzzles are a little more on the “tasks” side rather than brain-teasing puzzles, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it doesn’t always scratch that puzzle itch that brings me back to escape rooms time and again. However, I thought this room struck the balance a little better than Birth Machine, and so this gets a higher rating from me.
Shipwrecked

Shipwrecked

Trapped Escape Game

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Fun, creative room. I like history and maritime themes so this room was a treat. Trapped does some really interesting puzzles that I like a lot, but that includes some puzzles that have awkward failure cases. We needed the GM to come in at one point to reset a puzzle that had become unsolvable. It wasn’t the end of the world but it was immersion breaking. There was also a puzzle with a misleading clue that we gave some feedback on, and hopefully Trapped will address it. One other ding is how many similar locks are in the room. At one point there were 3 or 4 locks in play that we had to run each code through because there was no indication which lock the code was for - that design pitfall should be avoided. Otherwise, we enjoyed the room, and I consider it an above average experience, mostly for the seamless tie-in with the historical elements. If you’re not into history, this may be more of a middle tier experience for you.
Easy Bake Coven

Easy Bake Coven

Niagara Escapement

  • Escape room
  • IRL
The room is cute and clever, and has good, straightforward puzzles. Our team of 2 flew through it in just over 20 minutes so it’s hard to give it a heart but we enjoyed it throughly and vibed with the puzzles. It has a decent set, and we like witchy themes so it was an easy choice for us. Plus the folks we met were very friendly and enthusiasts which is always a huge plus! 🤓 The business doubles as a gaming lounge so it’s definitely worth a visit, as they had 100s of board games in stock!
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