8-Bit EscapeEscape Room HerndonEscape roomIRLOne of the best rooms I’ve done, hands down. Theming, clues, puzzles, overall design - perfect!
Once Upon A TimeRed Door Escape Room - GaithersburgEscape roomIRLEasy, but super fun with great theming!
The Haunted HotelThe Great Escape Room - Arlington [prev. Escape Room Arlington]Escape roomIRLIn a word: frustrating. Receiving clues on a tablet would be fine if all components in the room were working and available, or if game masters were actually paying attention to what’s happening in the room. Our team got stuck on a simple lock puzzle because a lock was put on backwards during the previous room reset; the word we were trying to spell on the lock was correct, but the alignment was wrong. Game masters didn’t pick up on this, and we kept receiving clues that would describe items we didn’t have or things we hadn’t come across. We lost ~20 minutes at the start due to confusing, non-sensical clues and not realizing that a lock was backwards. There were mechanical failures in the room, and we found out after our team escaped that certain items had been removed (due to damage), yet we still received clues referencing these things. This location used to be owned by Ravenchase and this room was nowhere near their standards. It’s sad that new management doesn’t seem to be maintaining their rooms (at least this one) properly. And it’s a shame, because The Haunted Hotel has so much potential; there’s some good puzzles and the atmosphere is awesome. But this room is hard to recommend in its current state.
Captain Maniacal's LairboratoriumRed Door Escape Room - GaithersburgEscape roomIRLShort and sweet… and you get to work on a robot. No complaints!
Batman™: The Dark Knight ChallengeEscapology - National HarborEscape roomIRLIn desperate need of a refurbishment. Several mechanical failures hurt the experience including a malfunctioning drawer containing puzzle information; the computer needed to solve this puzzle also had to be rebooted by the game masters. The room felt way too cramped for a group of 6. We could also hear another group doing another room next to ours, so there was no real sense of immersion. While there are definitely Batman related things / visuals in this room, the IP feels almost like an afterthought. There are far superior rooms out there. This one isn’t worth the time or money.
Lexicon Lane: The Vikings’ RunesPlanet Word MuseumEscape roomOther Mostly fun, but one of the puzzles didn’t make a lot of sense logically.
JigsawLaurel's House of HorrorEscape roomIRLLaurel will often rehash the same puzzles and room set-ups year to year; you think you’re doing a new room, but it ends up being (basically) the same thing you’ve already done in years past.
Insane Asylum IIPanIQ Room - DCEscape roomIRLIf the other rooms were as awful as this one was, I’m not surprised this location closed down.
Universal’s Great Movie Escape – Back to the Future: OutatimeUniversal Studios OrlandoEscape roomIRLSome of the puzzles were too obscure and/or there wasn’t always enough guidance as to what you were supposed to be doing in a particular room. Lack of a live game master hurts, but it’s a fun, different take on escape rooms.
