Crazy Train: The Ballad of Skeemin' PlotzDoldrick's Escape RoomEscape roomIRLUniquely CRAZY! This escape room is unlike any others I’ve ever done, high tech, and challenging with so much creativity in the game play. Still newer to escape rooms (this was my 14th one). There were 4 of us, which imo was the most ideal amount because the space is somewhat small and narrow (just like a train) and the puzzles were linear in that you could only work on one thing at a time. Many surprising and engaging elements throughout which helped cater to a party with different mindsets. I HIGHLY recommend this one for anyone looking for a unique escape room experience.
The Weeping WitchCross Roads Escape GamesEscape roomIRLWe BARELY made it out ( and wouldn’t have if it weren’t for our “helpful because we asked for it” GM, Mina! This is a hard room! The suspense and anticipation of jump scares makes it hard to focus on solving puzzles, but we LOVED the fear component that came with this room. It was more than just “jump scares”, everything was well-coordinated and on theme. The story line was unique and our mission was clear. The set was designed with impeccable detail and everything was immersive down to the hint system. This room was non-linear and lives up to the hype with multiple spaces to discover. HIGHLY recommend!
The Nest [Immersive Theatre]Hatch EscapesEscape roomOther Not an escape room in the original sense, more of an immersive discovery game. Went with my 2 daughters (22 and 14 y/o) and we loved it so much! Essentially you are allowed access to a women’s storage unit and you explore your way through her belongings discovering cassette tapes along the way that tell her life story. It’s raw, emotional, and incredibly immersive. I won’t say too much, but if you have a small group (3 max, 2 ideal), then I strongly recommend this experience. Get in your feels and tune your senses and you may walk away with tears in your eyes. Another great experience by Hatch games.
Through The Sugar GlassQuest TavernEscape roomIRLDone 28 rooms so far and this was one of my favorites! The set was incredibly well designed down to every detail- including themed scents! The puzzles were so perfectly aligned with the theme and story, and challenging enough to make us work for our escape! We used a couple hints, but figured everything else out in just enough time. There were 5 of us, and that was enough. Some spaces are small, but there are multiple spaces to discover. The GM and the rest of the staff were the friendliest, most genuine people! Their enthusiasm was contagious! This room could be described as linear a bit (more so towards the end). The ending is definitely one of the more fun endings of a game I’ve ever done! All around love, love, loved it!!!!!
Dead SilenceDeadline Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLDid this with my 2 daughters and we absolutely loved it! Creative puzzles, scary atmosphere (no live actors), and great storytelling! A smaller operation that holds up to bigger budget ones. 3 people seems ideal (could do with more, but might take away from the experience since it’s a smaller area).
An Office EscapeCinema Escape Rooms - Los AlamitosEscape roomIRLWe are HUGE “Office” fans, the kind who quote scenes on a daily basis, so this escape room is one of my ALL TIME favorites! The puzzles were challenging and sooooo creative while still being exactly on theme. “I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do” 😏 If you are a fan, this is a MUST! This was probably only our 10th escape room we ever did, so we did ask for a few hints, but as soon as we got them, we wished we had “thought about it more”. Great for larger groups because it’s non-linear and there’s a lot to discover. My only complaint would be that I wish we had more time to take in all the details because it was such a great replica of the show! Our game master was a funky guy, but easy to love his quirks! I love this so much that we will be going back with my 2 children who missed out on this one, just to watch their delight! I should add that we’re now up to 30 rooms and this one is still in my top 3!
The Third GateThe Third Gate Hotel Escape RoomEscape roomIRLSurprisingly amazing scary escape room! Multiple jump scares, completely immersive environment, and challenging but creative puzzles! The puzzles were well-designed to fit the theme and some were quite challenging (as we didn’t escape). So much to do and discover with so many “haunted hotel” themes! This company doesn’t disappoint! I’d recommend anywhere from 2-5 people as ideal. We had 3, all girls, and got into it with the spook factor. Highly recommend if you love “haunted” and scary themes!
ResurrectionQuest Room - KoreatownEscape roomIRLScary! Did this room with 2 other people (I’d recommend no more than 4-5), and being girls we were scared! Live actor, a lot of jump scares, and a medium amount of puzzles. This was our 28th escape room and I would say the puzzles were somewhat easy for us. There is a bit of sequence to this game, meaning specific puzzles must be solved before others, so we did get a head of ourselves in some ways which made it seem like we weren’t solving puzzles correctly at first. This is because the actor has specific triggers to involve themselves in the game. We’ve done Saw and It and a few other scary rooms before and I think this room holds its own with the others for the most part. We try to get into it as much as possible so we can enjoy the scares as such. The story line was so fun and had some humor sprinkled in, which I appreciated, but could do without if you wanted a full scare moment. I’d recommend this room, but stress not to take a larger group since there isn’t a lot for everyone to do at a time.
Awakened 2.0Chronos Escape RoomEscape roomIRLI was underwhelmed with this room. We’ve done 28 rooms now, so not a lot, but this was one of my least favorites overall. The set was bare, the puzzles didn’t work right, the storyline was weak, and the scare factor was “meh”. I did love the multiple rooms, going back and forth, the theme (serial killer using a high school to trap and murder his victims). One of the worst things an escape room can do is end without you knowing it’s ending, and that’s exactly what happened with this room. Bummer. I would probably not recommend this room to anyone, unless you’re newer, or just trying to do EVERY scary room you can.
The Orphanage60Out - KoreatownEscape roomIRLI gave it a thumbs up because only the worst escape rooms deserve a thumbs down, and this wasn’t the worst, but also, nowhere near the best. It’s one of those games that you don’t even realize you’ve won, but then it’s over. We did this game earlier on in our escape room history, so by no means experts, but we moved through this game fast. Too fast. It’s very linear, and very sparse for any actual puzzle solving. We mostly were “finding” things, instead of solving puzzles. The environment was super spooky and the decor was amazing, this room’s saving grace tbh. We had 5 people, too many in my opinion as there were only a couple things to discover in each part of the room. I did love that there were multiple rooms to gain access to, and the stayed on theme for the most part. The end made little sense and I feel like we escaped without really knowing how we actually did it. We haven’t done another room by this company since, but maybe when we run through the other amazing rooms LA has to offer, we may consider it. No jump scares, no live actor, just a spooky environment.