The Ladder

Wow just wow!! What a fun interesting story! So many endings to get and I can’t wait to go back and do it again and again to see all the stuff we missed!! Also, big groups are way better. There is a lot to do 🫡

A truly one of a kind experience. In that, I did find it frustrating at some points because you don’t get the same payoff that happens in usual escape rooms but I had so much fun. If I lived in LA I would be straight back in there trying to complete more levels. So clever and well designed.

This is after our first attempt: I’m still giving this a heart because the production value was incredible, the games were mostly fun (and you could ignore the ones you didn’t like), and there’s so much promise for the exciting new things we could do and learn in a following run. However, I will say that finishing the game and even being told that we did really well for our first game still felt closer to the feeling I get when I don’t escape a standard escape room. We were close to solving a few of the challenging puzzles but never got to complete one. This is, of course, by design. The goal is to make you want to return and solve all of the puzzles. I do think we’ll likely return especially since it’s been a day since doing the room and I still can’t stop thinking about it. So I’m giving this the heart assuming that’s how I’ll feel after a second attempt. But we’ll see if it stays interesting for 90 minutes when we’ve already done most of what this room has to offer.

I really wanted to love this room. Upon entering, I was told not to treat it like other escape rooms, which is always a good sign if you’re being asked to change your expectations right? But you know what, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and eliminated all expectations and approached it as a “hey I’m just going to have some fun with my friends” and even then… I found that this a terrible way to spend $100 and 90m of your time. Take your money, go to Dave & Busters, and you will have a very similar experience to that of the Ladder, which is really more of a collective of arcade games than it is an escape room. Technical issues: So okay, fine it’s not an escape room… it’s an immersive experience with some games in it… if you’re going to charge people $100 and expect them to come back again, make sure there are no technical issues. In each of the 5 sections of the experience, we had at least 1 technical issue with our GM having to come in and reset a module or just give us credit for the module because it stopped working. Charge me $100, there is a bunch of technical issues, then you want me to come back and go through the same thing again? Pretty ironic to have a game that makes fun of capitalism only to then treat this like a way to trick people to spend more and more money for an experience that doesn’t work. This is the opposite of the Nest and Lab Rats rooms (which btw both felt like very meaningful experiences, and the Nest is also not a traditional escape room!). Lack of clear narrative: Technical issues aside, the room felt like it was a very ambitious idea and the creators failed to actually follow through with their ambitious vision and execute all the finer details which is why the experience comes off as a chaotic arcade with a “story” in the background rather than a cohesive narrative. If I’m giving you $100, even if it’s not a traditional escape room, I think it is fair to expect a clear story and a seamless bug-free experience. Money-bait puzzles: From a puzzle perspective, most of the puzzles were so difficult for the time given that it felt pointless to even do them. I quote our GM here that the puzzles “are not designed to be solved in a single play through, the intention is it takes multiple plays to solve” which makes me ask the question, why the heck am I even bothering to do the puzzles then? Am I supposed to pay $200 to do the puzzles over two tries? $300 over three tries? How much money do I have to spend to actually to properly do this room? Again, the irony of making fun of capitalism. Either have the puzzles and make it possible to do on one go, or ditch the puzzles and call it what it is… a sequence of arcade games. Conclusion: Overall, I’ve done hundreds of escape rooms and this was by far one of my least favorite rooms I’ve ever done. My expectations were so high and even when I lowered them, it was hard to leave that room feel anything other than sheer disappointment and a waste of money.

This is definitely a unique experience and replay-able because of that. I’m glad i focused on the mini games so my next visit i can do other mini games or work on the puzzles. I think 6 people is an ideal number for this room.

What a fun, unique experience. It’s not an escape room per se, which is explained in the description of the room on the website. Throughout your experience, you can expect to travel through different rooms and essentially play mini games. If you’re in to that, you’ll certainly enjoy this. I can see how some may be disappointed if they have the expectation of an escape room, but again, that’s not what this room is. It’s innovative and I haven’t experienced anything else like it. It has immersive set designs and you feel like you are living through the story it’s telling. There’s the “choose your own destiny” element that makes it even more exciting as you are continuously faced with decisions that will alter your game and ending. I would highly recommend this experience! An added bonus was our game master, Anthony. He did an amazing job playing his role as host and then janitor and truly added to our experience!

Had a fun time. Definitely not typical room. Very dynamic and lots to do.

Wow!!! This game is my new top favorite escape room I have EVER played. This is an absolute MUST do! The game play it’s self is so immersive and creative. Our game master Benjamin was such a fun janitor and host. I’ll be talking about this game for years to come.

I hate to thumb this down but after some time thinking about this room after the fact, I just feel it wasn't that enjoyable an experience. I'm not sure whether to call it an escape room or a bunch of rooms with a limited time to play some games. It was kind of chaotic for us as we broke off into different areas and didn't really finish up things before we had to move on. Really no sense of completion for us. Granted our GM was friendly and she did try to explain the things we should agree upon before we proceed so we are all on the same page. However, you really don't know what your getting into until you are already at the end. I get the idea of this room and the replay aspect of it but unfortunately, I don't think we'll be back to attempt another try. I'd recommend their Lab Rats room instead. It's excellent and a more traditional escape room experience.