Hex of the Chinese Jewelry Box

I wanted to check out Komnata Quest because their Google reviews are astounding, and their rooms looked fun! I had also called Komnata Quest, and the person I spoke to was so excited to tell me about the rooms. We did the Hex of the Chinese Jewelry Box with a group of 3. While my friend and I like doing escape rooms as a duo, it's $50/person for 2, and $35/person for 3. After you complete your game, you get a code for 20% off. At the 104 West location, they are located on the 3rd floor but need better signage outside the building because it is a bit sketchy. You get unlimited hints here as well. For this room, I enjoyed the layout and a majority of the puzzles. This room is on the easier side, and a good number of clues are found by searching instead of puzzle solving. However, if you cannot spot red herrings, I can see where some people might get caught up! Compared to other NYC escape rooms at this price point, I think Komnata Quest could do more. My major issue with Komnata Quest is how they operate. First, our moderator Bridget cannot hear anything we say in the room. The clues are prerecorded, so if you have a specific question about something, the moderator will not give you a personalized answer; there is no way for them to contact you! The second thing that bothered me was that there was no time clock in the room. Bridget mentioned that it is for an immersive experience, but to me, timing is part of the strategy. Part of my thrills come from pacing out the experience and knowing when to productively struggle versus asking for clues. When they said no phones or watches, I left my watch on because it is not a smart watch, and I just assumed that they didn't want you to have that in the room. I didn't realize they didn't want you to not see time at all. When I called Komnata Quest, this room was actually not recommended, but it was one of their beginner rooms. The recommended rooms have jump scares, but I may be willing to try one to see if the experience is better. I will update my review accordingly if it proves more fun!

The flow was cool, and made it out pretty easily without any clues. There were some red herrings, which were fine, but my one issue was that there wasn't too much continuity, immersiveness, or cohesion of the clues. Props were alright. Not a hi-tech room compared to the other ones I've done.

I wish there isn’t just a like or dislike button… It’s alright as an escape room. The puzzles were okay. Does look pretty dated though. The only thing is that there is no visible timer and they say no watch so you can’t tell how much time you have left. It’s a fairly easy escape room even though we didn’t escape haha. The no timer threw me off a lot

Pretty generic, out of the box escape room. Lots of just finding numbers (not really integrated into the theme) to unlock boxes. Almost no tech, weak story, worn out props. I had heard good things so I was surprised!

Room is dated, almost everything is a padlock. Most of the puzzles are unimaginative and just requires physically finding codes. A lot of the props are just props and are meaningless to the puzzles. The rooms are not very sound proof, I could hear the GM laughing from the inside. Ending was also anti-climactic, we didn't even know we solved it until GM came in and was just like congrats, bye. No photo or asking us if we had questions. Overall, very disappointing compared to the rooms I have done in CA.

LOVED this room. Probably my favorite from KQ. The set was gorgeous, the clues flowed together beautifully. The puzzles were really fun to figure out too. A good room for all ER levels. Did this room with 2 people and it was fine.