Once Upon A Time

Hit up "Once Upon A Time" at Red Door with just one other person. Decent room. Had some fun, had some minor frustrations, but overall not a bad way to spend an evening. The atmosphere is fine. They're going for this fairy tale dreamish kind of vibe. It's not the best set design I've seen, but credit where it's due, it matches the theme. You can tell what they were going for and they stuck with it. Feels like you stepped into some storybook world, even if the execution isn't top tier. It works. Puzzles are on the easier side. Nothing too complicated, you just have to think a little outside the box sometimes. A couple moments where we had to stop and look at things from a different angle, but we never felt completely lost. If you've done a few rooms before, you'll probably move through this one without too much trouble. Good for beginners or people who don't want their brain to hurt too much after. The flow was interesting. I'd say it's both linear and non-linear at the same time. Hard to explain but it worked. There were moments where we had to do things in order, but also times where we could split up and work on different stuff. Kept us both engaged without feeling like we were stepping on each other's toes. Gotta mention this because it happened a couple times. The set had some hiccups. A couple puzzles weren't reset properly from the previous group, which definitely broke the flow and pulled us out of the experience for a minute. Nothing kills immersion like messing with something that should work but doesn't. That said, the Game Master handled it well. Came in, reset whatever needed resetting, and was genuinely apologetic about it. Mistakes happen, can't fault them too much when they own it and fix it quickly. Appreciated that. Look, it's a good date night room. Nothing too special, nothing too crazy. If you're looking for something chill to do with a partner, this works. If you're a hardcore escape room person looking for a challenge, maybe skip it or adjust expectations. We did it with two people and that felt right. Wouldn't want more than three or four in here max. Solid. Had a good time, wouldn't rush back, but don't regret going either.

Probably their best game. Definitely fun for the kids

Taken: A woman had been kidnapped and we had to locate and free her. Confinement: Trapped in a creepy room in a dreamlike state we had to find a way out. Prison Break: Captured by terrorists and thrown into a dark, dank cell we had to find our way out of the torture chamber. The Gift: Our friend left a gift he bought for his girlfriend in his uncle's antique shop. We had to break in and recover the gift to help our friend out. Once Upon a Time: Trapped in a fairy tale we had to follow the clues to break the spell and find our happily ever after. Pros: When we walked into Red Door Escape Room, we were only scheduled for one game. Five games later we can definitely say we had the full Red Door experience. We are suckers for a good promotion and couldn’t resist their loyalty program. So we decided to prove our loyalty all in a single weekend in our personal quest to earn elite level and the coveted red key. The location is ideal and the waiting room looked inviting and fun. Each game begins with a rule video and a storyline video. Wit the exception of Once Upon a Time (which we loved) we found the storylines to be a bit too realistic and less fun (we felt the human trafficking storyline was not appropriate). But the general themes were typical of most rooms. The gamemasters were exceptionally enthusiastic in both the introduction and the celebration at the end of each of our games. We really enjoyed our time with each employee. The set designs were all aligned to theme. The Gift had some unique and fun set elements. Once Upon a Time had that storybook feel. They were generally well-built adding to the game play experience. Cons: We found the game flow difficult in all of the rooms. The puzzles were sometimes illogical or counterintuitive frequently leading to our requests for assistance from the gamemaster. In one game alone, we managed to escape with five puzzles left unsolved. This was a reflection of the limits to the game design. We had to request frequent hints in order to escape on time. We prefer games that are designed to flow flawlessly with no hints from gamemasters and guide posts to keep the game flowing.

The room flowed very well and puzzles all made sense. It's a little on the easy side, if there were more than 2 of us I imagine we would have been disappointed in how quick it went. Some of the puzzles were unique.

Great game! Easy, but great for kids!

If you're looking for an easier, more laid back room with a fun theme, this one is a solid choice. It's very on-theme, whimsical, and fun. The puzzles aren't the most unique, and if you've played any other rooms at Red Door you'll have a good idea of what to look out for and do. Overall, fun room (probably best for inexperienced players and kids).

This game is great for kids with adults. The rooms were awesome but the puzzles felt somewhat simple.

I liked this room more than The Gift, which we had done a month prior. The GM we had for Once Upon a Time was super friendly and fun. The room was enjoyable, nice that it had distinct areas. The puzzles were pretty inventive and varied. The sets were good, but not the most in-depth. My biggest complaint with Red Door is that you can hear noise from the hallway and other rooms. So when another group finishes and is super amped about it, you can hear them in your room.

Easiest room they have. You can tell some puzzles have been reworked and some of those old clue remain in the game. Threw us off a few times but it was fine. It was a great beginner game for people starting out escape rooms or groups with a lot of kids

Not as high quality as I had hoped with parts of the puzzles really difficult to follow or to even discover. There was also an issue where one of the puzzles was hard to reach, even at 5ft 3.