Mantis
47 escape rooms
This room was so fun!! It's quite non-linear. Even if you usually play as a pair of adepts, you'd at least need a group of 4 (ideally, 5-6) to solve puzzles in parallel in time. The gamespace of a classroom is quite immersive with some fun elements you will discover. The puzzle difficulty is between moderate and challenging because you will often need to put 2-and-2 together across the environment + when you add the parallelism, it adds on to the challenge. There is a display board that tracks your progress; "assignments" you need to complete. Observation is important in this game. Our gamemaster was following our game, provided helpful nudges when we chased red herrings, and was responsive.
Gameplay
Properly non-linear. Need to tackle 2-3 puzzles at any given time. Progress was tracked visibly on an "assignment" board which was helpful.
Atmosphere
Excellent set design, colorful props. Once the door closed, you feel you're in a classroom.
Customer service
Welcoming staff, observant and helpful GM.
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
The "fun" and classroom element was well done! Assignment formal was interesting and engaging.
Story
While the story doesn't really "develop", the premise is interesting enough when it translates to gameplay.
Difficulty
Hard
Each puzzle taken individually may be moderately difficult. However, when you add the parallelism and having to correlate, it can get challenging. Team needs to split up and if everyone gets stuck, you will fall behind.
Game tech
Mechanical
Ideal number of players
6
You need to be able to tackle 2-3 puzzles at any given moment to finish on time. 6 people in 3 pairs would be ideal but an adept group of 4-5 also works if good pace is maintained and at least one person can float around. At some point, depending on how much time you have, you may even need at least 2 pairs (4 people) completing the solution to one puzzle together.
Scary
Not scary
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Somewhat
You can choose to get a little physically active by how much you want to "play around" but it's not mandatory. Some crouching would be required.
Easy to find location
Yes
Google maps will take you to the entrance in the Grandscape area.
Parking
Medium
Navigation takes you to the entrance - but you cannot park there. You will need to park further down in the big parking lots in front of Scheels. Important to give yourself a 10-min buffer to find parking (despite a big lot, it can take a couple of circles to find a space) and then walk to the location. They are quite particular about on-time starts.
Safety
Yes
