Chernobyl Disaster: Moments After

Like all the escape rooms at The Escape Revolution, the set is fantastic. However, that is really where the excitement starts and stops. If you’re an enthusiast, this will not scratch the puzzle itch.

Escape Revolution has two huge pluses on their side: the amount of space they have to work with and gorgeous sets that use the space phenomenally. Where I think Chernobyl faltered was in puzzles. Someone else’s review mentioned leaps in logic which I agree with to a point. The puzzles feel more realistic when it’s not as simple as “find the code, find the lock” but there’s a balance some places strike that this room just missed for me. Some puzzles, like the one using a spray bottle, I had never seen before and were really cool to watch play out whereas some were as straightforward as finding fuses for a fuse box. The vacillating between those highs and lows are my only real critique. Chernobyl is still realistically built and beautifully decorated, but for me the puzzles themselves are what pale in comparison to the rest of Revolution’s rooms.

Escape Revolution’s trademark seems to be that the time starts as soon as you enter the room, even as the game master is giving you instructions and providing context for the story of the room. Even if your group comes in earlier, time will already be running. This system of tracking time did not sit well with our group. The puzzles required some leaps in logic but they were fine. There were not too many. One would argue that the leaps of logic simulated a more realistic experience. The sets are impressive as well and unique. They have a lot of space to work with. Overall, this is still a good room to do. Escobar is probably my favorite room in this location, followed by Escobar 2, then Wrongfully Convicted, and finally this room. I have not done Armored Vehicle yet.

Overall a decent, somewhat above average room. Theming was generally quite good but they bizarrely had a TV with a Roku-type screen on the entire time that really broke the immersion factor, as I’m pretty confident Disney+ was around at the time of the Chernobyl disaster! (Our GM—who was great—said it was broken and a vestige of previous puzzle/effect no longer used and couldn’t be turned off for some reason). The gameplay/puzzle design was alright - some cool puzzles, but generally felt like more of a hide-and-seek type of room, where there were not enough solid puzzles/tasks. Instead they used artificial obstacles to make things more difficult/time consuming. We’ve done the prison break, Escobar part 1, and heist here as well. I would say the prison room is the only standout at this place, and the other three were about equal. but all of the rooms have a good budget and set design.

One of the easier rooms at this location

This was fun but challenging!

Kind of disparate puzzles, but not as bad as Escobar Part 2. Your time starts right when you enter the room, so ask no questions. They say they say that in the confirmation email.

Here’s an important note, THE TIME STARTS THE MOMENT THE GM TAKES YOU INTO THE ROOM AND TALKS ABOUT THE THEME. Any time you spend talking is time you lose in the room. It was fine. Set design was amazing but the puzzles were meh. Definitely more style over substance. End of game feels underwhelming as well. Overall a disappointing experience, about a 5/10

Mostly fun, but anticlimactic.

Definitely a room that I would only recommend for 2 people to tackle. Got stuck with the first puzzle but pretty much winged it after that. Overall the room was fine, not my favorite but I just wanted to do this room to unwind a bit