The Alchemist

Mafia: Deep inside a hidden speakeasy, we had to locate incriminating photos and a pile of cash before the mafia returned. The Alchemist: A secret society and a sacred stone - could we uncover the secrets hidden in this room? Pros: The rooms here were small but nicely decorated to theme. The puzzles were all aligned to the story and flowed with the general game. The gamemasters told us what to do when we were stuck. Cons: There was no real communication system to notify when we needed help. We waved our hands as instructed and verbally asked for help. We asked three times for help before our gamemaster responded. When he did respond, he had no idea where we were in the game and so we had to catch him up to where we were at in the game. The "hint" was actually just what to do next. This happened in both the games we played. We found ourselves stuck on several puzzles mostly because of faulty locks. With an improved communication and hint system this could be a good middle of the road escape room experience.

It's an older room that was good in its heyday. In my opinion the first room doesn't flow well and the only memorable portion is in the finale. I recommend their other rooms if you're there for a visit.

Okay, we were so excited to do this room and it ended up being one of the worst rooms we had ever done - which was shocking to us based on how many good reviews it had. Ultimately I think it came down to two things - our gamemaster, and the condition the room was in. The gamemaster gave us the little storyline and told us what our goal was for the game, she then proceeded to tell us NOT to do a certain thing and that we wouldn’t need to use it at all - okay??? So then imagine our surprise when during the game we were stuck and her hint told us to go get that thing and use it?!!!! Especially when we waited literally over ten min for her to respond to us asking for a hint because we were stuck - and no I’m not even exaggerating the time. We stood around aimlessly trying to figure it out but couldn’t. Onto the next - the condition of the room and puzzles was really bad. Multiple puzzles were broken, a couple were not reset so we just didn’t even need to solve anything to get them done, etc. Overall was a super disappointing experience.

It’s labeled as an 9/10, but we escaped with 24 mins left and would’ve been out 5 mins earlier if the final puzzle would’ve worked correctly. The concept is cool- the puzzles are interesting and challenging and different which is refreshing- but like we saw in other reviews- we are way past the time when they need to do a revamp. They need to replace props but most of all they need to replace tech so that it works seamlessly. There was also a camera doe. To our Cluemaster- and tho we didn’t need any hints, it would’ve been nice to know that while we were staring at the final puzzle trying the same thing (correct thing) over and over not getting a response and just by luck finally getting it to work- it would’ve been nice to have someone say “that’s correct” or manually override. It’s frustrating to stand there second and third guessing correct answers because tech fails. It is amazing how much just a little love for some props would do to make a whole room come back alive. This room could be a A room (tho on the easier side) but the lack of care for the room knocks it down a bit. It’s fun to see the different style puzzles, but it’s not going to make a top ten because of the wear and tear.

6.0/10 We can definitely see why The Alchemist won so many awards back in 2016. It was ahead of its time back then, but as 2023 comes to an end, this game can use a makeover/upgrade to the puzzles and set. Even though the second part of the room was a bit underwhelming for us, The Alchemist was still a fun room with a good game flow and fun puzzles. (You can check out our full review on our blog. Link in our profile. Leave a comment that you found us from Morty 😁)

Decent room but probably was due a makeover / fix up when we got there. Experience was spoiled by what seems like a previous group changing a padlock code (GM had to actually break the lock). Other than that, ok room.

You should try just for the experience but It wasn’t one of the best.

This was the 3rd escape room I ever did, and now over 125 rooms in, still one of the most satisfying end puzzles for me. Overall, a fun room with a variety of challenging but not frustrating puzzles.