Escape The City - Boston: The North End [Outdoor]

We did this with a group of 4-6 escape room/puzzle hunt enthusiasts, and found it a really lovely way to spend a sunny Fall Sunday exploring the North End. There was enough to do for four enthusiasts with the rest taking turns carrying the box and navigating the website. Most of the puzzles (except one at the very end) felt connected to the environment and made us look around, which is always a plus. I would definitely consider doing these in other cities I’m not familiar with, but am spending more than a day in.

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. A couple of interactions (mostly from the box) felt clever, but ultimately it was just uninteresting and lacking in delight. The switching back and forth between physical and mobile website was cumbersome and difficult to keep track of, and one clue was even outdated.

Puzzles were basic for an enthusiast, but would be good for folks new to puzzling. The story itself was pretty cheesy, but the box had a couple of aspects that were really cool. We live in the South End and enjoyed exploring the North End. However, if we were traveling to a new city, this isn't something we'd choose to spend our time doing.