When you are investigating a haunt or a mysterious death, you know that you can expect the room to be very lore heavy and very story driven; however, this room in particular spends a lot of time developing the story. As such, your opinion of the pacing of the room (and especially the puzzles) can very much depend on how you take it all in.
While I enjoyed how cohesive the storyline was, I found myself getting a little frustrated from it. There are long periods of storytelling performances that are delivered through audio. Even before the room, the GM warned us that some of the voice lines cannot be replayed and will contain important information, so we needed to pay attention. As someone who is hearing impaired, I would have really struggled if I didn't have a reliable partner to help summarize things for me, and it meant that there were long periods throughout the room where I simply didn't feel like I could do anything, when all we were doing was listening to a story that I couldn't hear. Even for others who do not struggle with hearing impairment, the pacing may leave heavy puzzlers wanting. This is all to say that I feel as though this room relied a little too much on audio and could have been placed a bit better. In general, I think plenty of people will enjoy the story, but YMMV.
Please see the rating breakdown for my thoughts on the scariness of the room, but overall I did not think it was too scary, although it is quite spooky.
Set was very well designed and was worth a lot of aesthetic attention. All decor was on theme and really transported you to a creepy Japanese high school.
The GM was patient and understanding as we asked about how scary the room was and took the time to make sure that no one was put in an uncomfortable situation that would ruin the experience. I found it funny that it was very clear that we are in the heart of Silicon Valley, since we were told that you could have your phone on you if you were on-call without even asking.
Doable (but long and involved) with 2, but best with a group of 4 solid players. I would recommend 4-6 if your group is full of scaredy cats or newer players/weaker puzzle solvers.
I would describe the room as spooky+. It's a bit more than atmospherically scary rooms that simply have creepy ambiance from lighting and sound. There are bits of the room that are intended to scare. If you're observant, you can make educated guesses as to where the scares may happen.
This room does not have a lot of gore; however, this room does include a live actor, which means that some actors can and will play their role scarier than others. You can talk to your GM about this if you're worried. Additionally, you need at least one person to be brave and willing to venture into the unknown... Alone. :)
PG 13 for death, suicide, murder, etc.
There is one live actor in this game. You can describe this character as both a guide and (potentially) a scare actor. Different actors may play the part differently and the scariness can be adjusted for each group. Communicate with your GM if you are concerned! In our experience, anyone who was not OK with being touched (e.g. gentle brushing, tapping on shoulder, etc.) was able to opt out before the game by letting the GM know.
Physically active
Somewhat
Climbing includes a small ladder and and a couple of stairway steps. This area is padded and includes hand rails.
Accessibility
I'm hearing impaired. This game relied a lot on verbal storytelling without options of alternatives (as far as I know) to the audio.
I find that my hearing is especially impairing in horror rooms, as bring hearing impaired also tends to be paired with sensitivity to loud noises. Horror rooms really take advantage of sound cues to both set the ambiance and to startle the audience for scares.
