Haunting at Haruka High

A very elaborately done room with some good scares. This room is somewhat tame by European standards, but on the scarier side for the US. Set design is fantastic and the various props and puzzles were very very well done. At some points, it felt like I was in a Japanese schoolgirl horror fever dream and I suspect that was basically the point. Easily the best horror game in the Bay Area, which sounds like faint praise because there really aren't that many, but this one is top notch!

Great set design, very immersive. If you love getting spooked and doing puzzles you’ll love this room! It had some creative physical puzzles and the sections where one person has to be separated from the group seemed cool. The room was actually way bigger than I expected! In general, I think I would’ve enjoyed this room a lot more if I enjoyed being scared. It was probably my least favorite room in Omescape Sunnyvale aside from Apt Next Door (for obvious reasons) but that’s pure personal taste. I’m just calling it out in my review because other reviews by self proclaimed scaredy-cats said it ended up being their favorite room and that was not my experience. Do it at your own risk I guess 🤷‍♀️

The set is really beautiful, and this room spends more time telling a cohesive story than most scary rooms do. It’s a fairly linear experience. We did this with 4 enthusiasts, and I don’t think you need any more than 4 even with a team of beginners. A great take on a haunted school tale.

Awesome story centric room with good practical and technical effects. Would recommend wholeheartedly.

I was reluctant as I am such a baby with scary stuff but this was so cool and I’m so glad I did it! So much to take in! We chatted for 20 minutes after just about all the detail to find. Highly recommend!!

Overall, A fun game, especially for people who enjoy haunted houses. 2 people recommended for scariest experience, 3-4 optimal for puzzling. >4 people might be sitting around waiting for others to solve. I found the game a little narrative heavy. There were a few times we were all waiting for recorded audio to play through so we could get back to the game. Omescape’s japanese-inspired narratives don’t resonate with me, personally, so I found it to be a little boring. This is my main complaint for the room. Omescape production value never disappoints (the technology is my favorite part). The set was laid out well with multiple room, audio was good, and the props were solid. Good use of light and projectors and an impressive portfolio of moving parts. There were a couple of very minor technical issues that were resolved quickly by a watchful GM (a puzzle needed a jiggle to trigger a sensor, a door needed a little more force). GM was on top of them before we suspected there might be a problem, so minimal impact on immersion. Puzzles leaned easy-medium in my opinion. More than once we outraced the narrative relevant to the puzzle we were solving, leading to waiting. However, we still needed hints on a couple tricky puzzles so I wasn’t disappointed. Scare-wise, I’m not huge on haunted houses, myself, but there were a couple well-done scares I enjoyed. In conclusion - I give the room a 7/10. I’m not gushing about it, but I still had fun. I’d recommend Omescape’s other rooms over this one first, but that’s due to personal preference and experience rather than room quality.

Immersion right from the get go. Good use of tech and some height level variances. Once you finish the room you'll see how elaborate the entire room was built. Very well connected multi room experience.

This room is an absolute masterpiece. It has some scary moments, but the payoff is well worth it having one of my favorite sets to date. It is story-driven and you must pay attention. Some puzzles are slow-paced so a mistake could cost you minutes, make sure to get it right by staying focused. This pacing is probably why is has only a 30% escape rate, and you don't want to miss the finale. I am not a scary room person; this is one of my favorite rooms ever. Do it!

Omescape Sunnyvale continues their trend of impressive builds. I still like Robotopia best, followed by Chaos, but this is a close third. Japanese schools aren't a common theme, and my inner weeb was happy to see this chance come up. The main draw here is the set and effects, the actual puzzles were on the simple side. I think the most impressive effects happened in the 5th space, though the finale was also pretty unexpected. The room's plot involved discovering what happened at the school that caused it to close down, and I think it did a better job than most at telling a story - we discovered not just what happened, but why. I appreciated the minor detail of the presence of the Maison Ikkoku manga (a popular series published around when the game's story was set), I imagine there were others I didn't notice. It felt like whoever designed the set was paying attention to their Japanese culture. Maybe it's because I had just come back from Athens, but I found the game was more spooky than scary. One of my companions felt the same way; the same couldn't be said for our third, who was mildly freaking out but managed to keep it together. I guess YMMV.

This was creepy AND fun! Great set design. Great theatrics. Intricate story line.