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In ages past, Queen Kavenna was cursed, and utter darkness fell across the realm. You must explore the castle and discover the truth. Can you break the spell, or will the kingdom fall into eternal ruin?
- Not scary
Reviews
HughFire
22 escape rooms
This was a completely different type of escape room than we had ever done, but we loved it all the same. I think if escape rooms (regardless of quality b/c there are good and bad of all styles) were on a spectrum this would occupy the left side where things are more linear, logical and puzzle driven vs. the right side which is more immersive, exploratory and story driven. As noted by other reviewers the games at Whole Brain seem to be very linear and very "Think but don't overthink" in their design. It progresses riddle/puzzle-lock-riddle/puzzle-lock. Once you get the rhythm down, that start here literally means start here, that you can trust all the labels on everything and just take it at face value. The puzzles become fast-paced and fun as you go from brain teaser to brain teaser, split up, and come together again. The flip side is that it isn't an immersive room. Don't get me wrong it is well-themed and well-designed, but the puzzles on the walls and boxes you need to enter and locks you need to open are all front and center. Our family has been going down the rabbit hole of immersive rooms where you aren't even aware of the puzzles before it is really time to solve them because they blend. Here it was like, "wow there are so many things that are obviously puzzles and so many things that are obviously boxes with locks" our family very randomly was trying to open things and work puzzles that seemed complete but WERE NOT complete (because it was linear - yeah duh). Once we got out of our typical strategy(go around the room and grab everything; try any obvious hands-on style stuff early, etc.) and realized just how linear it was we had a ball. It felt like a good mental workout. As a result, we barely made it out because we didn't really catch on until 15 minutes in (SMH). Now that we understand the game designer's approach and mindset we are really looking forward to going back and doing the rest of the rooms.
Gameplay
I'm actually going to give the gameplay a love. While I really enjoy story-driven play more than the get the clue to to this part of the room and solve the puzzle to open the box and get a clue to go to this part of the room solve a puzzle and open a box, this is actually GREAT mental stimulation. As people have gotten so into immersive rooms with no locks and stuff this type of room feels more rare and because of that special.
Atmosphere
Well themed with good decor and well designed props. That being said it is NOT immersive (and in this instance that is not meant as a negative, just a statement of fact). You know you are playing puzzle games the entire time. I loved the beautiful riddle banners - I would have loved to be able to hang each one above the relevant box to better read it (and in the end be able to look at them all). All of the props were so well built and it truly was fun.
Customer service
Amazing service
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
Not in a way that was mind-blowing, but in a way that again feels different from the current trends in escape rooms. The best way I can describe it is pure puzzle energy. If I was taking a completely new escape room person to a game I would take them to one story driven and one of whole brain's rooms because this gives such a good opportunity to work out mentally.
Story
The story was good, but is just a thread that connects the puzzles and a theme that provides the backdrop. Again that is not a negative, just a fact. The story was like the sauce on a chicken dish - it added the flavor and color but wasn't the meat of the room.
Difficulty
Medium
Once we got out of our own way it was solid.
Game tech
Mechanical
Many locks (after lock after lock after lock). But some other cool satisfying magnet releases and some really cool puzzle features.
Scary
Not scary
Minimum age
10
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Not at all
Accessibility
Should be very accessible
Easy to find location
Yes
Parking
Easy
bjkjohns
33 escape rooms
We did all 4 rooms in one day and this was the family favorite. Whole Brain Escape is a great place to go and have fun!
Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
Story
Difficulty
Medium
Scary
Not scary
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Not at all
Easy to find location
Yes
Parking
Easy
BlueSky
48 escape rooms
Whole Brain Escapes is a different style of escape room. They are fun and logical. Riddles abound. There is lots of reasoning involved and you have to read stuff! But they are good linear style rooms and the puzzles make sense with no crazy logical leaps or red herrings. We enjoyed this room and completed it with no hints!
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