The Official SAW Escape

While SAW is probably fun for fans of the franchise (I've never seen it), I didn't enjoy the experience. In my opinion, the game design, the specific GM we had, and the specific group we played with were all poor. I think there were about 9 people total in our group, which is just way too much for players to reasonably be a part of what's going on, but also seemed like a typical group size. A lot of the players we were grouped with also seemed to have very little escape room experience, so things that a more experienced player might expect to go smoothly were instead a trainwreck - we failed two puzzles due to player inexperience slowing things down. The first time was sort of OK, as we were getting better at it and almost made it, but the second time was agonizing - watching someone else try to do a not uncommon escape room task and just not being able to do it, but also not wanting to be rude and snatch it out of their hands, and getting nowhere close. Part of this is also puzzle design - because the game is heavily pipelined and groups get pushed through when time is up, there's no incentive for designers to come up with good puzzles - people will get through on time regardless. I like most GMs, but the one we had annoyed me. Especially in the final room, as we were awkwardly waiting for one player to try to accomplish a task, the GM was just screwing with us, giving us meaningless tasks to do and lying about what to expect. I suppose he was entertaining himself, but it made me not trust him or his intentions, which is not what I want in a GM.

Soooo hard. But cool if you’re a big Saw fan.

The vibes were IMMACULATE. Best set work I have ever seen and so many rooms with such incredible detail. However, you didn’t get to try the puzzles until you solved them and you didn’t get any hints for a majority of it. The hints you did get you really couldn’t hear over the loud sound effects which were cool for the vibes but made it hard to know what’s up. If you didn’t solve the puzzle they just opened the door for you and moved you along to the next room to get the next group in/make sure you get to see everything. Really wasn’t sure what to leave for the review because it was gorgeous and horrifying but also didn’t feel like an escape room experience.

I'm a huge fan of Saw, and the atmosphere of this house is fantastic. The live actor adds a lot to the experience, and did a fantastic job. It's a linear escape room, so you progress through a bunch of rooms, each one with a 3-7 minute puzzle. We didn't finish most of the puzzles, so I'm not even sure what many of them were. The creators seemed to miss a great opportunity with the Saw franchise, because many of the puzzles have very little to do with Saw. Jigsaw was always explicitly clear about what you were supposed to do, it usually was just an awful thing that you really didn't want to do. He never sent you looking for lock combinations, keypad numbers, etc. There were a few good Saw moment puzzles, but I really expected more "Fear Factor" style challenges that never came (e.g. no searching for a key in a tub of ice and body parts, no having to hold an electric shock handle while someone else completed a challenge, etc.)... bummer. Overall fun, if you like Saw, though.

Least favorite escape room I’ve done to date. Important clues are said out loud but the room itself is so loud you can’t hear it. They give no clues in the first room so if you struggle in there you just have to struggle and be frustrated til that room times out and you’re moved to the next. The time limit given in most rooms didn’t feel like enough, especially when the things holding us back weren’t our fault, such as dark lighting making clues almost impossible to read or the wires we needed being tangled. The character actor was absolutely the best part, she was wonderful.

Played this game VIP with a group of 10, mix of enthusiasts and family. We knew not to expect a typical escape experience, but this room disappointed for too many reasons. The "actor" in the room was barely in character and mostly yelled very obvious hints at us that we specifically asked not to receive. It got to the point where they were yelling hints while we actively were inputting solutions. Being rushed through each room really ruined the immersion and ability to appreciate the wonderfully designed sets and ambience. There's also some hazards like hard to see level changes, and many of the noise effects are WAY too loud. Overall not a great experience, but possibly worth it for Saw fans and general tourists. I wouldn't recommend it for escape fans, and I definitely wouldn't want to pay full price.

Great set design, great sound design—— with the huge caveat of needing to turn the volume down majorly. There were more than a few metal crashes that were more than harmful to our ears. My ears were ringing as I left the room. The gameplay is stale as the hints and guides are insistent. We specifically asked for less hints, only to have our hands held between every puzzle. Don’t come to Las Vegas to do this room. We paid $470 on a Groupon, but the actual price for the room with ten people is almost $1000. The gameplay is a waste of time. The set isn’t good enough to earn the price tag.