Cabin of the Cackling Man

I played this at Gamehole Con 2024 with a group of 10, and this was the best escape room experience I've had. The puzzles were fun and challenging, the video game component was compelling, and the analogue horror components were so much fun to watch. I wanna play it all over again just to see what I missed

Having done a couple of Pop-Up Escape rooms at this point, this is far and above my favorite. I say this despite the logistical and scheduling mishaps that meant I nearly didn’t get a chance to play. The puzzles are split between an NES-style video game and a physical room. Two people can play the game, while the rest of the team searches the room and finds keys. This split meant everybody had something to do and didn’t feel like we were tripping over each other. The video game was fantastic to explore, and felt like a fully-featured game rather than a prop. I almost want to play it again so I can experience the non-game puzzles and story that I missed. Highly recommend.

I participated in this at Gamehole Con and had a fantastic time! We were with a full group of 10 people. For a group that large I was pleasantly surprised that I kept up with the main plot and how all the pieces came together. There was a moment or two where I had nothing to do but I quickly got roped into something else. Would recommend for any video game lovers! Compared to other escape rooms I would peg this one at a easy to medium difficulty, which is where I like my escape rooms as someone who has done quite a few but am not hardcore.

I am a veteran of well over 50 escape rooms so I have seen a lot of variety. The thing that makes a room memorable isn't the production value of the props, it's an interesting story and challenging puzzles with logical solutions that give you that 'ah ha'. I played this room at GameholeCon. I really enjoyed everything about this, but especially that there is enough parallelism to keep a large group of unrelated players busy. Custom video game was fantastic, and the story was engaging and creepy. The puzzles arranged the gambit of difficulty but all felt fair, with many being very logically woven in to the backstory.

Great variety of content. Custom programmed video game that interacts with other clues was mind-blowing. Loved it.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a pop up escape room, and while my friend group sadly showed little interest in this I was able to find a group and join in last minute. I will say for a room set up in a small conference room at GameHoleCon, it was surprisingly well assembled and the ambiance of the room fit the creepy theme well! While not going into spoilers I must say I was impressed with some puzzle solutions as well as the interplay between an 8 bit game and the room itself! I felt that constantly going back and forth between the game and the room was a blast! And the room flowed pretty well between the two! Even the little details in the game when you reach a certain point in the room was a wild and awesome touch! Our gm had alot going on but was super attentive and gave helpful hints when our group of strangers needed it, but always found a way to add to the creepy factor when it seemed like we were trucking along and didn't need a hint (if you get to try this, you'll know what I mean when you casually look through the window of the cabin when something catches your eye as you're figuring out a puzzle!) All in all I thought it was definitely worth the cost and I wish that the prequel themed room would have been available at GameHoleCon on Saturday to try! Hopefully they will be there again next year!

Spectacular escape room. Clever and fun puzzles, and the interplay between the video game and the rest of the room was incredible. Would highly recommend it!

This was my second escape room, and I played at Gamehole Con. The room itself was set up well, and the hook of the NES game was well executed. A friend and I ended up handling the game while the rest of the group handled the real-world puzzles, and I loved how the two interacted with each other. On the subject of the NES game - whoever programmed this did a GREAT job. I definitely see the Zelda inspiration, but for me it felt more like Crystalis or Nanashi no Game (which is a high compliment from me). I can be hard on games, trying things I have no business trying, but it's a stable build and didn't break. The dev(s) even accounted for the one bit of accidental sequence-breaking we did, which, awesome. The atmosphere was great, very spooky. The GM did a lovely job keeping tabs on all of us while still increasing the spook when needed. All in all, I'd definitely play other rooms in this series, and would honestly even replay this one with someone else at the NES controls. It ended up being one of the highlights of my con weekend.