EDIT: The morning after finishing Edeline and posting my review, I received multiple text messages to my personal cell phone number from an unknown number belonging to (I'm assuming) an owner of Cloud Escape. The texts made clear that this (presumed) owner read my review and was so upset by it that they used my Morty profile name and attached game photo to find my booking and pull my phone number from my liability release waiver.
These texts felt angry, spiteful, and guilt-trippy. I've attached screenshots to this review. My original review was written quickly, during my car ride home, as a means of getting some immediate thoughts out. And I had planned on coming back and rewriting my review today, as I had a lot of thoughts about my experience (which was not entirely negative by any stretch). But having my personal phone number ripped from my liability waiver to send me vindictive text messages has left me feeling, frankly, violated. And I no longer have any intention of writing a more detailed, even-handed review.
This (presumed) owner's claim that my criticisms are "unnecessary" because: I didn't bring them up while at Cloud Escape, that "anyone who has done escape rooms" knows that bringing "a group of four or more to linear escape room is going to have some people left out", or that "99 percent of the world has loved this room" and I don't know "how much effort was put into a room like this", are all ridiculous.
What about people who aren't experienced with escape rooms? How are they supposed to know that a group of 4 or more will leave people in their group feeling left out? If, by your own admission, a group greater than 4 will give people a lesser experience, then why sell this as a room for 2-8 players? By saying this at all, you're admitting to me that my criticism was 100% correct and necessary.
And I have no doubt that a lot of effort was put into this room. It was very ambitious. But all escape rooms require a lot of effort to build and design. That doesn't mean we should give all escape rooms positive reviews even if we didn't have a great time in them. That would defeat the purpose of platforms like Morty! People share their honest experiences, so others can make more informed decisions about where to spend their hard-earned money.
I also, *really* have a hard time believing that this mystery texter doesn't know what's broken and unpolished in this room. How about the giant hole in the counter we were explicitly warned about before we entered? How about the broken speaker that makes multiple, extended, dialogue-based cutscenes nearly incomprehensible? How about the drawers that easily jam or fall out or require significant force to open? I could go on, and I probably would have if I hadn't been approached in a way that was wildly unprofessional and inappropriate.
No part of me wants to hurt small businesses, especially those that operate within a hobby that I really love. But I feel that would-be customers of Cloud Escape should know that someone there is willing to leverage your personal contact information to overstep boundaries and antagonize you for not loving their rooms.
I was excited to come back one day to try another of Cloud Escape's rooms. I was impressed by the ambition of some of Edeline's effects, and thought it likely that their other rooms wouldn't share the same issues I'd had with it. But there's zero chance I come back now.
My original review is below.
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Do not do this room with more than 4 people. Ideally this room should be done with 2 or 3. Most of the spaces are cramped and the puzzle flow is entirely linear so you’ll all be working on the same puzzle at all times.
Multiple effects were noticeably broken and there countless unpolished areas in throughout its presentation.
Calling this room “narrative-focused” does not justify the stifling linear puzzle flow, especially since the story isn’t particularly strong.
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
Physically active
Not at all
