Flynn's Arcade is an escape room that runs on memory. Its nostalgia is both sentimental and functional, and an essential part of the puzzle design. But although it has an incredibly confident beginning, it also has a shakier ending.
+the game begins before you think it does, and before you know it, you're walking up the steps to a glowing red door. Definitely a fun opening.
+many escape rooms use video games. None have done it as well as they do here. They've customized classic and created layered puzzles that are both immersive and propulsive.
+Speaking of which, they may be old games, but they've been taught some new tricks. They look like the ones you remember, but they don't exactly behave the same way.
+/-The transition into the final third of the game is cinematic and breathtaking. It truly is one of those “wow” moments.
+/-there's a tension in the final room between cinematic design and puzzle design. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
-the last room in meant to echo the aesthetics of Tron... it's also supposed to make you feel like you're in Tron... but it slows down in a series of primary physical puzzles. I've always liked physical puzzles and I appreciate the effort to make it feel like you're physically battling your way through Tron, but the puzzles didn't have the interest or complexity of the first room.
-There were opportunities to lean more into the narrative. The game hints at a story it never manages to tell. The puzzles and aesthetics gesture toward a narrative that could have been explored... why we're here, what we're fighting for, what are the costs of failure or success?