Mark as done to rate
A circus Troupe arrived at the edge of a town called Solvang.(seemingly overnight and unannounced claiming to be "The Ultimate Circus Experience".
4 escape rooms
Alot of broken puzzles and poorly designed gameplay. Overall experience felt cheap and ill prepared
No
121 escape rooms
We knew we were in for a rough time when, during the overview of rules, the GM gave us a rather growing list of items that were broken or finicky in the room. The room could have been really good if the puzzles weren’t so tired. The game flow reasonably made sense but somehow we accidentally figured out the few puzzles that I feel had a jump in logic for us to truly understand what the initiative was.
No
6 escape rooms
We liked the overall gameplay. There were a few fun elements.
No
Medium
Mechanical
4
We played with 2 players
Not scary
8
Yes
We were told by the operator before game started that a couple of the puzzles/games were non functional
No
Not at all
There are stairs to access the room. Not sure if an elevator is available
Yes
Medium
33 escape rooms
Loosely "Circus"themed. Silent, no sound effects or music. Game master Jacob bordered on unprofessional starting during game over speaker that, "give that a minute, it might not work....If it doesn't, I'll have to run in there to fix it. " Additionally, when asking for hints, we had to wait a long time to get a response, and it brought the game to a stop, hence wasting our time.... but at the end he added a few minutes acknowledging this. It's very very worn, run down, and janky.
No
Medium
Mechanical
4
Not scary
17
Yes
No
Not at all
Yes
Easy
85 escape rooms
I think the room is definitely cool overall and was a fun experience. Some pieces weren’t working. Puzzles didn’t flow super well either. But I wouldn’t say it was an awful experience. I recommend it if you’re looking for something different to do in Solvang.
I feel like the puzzles were cool/easy enough but didn’t have a specific flow to it. Was hard to know what connected with what.
Props were cool and atmosphere was definitely different. Wish there was some ambient music though. It was really quiet.
GM was cool enough. I think he was more honest with me as I’m also a GM. Was somewhat opinionated. Not bad though.
Yes
I think it was an interesting concept for a room, just not as well executed.
Medium
Mechanical
Not high tech whatsoever.
3
I did this room with only 1 other person and I think a group of 3 would’ve been ideal.
Not scary
Yes
No
Not at all
Had to go upstairs for the room. Do not recall if there was an elevator or not.
Yes
Easy
47 escape rooms
On the good side some unusual hand built props that you can’t see anywhere else. On the bad side some props were old and either completely broken or not working well. Game had consistent and fun theme but some of the puzzles were a bit obtuse without any logical way to find the solution. Part of a 4 location chain that is clearly more than the owners can keep up with. This could be a successful and consistently fun room for any level of escapers but instead it’s more of a classic old toy that needs repair and some TLC.
No
Medium
High tech
4
Not scary
7
Yes
One prop game broken since gamemaster started there. Other prop had to be banged repeatedly to make function.
No
Not at all
Yes
Medium
On street with no parking in front but easy nearby.
27 escape rooms
We booked all three rooms the same day, this was the one I was most excited about. It ended up being the worst escape room I've done so far. Granted, I've maybe only done 30 or 40 but this one was exceptionally bad. The game master showed up 15 minutes late to a game we showed up 15 minutely to and never even apologized. He made weird voices for each room but kept going in and out if them. The worst part was we walked in and he pointed out "this prop is broken, this prop is broken and this prop is broken-don't touch them". Also, we asked for a hint several times with no response so eventually after 5 minutes or so we all just sat down until he came on to ask how we were doing. I don't think the puzzles were very intuitive so at times it was hard to know how we would have come to a conclusion.
No
Hard
Mechanical
4
Not scary
13
Yes
No
Not at all
31 escape rooms
Fun for the family. We had lots of fun trying to solve the puzzle.
20 escape rooms
Overall, not a bad way to kill an hour, but for experienced escape room players, it had some disappointments.
There were some great concepts and ideas, but not everything really flowed that well into the next thing.
Circus atmosphere was pretty well designed.
Mostly well. We were left hanging for a few minutes while we were trying to ask for a hint with no response though.
Yes
Some unique puzzles and ideas, but not always the best implementation.
I don’t know. It was something about a missing magician. Not really sure how that linked to us escaping the room.
Hard
Hard, but not because it was challenging puzzles. If everything worked right and had no logic jumps, it would have been Medium.
Mechanical
3
There were two of us and we still got in each other’s way. I can’t picture more than 4 in here.
Not scary
12
Yes
One puzzle was fully broken, and the GM gave us the reward for that right at the beginning. 3-4 other puzzles worked, but were a bit more finicky than they should have been.
No
Not at all
The room itself is accessible, but it is on the second floor. I did not see an elevator.
Yes
Easy
51 escape rooms
I wouldn’t say it’s the worst game we’ve played but it was a frustrating game because it didn’t have the best user experience and could use more refinement. Since it’s the only escape rooms in Solvang, I would say you should play it but just don’t have high expectations. And also expect some puzzles not to work since a review from a year ago and half a year ago both say it had broken puzzles.
Flow wasn’t clear of what goes with what and clues weren’t intuitive of linked well enough.
I wish I could give it a thumbs up but there was a broken puzzle and a few others didn’t work the way they should have. If it had been done well it could have been a really good game.
They were very nice and welcoming. Most of the time gave clues in a timely manner.
Story wasn’t strong but I don’t think that really matters, if the all the puzzles worked and all the clues have better connections it would be okay story isn’t strong.
Hard
I would agree with others about being hard but not because it was designed that way, just because it wasn’t designed well enough.
4
No more than 4. We had three and I don’t think many more would have helped.
Not scary
Yes
No
Not at all
Yes
Easy