The Basement

This room was the best puzzle wise of the bunch. I liked how many different things were going on. The live actor didn’t add much but we were nice to her and she was very happy about that. We escaped with 3 minutes left, even though she was freaking out the whole time and just narrating what we were doing.

Had it been an hour instead of 45 mins we likely would have finished, we were apparently a step away from finishing, but we missed a clue. There are multiple versions of this room and we did the harder of the two with only four people. This one might not be for the casual player.

Tier: B (bordering on C+) (see bio) I think it’s much more interesting as a piece of Escape Room history (pretty sure it’s 12 years old at this point) than as an actual game. Its horror presentation is only great sometimes and the puzzles feel extremely dated. (Presentation) This game, especially its introduction, tries to be really immersive. And that intro succeeds. It gets you into the world really well, though it’s a bit long. Of course, the actor is the highlight. The whole game revolves around them, somewhat to its detriment (see below). There’s also one really great unnerving scene later on that plays into a fear I distinctly remember from elementary school (I have no idea the ethics of it safety-wise though, you’ll see what I mean). But the rest of the game doesn’t do much beyond the general serial killer theme. It’s not even that scary. It’s just relatively ominous with a bit of gore and grossness, with only a couple scares towards the beginning (and those were pretty minor). This makes the game stand out a lot less, but does make it more accessible to people who don’t like horror. (Gameplay, I guess this paragraph is kind of spoilery) The gameplay here is pretty bad. There’s a lot of dated things that escape rooms now (or even 5 years ago) would not do. Specifically, there’s a huge emphasis on searching “puzzles” that are impossible to figure out. Only a couple of the puzzles are actually built into the set. All other puzzles are built around small props haphazardly thrown around the room in places that most other games wouldn't even let you check. The only thing making these possible to find is the actor pointing out places to look. This is how the game makes the actor “useful”. But it also makes the game boring as the 2nd half becomes the actor telling you to look somewhere you would never think to look in a million years, you finding something, and then you going back to the actor to ask where another thing is because there’s nothing else to do. (Overall) So I really don’t know whether or not I recommend this game. Compared to most-everything else in LA, you really don’t need to play this. But “The Basement” is such a big name in the US Escape Room scene, and there’s still some cool things that I think you should see. If you’re playing everything here (or doing Dead n Breakfast, which I feel is a good deal that lets you finish the games despite the annoyingly short time limits) then do this. And if you really like the serial killer theme also do this. But otherwise, this is my least favorite game here and one of the strangest games in LA. The Basement Ranking: 1. Courtyard 2. Elevator Shaft (big jump in quality) 3. Study 4. Basement

A lot of the tasks felt tedious (e.g. going through all the teddy bears in the dark closet). The actor here was thematically another victim and also our subtle hint giver. It's a difficult room given that you only have 45 minutes to complete and there's a lot of content. But it is mostly finding a hint and applying it to an open puzzle. Not super linear.

Best room at the location. Honestly it would be the only room I would recommend doing at this company. As a group of two, we felt very rushed though. I think they need to increase the amount of time just a LITTLE bit. I read a review on another room at this company saying it felt a little corporate-y and that they were trying to push people in and out of rooms to increase revenue. After completing all the rooms at this location, I tend to agree with that person. If you only have time to do one room, this would be the one. But also- there’s other basements 🤣

Very fun. Recommend playing inna smaller group maybe 5 people, just so things don’t become messy/confusing solving different puzzles. otherwise very fun and creepy room. Actor did an amazing job scaring us.

Yeah, it’s gross. And a TON of fun! Spooky, creepy, challenging, and a blast all around!

This room was definitely overhyped for me. The puzzles are fairly simple, but the game flow isn’t great. I wouldn’t recommend doing it with more than 4 people. The live actor is basically just there to give clues. And the justification for her knowing things is a little thin. The puzzles don’t make a whole lot of sense in the story and there is more searching for things than solving

Fun room! Lots of puzzles for everyone to do. Very interactive. Story line was awesome

The beginning of it all and it sets the tone for the rest of the rooms. The vibes are scary enough but not terrifying and the set resign is gross and grimy and fun! A good set of puzzles to figure out but they flow together well and keep you moving at a great pace