Vault: Survival

Wow love the puzzles. Great unique room.

Unlike any other escape room in the GTA! The gameplay consists of fun, physical interactions and the use of cool props. After the first few puzzles, you start to get a feel for the type of thinking this game requires. We had some very minor hiccups in executing some tasks, but for the most part I thought the game flowed well. The game master was very attentive during our playthrough, which is necessary for the type of game this is. Some props were quite heavy, and a fair amount of strength was required for some parts of the game. I personally never felt unsafe in the room, however, this is the type of room where it is very important to play smart so as not to hurt yourself. The owner was extremely nice, and I’m excited for their other rooms to open!

Wow! This room was unlike any other room I’ve played in Toronto, it’s very unique! One thing to note is you’ll be needing to use some force/strength in the room… it may feel foreign to do so considering most escape rooms ask you to not use excessive force but this requires it and I genuinely enjoyed that portion. Puzzles themselves were great, and signage was just right. This company originated in Russia so you can tell they brought a fresh perspective/set design. Highly recommend!

I’m giving this a thumbs up because there is something here that is really unique and special compared to other rooms in the area. The amount of physical interaction and manipulation in the room is much more than I’ve seen in a while and I love to see new/different experiences than your classic padlock/key. The set design and props are beautiful. Our group was 4 people and probably 3-4 is a good sweet spot. The hosts mentioned they have built escape rooms in other countries and it shows. There is high level of craftsmanship and love put into the space. Overall we had fun. There were a few times where the room felt rough around the edges (we went during their soft launch weekend) and puzzles I found incredibly tedious or interactions with the room that would get me kicked out of another escape room. So that definitely made it a more complicated experience than we were expecting. Trying to be as non-spoilery as possible, there were plenty of times where you had to physically manipulate the environment that really should give any experienced (North American) player pause before doing (breaking/excessive force). They were really cool and unique interactions. Half of the time it was decently clear what you had to do so it felt “ok” and we only paused a bit before doing. However the other half I would never treat a prop/room like that and expect the GM to be happy with us. Thus I think they need to be really intentional in their pre-amble about what is allowed and probably more intentional with their in-room cluing for when/where to be that physical. I’m also worried about their room getting destroyed as a result (granted the room looked pretty robust overall), teaching new players wrong lessons that they try to use at other companies’ rooms, and the danger in some of their props being quite metallic and sharp. That all being said the physical things you did were hilarious and a lot of fun once we did them haha. They mentioned they have opened many rooms in other countries and it shows! I’m very excited to see what they come out with next.