mavpapi
3 escape rooms
The escape room's narrative pays faithful homage to the Wizard of Oz and is replete with delightful puzzles with lots of variety in mechanics and narrative function. I loved the set design, and the transitions between the experience's many rooms left a strong impression on my group.
Gameplay
Many of the puzzles had novel design and felt fair. The puzzles had excellent mechanism variety and there are a couple of puzzles that require coordination among two or more players taking separate but related actions. There was only one puzzle that I question how the game designer expect players to reasonably discover on their own, but even then, I admit that perhaps my group lacked the sufficient creativity to do so. A word of advice to the reader: a couple of the puzzles required that you thoroughly search a space, so don't be afraid to look into every corner or feel around tight spaces.
Atmosphere
Definitely! I would love to expound upon the details, but recounting what exactly I found most delightful would spoil the experience.
Customer service
I personally found the lobby to the building a bit creepy because it consists of dark hallways made of temporary walling, and if you look upwards, you can see the rafters a couple of stories overhead. Despite the dim lighting, the staff was welcoming.
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
I felt fully immersed in the experience, and I particularly liked the connections between rooms.
Story
The story alludes heavily to the Wizard of Oz. If you're coming with children, I would recommend watching the movie beforehand with them so they can enjoy the references!
Difficulty
Easy
The actual logic involved in the puzzles is fairly straightforward. What ended up tripping up my group was not noticing a missing part of puzzles. My advice to the reader is to search each new area (for example, a shelf containing items of interest) as thoroughly as possible!
Game tech
High tech
Ideal number of players
4
There's limited parallelization of puzzles so having more players isn't necessarily an advantage. However having at least three players help because a number of puzzles are much easier when you can coordinate between two groups of players.
Scary
Spooky
I wouldn't categorize this escape room as scary, but the beginning of the experience is dark, which can feel unsettling for those sensitive to anything resembling horror
Minimum age
12
Thematically, the escape room should be suitable for all audiences, but a few puzzles might be too high for a child to reach.
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Somewhat
There is more than one room so you will have to do some walking.
Easy to find location
Yes
The company's experiences are distributed across a few buildings so make sure to read the signs as you enter the parking lot.
Parking
Easy
Safety
Yes
