Cutthroat Cavern

The first and most important thing I’d like to state, is a response to some of the negative reviews this room has gotten in the past: it sounds like there have been a few “bad apple” GMs that have spoiled the experience for a few players. Over the course of our two days playing all the rooms at 13th Gate, all of our GMs were a pleasure to work with. They paid close attention to our progress throughout the rooms, were exceptionally friendly, and were available if we needed a nudge or hint. It seems like 13th Gate has course-corrected to a culture of great customer experience. And Cutthroat Cavern itself? An astounding masterwork of set design and immersion. There’s not too much I can say that hasn’t already been said, but the experience left us astonished and overjoyed. The puzzles took advantage of the unique layout of the room itself, and were often times very search-heavy. In our experience, this was the hardest room at 13th Gate (even harder than Tomb of Anubis), so don’t be afraid to ask for a hint! This is one of the finest rooms in the USA, and 13th Gate’s offerings merit a special trip to Baton Rouge. Here’s a non-spoilery teaser pic :)

Rating: 5/5 - Wow! Huge, 3000 sq ft, spectacular set Pros: ➕The scale of this set is wild, it's not just a huge floor space, but it makes use of super high ceilings. Truly feels like a cavern, every inch of it is decorated, texturized, and weathered appropriately. For sure the biggest set I've been in so far. ➕Some really cool physical and tactile interactions ➕Use of real sand and water ➕Multiple areas to discover and explore ➕Fun hidden surprises and big reveals ➕Hints were delivered via a character in the room (pre-recorded audio) ➕Puzzles were enjoyable enough (except for maybe one requiring good eyesight), though not the highlight of the experience. ➕ Satisfying ending ➕ Lots of tech with some mechanical key locks, the locks felt appropriate to the theme. ➕ Audio and lighting effects added to the immersion. ➕ Set was kinda dark, but everyone got their own flashlight on a lanyard. ➕ GM was friendly and helpful. Room for improvement: I'm mostly just nitpicking at this point but I wish we could explore more areas of the huge set, maybe let us go up into some of the higher areas as there isn't much elevation change in the playable area despite how tall the set is. There could also be better integration between the puzzles and storyline. We played as a team of 5 enthusiasts and finished with time to spare, make sure you are not afraid to ask for hints, also tell the game master to nudge you when you get behind. I would not recommend this for beginners. My ranking of all 8 rooms here: 1. Cutthroat Cavern ❤️ 2. Tomb of Anubis ❤️ 3. Spellbound ❤️ 4. Disappearance of Flight 13 ❤️ 5. The Asylum ❤️ 6. The Collector 👍 7. Agent 13 👍 8. Death Row👍

The set design was truly amazing, especially considering the age of the room. The transition from one room to the next will leave you in awe. The puzzle itself is mediocre, but the design more than makes up for it.

Absolutely stellar aesthetics. The game design had issues and was hard for only 4 players. Some of the features like the telescope didn't function right so it was a time waster. Overall though this escape room was something we "o-o-d and a-h-hd" about for several days. If you're going to do this game then I recommend you get a larger group like 6-8.

Overall, the theme was good. But I love good puzzles and good service and both of those fell short for me. One of the rooms was just awful in my opinion for puzzles and moving around the room. We asked for the answer for a puzzle multiple times because it seemed unsolvable for us and the game master did not give it to us until the third time we asked, and when we asked the best way to solve it, she said "I dunno, skills I guess", which if she can't solve it, it should not be in the game. I want to like 13th gate, but every time I come here, the game master is usually not good and the game has issues.

Absolutely stellar, elite level game.

Like everyone has noted, this room has amazing set design and some really cool features. The upper management was great at accommodating our multigenerational group with some last-minute changes. I’m glad we were able to do it. We did not finish, but there were at least two puzzles we will always remember! There were a few things that tainted our experience that seem so fixable, and they are things mentioned throughout these reviews. First, the “room” is huge, so bring a larger group. There is a lot of puzzling to do. It should be a 90-minute room AT LEAST. We got the sense that they want you to return (and spend extra). Please make this a 90-minute room! That will allow teams to enjoy more of the experience. Second, our game master was…subdued and borderline annoyed. It felt like they absolutely hated their job, and it does put a damper on your mood. We are relative newbies but have had fun and enthusiastic game masters. Upper management was very helpful but were hesitant to return after our lackluster game master. Third, the clues aren’t that helpful. You call for help and get a pre-recorded clue. Often, it was moot (we already figured that part out) or vague. More than once, we literally couldn’t hear/understand and spent too much time asking, “what did he say”? All in all, we enjoyed our time. We just have to echo some of the concerns from recent reviewers.

Favorite escape I have done!

Almost a love from me, the customer service and careless attitude toward quality and maintenance left a bad taste in my mouth -- for all of their games. In this game, a clearly broken puzzle has been left unfixed: the GM told us later "oh yeah we always have to just tell people the answer because no one can 'see' the solution..." The real solution here world be to order a new XYZ off Amazon and not frustrate every player? The game is worth playing, and one puzzle in particular is impressive, but prioritize Escape Warehouse on your Louisiana trip. They get customer service and GM'ing, they don't walk into the room not in character, and no puzzle was broken.