Framed

Oof. It was an effort to make this one feel like fun. As soon as we were let into the room I thought “Is this it? This is seriously the room? Oh no.” Just a tiny plain white room, brightly lit, with some cabinets, and very sparse, dinky items. There was a cheap sign on the wall from a home decor store labeling what this room was supposed to even represent. “GARAGE”. Not even close. There was barely anything in the room. No set distressing, no atmospheric lighting, just white walls and bright overhead office lighting with a few cabinets and pictures. The intro video started, and the sound mixing was so imbalanced, that the bored narrator’s voice was at times completely drowned out by background sound. I’m glad I read the description online because the video alone was unintelligible. Regardless, the story is kind of silly and unrealistic, but less in an over the top ridiculous way (which is what I hoped for) and more in a muddy, half-baked-idea way. It’s unclear why we’re even in a garage and how we got locked in and what kind of evidence we’re even looking for, and why there are even clues among this guys random stuff to diffuse the villains bomb. The story really feels like the result of a gathering of friends shouting out conflicting ideas and stringing them together without realizing it’s nonsensical and unfulfilling. Almost all the puzzles are lock and key. It’s tedious, and there were some embarrassing and nonsensical baby-level puzzles, like “square peg goes in square hole, star peg in star hole”. There were other toy-like puzzles and such, but no explanation as to why they were in this otherwise serious setting. It just felt like lazy, artless, outdated puzzle design. Props were all either toys, laminated papers that looked like they’d been walked all over for 10+ years, or sensors covered in duct tape. The final puzzle items were most disappointing of all. When you’re expected to pretend a black and white printed out picture of an object IS the real object, one can only suspend disbelief for so long before feeling foolish. I love escape rooms, and have enjoyed many on my travels, even local homegrown ones… but this one needs to be reworked.

Holy guacamole, what!? We were so looking forward to playing this room based on all the amazingly positive, glowing reviews. Immediately upon entering it, we quickly realized they couldn’t be further from the truth. “Framed” turns out to be a story so brazenly unfocused and stupid (not even in an entertaining way) that it gives the impression it was written and created by 10 people arguing over ideas without anyone there as a voice of reason to reign it all in. The gameplay featured puzzles that didn’t flow. Many were endless locks and lockboxes, while others ranged from unintuitive, needlessly complex and unrelated to the theme, to dumb “leap in logic” style puzzles meant to artificially eat up time that aren’t actually hard. All hallmarks of “Gen 1” escape rooms from the early 2010s. And from the looks of it, it hasn’t been properly maintained since then either. And oh boy…the condition of the room. From the art direction and set design, to the props, to the general upkeep, everything is just embarrassing. The room just felt like an office space that had been poorly converted to a “theme” with minimal thought or care. It was filled with cheap decor you could get from any homegoods store. Most of the items you interacted with were terribly worn out or dirty, with some in such disrepair it felt gross even looking at them. Broken things had been fixed badly with duct tape, while other (ie most) items were caked in filth and black grime from being overused and under-maintained. I can assure you it wasn’t set dressing, it was genuinely grotesque. The good? Our GM was great, polite and helpful when needed. A handful of puzzles were engaging and somewhat unique, but they were too far and few in between. The (maybe) two “inspired” puzzles needed to be the example by which the entire game and theme was built around. Look, we get that not every escape room is going to be some kind of super polished experience, and that not every business has the budget for something crazy. All we ask is that it’s a bit creative, thoughtfully crafted and most importantly, fun. You are in fact paying money to play these things, and when an experience is less than decent, that factor isn’t lost on a paying customer. Based on what was promised, you’d expect a fun experience. Based on the room’s actual state, you’d expect a refund.

If you are in the Fort Lauderdale area and are looking for a fun escape room, lockbox escape rooms is the place. I was visiting from Los Angeles with high expectations and every expectation was exceeded. Our game master Carly was super positive and her lovely personality added to our enjoyment. We‘ll be back !

Lockbox is great! Simple room but very fun!

Enjoyed the room :) Carly & Samantha are amiable

This room had some unique and fun puzzle elements that we hadn’t seen before. Simple in styling, but quality gameplay. We really enjoyed ourselves. Carly and Sam are both wonderful GMs, would absolutely play with them again. Highly recommended for beginner players.

This was a good room and definitely one that I suggest playing at this location. It flowed well and the puzzles made sense.

My boyfriend and I have played all the rooms at Lockbox and we both agree this one is the easiest of the bunch, but still lots of fun and challenging in its own way. A great starter room for new players. We recommend!