BTRoku

Reviews

Reviews

Wizard Quest

Wizard Quest

Wizard Quest

  • Escape room
  • Other
Rating: 4/5 - Huge, fantastical scavenger hunt game Pros: āž•Huge, 3 level set with tons of details and different areas to explore, some crawling required. āž•Incredibly unique and very fun āž•Set looks fantastic and is very immersive and visually appealing with huge sculptures and life-size statues/figures. āž•Many hidden passages, it's super satisfying when you discover them. āž•Good voice-overs, so you don't have to read everything out loud to your group. Though not all the text had voice over. āž•Tablet interfaces mostly worked well and wasn't laggy, it's designed like a video game and has fun artwork. āž•Useful map provided in the tablet. āž•The quests have multiple paths based on decisions you make. Mixed feelings: āž•/āž–Almost everything is search based, anyone can participate and it works well regardless of your group size. However, if you like puzzles, there are basically none. Could be better: āž–A few doors were left open because the buttons were not working, this spoiled some hidden passages. āž–It can get crowded on a Sat evening. It's annoying when there are other groups on the same quest as you looking for the same things, certain areas are a tight fit for groups and we were bumping into people. āž–No back button on the tablet interface to re-read prompts. āž–No built-in hint system in the tablet interface, you need to go to an employee to ask for help and they are only located in a couple of spots. The employees were not very friendly or enthusiastic. āž–No real ending or climax to the game, it just ends when your time is up and you're unlikely to finish every quest within the 2 hours. Your progress is not saved if you want to come back. āž–The top floor was too hot, probably 80+ degrees, it did not seem like the air conditioning was working on that floor which made us want to avoid it. You could play this solo or have a bigger group. I'd recommend asking for multiple tablets if you have more than 6. They also only provide 1 UV flashlight per group but you can also bring your own which will make searching go quicker.
Life and Trust [Immersive Experience]

Life and Trust [Immersive Experience]

Emursive

  • Escape room
  • Other
Wow, fantastic! The sheer scale of this production is unbelievable. I did some research before going and I already had high expectations but nothing could truly prepare me for this. 100,000 Sq ft of space with 6 floors and 25+ characters and you're just completely free to roam around for 3 hours. Most of the rooms are also incredibly detailed and feel lived-in. The acting/dancing was great with many touching moments, action, beauty, and even raunchiness. This type of immersion cannot be replicated by escape rooms so it's a more unique experience. The only negative is that some of the scenes can get crowded, but you can always leave and find a different scene. There also isn't any interaction like an escape room, you only observe (choose your own adventure), though it's cool how close you are to the actors.
Convergence Station [Immersive Art]

Convergence Station [Immersive Art]

Meow Wolf

  • Escape room
  • Other
This was my first Meow Wolf and I enjoyed it, but wish it was more interactive. I gave it a heart, just because I was impressed by the size and quality of the place, it's hard to find immersive attractions built to this scale. Some of the art and rooms were very cool, though it felt too random for my tastes. There were also not enough physical interactions, so it mostly felt like a walk-through place. There were a few things that were fun like playing music on a giant organ and a couple mini-games that you can play with a partner, but these were few and far between. I did not do the QPass because I heard mixed things about it, the story seemed convoluted and I didn't want to spend all my time looking at screens. Update: After going to the Real Unreal in Dallas, I think I prefer that one to Convergence Station. The Real Unreal seemed to have a more focused story, a bit more interactivity, and more intimate environments with lots of exploration (which reminds me of immersive escape rooms). Though Convergence Station has bigger, more impressive sets.
Time Mission [Immersive Experience]

Time Mission [Immersive Experience]

TimeMission - Mount Prospect

  • Escape room
  • Other
Rating: 4/5 - Great challenge arcade with cool sets, I prefer this over Mish Mash or Cube Challenges. Pros: āž•~25 rooms with a ton of variety between physical and mental challenges āž•A unique set/theme in each room, they are all visually interesting āž•Lots of tech and mechanical builds āž•You get a score so you can try to beat it when you replay the room āž•The time travel theme ties everything together, each room has a backstory that you can choose to read or ignore āž•There's a short explanation before you go in so that you aren't completely confused at the start āž•No tech issues or major wear visible, though the place has only been open a couple months Cons: āž–Some rooms are hard to understand or just aren't that fun āž–Some rooms are too short or basic āž–The audio feedback is hard to hear at times, due to audio bleed from ajacent rooms and a lot of screaming kids āž–A couple rooms were closed/unplayable when I visited 90 minutes was plenty of time to play all the rooms with some time to repeat favorites, even on a busy Sat afternoon. I would recommend 2-3 players. Overall, I'd rate this on a similar level as Activate, but both places have a different vibe. Activate is more video game-like and more tech heavy with no immersion or theming. I like Activate's very physical nature, it's like a fun workout. Their games are also more replayable with different levels and rule variations. However, Time Mission has way cooler sets and theming and more variety of games and more puzzle type challenges.
The Real Unreal [Immersive Art]

The Real Unreal [Immersive Art]

Meow Wolf

  • Escape room
  • Other
My 2nd Meow Wolf after Convergence Station in Denver. I love the large, immersive sets and it's fun going from room to room, opening doors and finding secret passageways and strange new environments. That's part of what I enjoy about escape rooms. The artwork is fascinating with many small (and large) details all over, no two areas are alike. The reproduction of a Midwestern house is also very well done. However, Meow Wolf lacks the same interactivity you get from escape rooms, you mostly just walk around and explore. There are some games, pianos, computer screens that you can use here and there but they are not that common. There is some backstory and narrative available on the app but I don't like having to stare at a screen when I'm trying to be immersed. Overall I prefer this over Convergence Station because I had more fun exploring the intimate spaces and I feel like there was slightly more interactivity and storyline available here. Convergence Station felt less cohesive, though it had much bigger and more impressive sets. We visited on a Friday 10am and it was not busy at all which is ideal. Took us a bit under 2 hours to explore the entire experience.
Gamegrounds [Immersive Experience]

Gamegrounds [Immersive Experience]

Gamegrounds

  • Escape room
  • Other
Rating: 4/5 - Very fun challenge arcade with unique games, tech, and interesting artistic style. There were about 12 different games available, most of them had different modes where you could pick between competitive and collaborative play which lasted a couple minutes each. The games were a mix various types of carnival, arcade, and video games with a twist, most had some light physical activity. I thought every game was enjoyable, some were more fun than others, but they all worked with no game-breaking tech issues. We played on a Sat. evening, 9pm (it is 21+ at that time so there weren't any children running around) and it wasn't too busy. The 75 minutes was plenty of time to try all the games and all the modes while repeating our favorites multiple times.
Putt Portal Mystery Golf

Putt Portal Mystery Golf

60 to Escape - Schaumburg

  • Escape room
  • Other
Rating: 3/5 - Fun game if you're already at the mall or there playing escape rooms, but not worth coming there just to play golf. The mini golf itself was not too exciting, the 9 holes were fairly simple but had some fun elements and I like that many of the themes relate to some of their rooms. The puzzles were just OK, they can be completed separately from the golf. Only 1 had tech that was integrated into the hole, every other one was very basic word/decoding puzzles that felt tacked on. You do get a prize for solving all the puzzles which is nice. There is a hint system if you need help, it's a QR code leading to a webpage. If there are a lot of people, it can feel crowded. I played this solo and finished in about 30 minutes, I took my time.
EmotionAir [Immersive Art]

EmotionAir [Immersive Art]

Balloon Museum

  • Escape room
  • Other
This was better than I thought it was going to be, a lot of very unique things I haven't seen before at other immersive art places. It reminds me a lot of TeamLab in Japan, though maybe not quite as innovative. The exhibits are visually appealing, high tech, and quite large. They make great use of the high, warehouse-like ceilings. Almost every exhibit is tactile, they can be touched, not just your hands, you can get your whole body into it. I recommend it if you're in the area and enjoy immersive art.
Classic Showdowns [Immersive Experience]

Classic Showdowns [Immersive Experience]

Game Show Battle Rooms - Indianapolis

  • Escape room
  • Other
Really fun gameshow, great with friends, family, or coworkers. The host and game master are both energetic and funny. The set has lots of lights and sounds which makes things exciting. My team lost this time but we still had a blast. The first game is basically Family Feud. The second game is a modified version of Wheel of Fortune that works well for team-based gameplay. The last game is based off of Price is Right, they use real items purchased from Target. Between the Primetime and the Classic games, they are both equally fun and it'll be mainly just down to preference. Note that the audio is VERY loud, but I think it is so that the other team cannot hear your answers when you are deliberating.
Loading...