Space Mission: GuardianThink Tank Escape RoomsEscape roomIRLTHNK TANK Games are the Mad Scientists of the Spokane/CDA escape rooms. They take big, impressive swings and when they hit, it’s an amazing experience. When they miss, it’s a fascinating failure. Space Mission: Guardian is a wonderfully themed, high tech, story based room with many dazzling, immersive moments but still feels incomplete. The mission is that you are selected to rescue the cure for a space borne pandemic from an orbiting research facility before it’s too late. You must pilot a ship, dock it, find the cure and race back home - all the trappings of an exciting sci-fi action thriller along with theming that wouldn’t be out of place at an amusement park. My issues with the room are small but significant. The theming is exquisite and has so much fine detail that it felt overwhelming and actually made some puzzles seem harder than they are. There is so much to take in, there were times when I found myself just still and dumbfounded, not knowing where to start in any of it. I realize that’s a common observation, but in a story driven game, more clear goals can make the experience make you feel more like a hero. There needs to be some tweaks here and there to fix issues with pacing, streamline some puzzles and maybe some beats to the story, driving the narrative and give the room time to breathe and give players a chance where they are in the narrative. Their Booby Trap room does this well, with a bad guy that taunts, teases and curses your puzzle solving acumen. All in all, Space Mission:Guardian is a fantastic room with ambition to spare.
Zodiac KillerEscape Room Seattle by Fox In A BoxEscape roomIRLFirst Fox in a Box room I’ve ever done. Here’s some thoughts: - I’m not well versed in The Zodiac Killer, but there are elements in the room that don’t feel true to his MO. Not disappointing to me, but I could see that sticking in a true crimes maw - This is a gorgeously done room. Well themed, fun and inventive puzzles that expand the palette of what’s possible as a solve. Very immersive. - Some of the best game masters (supervisors?) out there. Friendly, charming folk. - I count this one as a win in my heart, because one puzzle was improperly reset and about 8 minutes was wasted solving something that was already “solved”
