Le Château du Supplice Éternel [The Castle of Eternal Suffering]Sauve Qui Peut - Saint-JeanEscape roomIRLIn a trip of great escape rooms in Quebec, this is the one that stood out as the most well-rounded blend of immersiveness, game design and story (poignancy/emotional resonance plus humour!) It’s an amazing game, only rivalled by Wardrobe for Sale in my experience for this balance. I cannot commend the owner enough for prioritizing providing the full experience for everyone. The story deserves being experienced in full, and knowing that we would be nudged along if needed allowed our team to really enjoy the large scale of the game (in contrast to some rooms in Quebec that still boasted of their low escape rates.) As two people in our fifties, we were a bit concerned ahead of time about how scary the game would be, and how physically active. The owner encouraged us to just do it, and I’m glad he did. It has a few moments that are a bit scary, but the tension is always released with humour or empathy. The physical part is more doable IMO than many family-themed rooms in Quebec that take excessive crawling or climbing. Overall, this is a superb, not to miss game for people between 16 and 60-ish, well worth traveling for.
Storyteller's SecretBoxarooEscape roomIRLThe atmosphere, story and aesthetics were A+ - a really lovely, immersive experience with a satisfying, inspiring ending. With just two players, some of the gameplay was slowed down by us running back and forth between areas trying to figure out what had changed after certain actions (the otherwise lovely background music was so loud it masked clueing sounds) - thankfully the great GM helped us with nudges. The hint system was one of the nicest I’ve seen. Bring a flashlight if you have trouble with vision in darker spaces! One piece of equipment apparently didn’t work as intended in our game as we were able to get an item slightly out of correct sequence. Overall very highly recommended and well deserving of its multiple accolades!
Projet R.E.S.E.T. [Project R.E.S.E.T.]Immersia Escape GamesEscape roomIRLIt’s hard to write a spoiler-free, fair review of Project R.E.S.E.T. because you’ll either love the mechanic that drives the game or hate it. I’m of the latter camp, so this ended up being my least favourite game at Immersia. I can still appreciate the genius of the idea and especially the execution of it, and our GM was great as the in-room character. The set is pretty IKEA, so less spectacular in many ways than the other rooms at this location (until it is spectacular for another reason!). Due to the mechanic, the puzzles have to be on the simple side, so the inclusion of two process-y/time sink puzzles wasn’t the best for a team of two (again because of the particular mechanic!) If you are very patient and/or enjoy a certain type of video games, you might adore this game - it’s just not for everyone. The title is brilliant :)
The Body ShopRed Fox EscapesEscape roomIRLThis was only the third escape room we’d ever done, and months later it remains a gold standard for us - immersive, unique, humorous, with diverse, logical puzzles and good flow. I don’t remember any bottlenecks for our two-person team, and the room scales for bigger/smaller teams. The owner who ran the room is great, and took the time to talk to us about the design and philosophy afterwards. The Body Shop tends to be my top recommedation for a Boston area room (along with Boxaroo).
Witch's HollowStained Hourglass Escapes LLC.Escape roomIRLThis was our second escape room at Stained Hourglass and well worth the wait for it to open. Despite the Salem-obligatory witch theme, I didn’t find the room overly kitchy, and Stained Hourglass thankfully avoided the gory-silicone-body-parts type of design; the room works well for families and those averse to gore. They made some really cool choices with how the room starts and how you interact with the puzzles and the GM; just like The Boring Office, it at times called to mind much bigger and super high-end rooms like Escaparium’s Wardrobe for sale. The puzzle design was varied and flowed satisfactorily with few bottlenecks, and there was laughter and delight along the way to the end. Clearly this team is very talented, and we can’t wait to play their third room!
The BirdMyssTic RoomsEscape roomIRLSimply of the best rooms I’ve played. Terpeca winners are Terpeca winners because of atmosphere, great puzzle flow, emotional resonance and some sense of “the epic”; and amazingly MyssTic managed to achieve a lot of this in a footprint that’s a fraction of the epic top tier games. It’s a really good game, and the ending was spot on. I’m still delighted by it days later.
Le Grand Immersia Hotel [The Grand Immersia Hotel]Immersia Escape GamesEscape roomIRLA really fun heist room with a beautifully expansive set and a couple of nice twists. A bit of hide-and-seek that stays on the humorous/fun side rather than getting too scary. Puzzles flowed well and there’s a clear narrative/objective that makes sense. One of my favorites at the Boisbriand location, definitely doable with two players but possibly chaotic fun with more players.
The Keeper And The Fungus Among UsHeadlock Escape Rooms OnlineEscape roomVirtual This was a unique, fun, quirky experience! I had some pre-game concerns about the fit for our team of one escape room enthusiast and two retired parents with minimal escape room experience and varying attention spans, English being none of our first language, and us being in three countries and on two continents. The game was a great success! It worked really well for everyone - the pace was great, music and visuals engaging even for the team member with short attention span who is less of a puzzler, and we really felt we were doing something together. Extra plus for subtitles for the songs and cut scenes! The peek behind the scenes at the end also really added to the experience. I’ve already made a date with a friend new to eacape rooms living in another city to do this together.
Boda Borg Quests [Interactive Arcade]Boda Borg - BostonEscape roomOther I get the appeal for kids and teenagers, but for us, Boda Borg was like the worst parts of escape rooms - incredibly high ratio of process to a-ha moment, with the added frustration of having to wait in line to try again. Being there Saturday afternoon also meant that the screaming, squealing and banging on doors by the approximately billion young’uns there seriously intervened with the audio puzzles. For adult questers, it’s likely best to go during the week and definitely do the four hours - otherwise standing in lines is the quest you’ll spend the most time doing.
The Heart of the MountainBeyond EscapeEscape roomIRLIt’s so refreshing to come across a room you haven’t already seen a dozen times (don’t get me wrong, I love those Egyptian tombs, too)! The story and the texture of the world The Heart of the Mountain built are really lovely, utilizing lesser known Nordic mythology. Along with the world building, the puzzle design really shone: it’s clear, clean and logical. I think it’s the first game our team of two has ever played where we didn’t need any nudges; not because the game was too easy, but because it felt so well designed (and/or playtested). We did a day trip from Boston to do all three rooms at Beyond Escape and it was well worth the trip. Also, everyone working there from the designer-owners to the GM we met were just great. Would highly recommend as worth a trip!
![Le Château du Supplice Éternel [The Castle of Eternal Suffering]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/0bc0a8ad-4a2b-430a-807a-3d265b25efae.png)
![Projet R.E.S.E.T. [Project R.E.S.E.T.]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/d5c254a6-7f15-453f-903d-fd22af4c6532.jpg)
![Le Grand Immersia Hotel [The Grand Immersia Hotel]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/8eba2910-0320-4167-a277-bcf15f8e921e.png)
![Boda Borg Quests [Interactive Arcade]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/16434b9c-758b-437c-b1e7-d98934d87716.jpg)
