Auntie Amber’s Sweets & TreatsAtomic Escape Rooms - RichlandEscape roomIRLPlayed as a team of two enthusiasts. Overall enjoyed the game. The aesthetics were cute and on point. Some puzzles were challenging, others were not. We didn’t need any hints. There’s one portion of the game that uses a radio that I think needs a little more fine tuning. Was a time suck for us but we ended with plenty of time so that wasn’t a problem. Overall felt the value was worth it. Would have liked talking a photo outside of the room because they decorated the outsides so nicely, but photos were taken in the lobby.
The Secret of The Tower KeeperThe Tower EscapesEscape roomIRLAs an escape room enthusiast with 400+ rooms under my belt, The Tower Escapes - The secret of the Tower Keeper was underwhelming and disappointing. If you’re an enthusiast I think you’ll be disappointed and if you’re a beginner, I don’t think you’ll want to do another escape room after this. To start; The Good - Customer service was really great. We were visiting Raleigh from out of town and with a short schedule. They agreed to open early to allow us to play which was wonderfully accommodating. When we arrived, the game master was friendly enough, though didn’t introduce himself and didn’t know us other than by our time slot, which personalization is just a personal preference of mine. The tower is in fact an old water tower from the 1800s so the space itself looks and feels cool. Those were all pluses. The room itself was dated and didn’t quite match the theme. It was definitely aged and needed care, and not in a way that was suitable for the theme. For my group, we needed a hint with every puzzle and the hint was “Do X, Y and Z.” We did X, Y, and Z. That’s the most frustrating thing when the hints are to do what you have done. It’s an immediate turn off for me. Turns out you have to push things harder or knock slower. When two people have attempted the puzzle multiple times and it’s still failing, it’s frustrating to be told just to do it again until it works. That’s just not enjoyable. At the debrief we were told some days the puzzles work perfectly, others they’re temperamental. To me you need to change the puzzle if historically it’s not going to work a lot of the days. I think the room could benefit from Some minor improvements that could improve the experience across the board. The game master said they wanted to ensure we had fun and a good time, and they missed the mark on that. Bottom line - Looks great and customer service is good but actual escape room is dated, with glitchy tech and in need of puzzle upgrades and repairs
MedievalLockdown Escape Rooms - HillcrestEscape roomIRLThis is going to be a long review…but I want to get my feelings out. Game Masters make or break an experience a lot of the time, and in this case, our GM was not great and put a sour taste in our mouth. Hubby and I are enthusiasts. We’ve played probably over 400 escape rooms all over the world so we feel like we know the difference between good rooms and mediocre rooms. This is a mediocre room, and I’ll tell you my feelings why. This was the first time we’ve ever had a time penalty applied to us from the GM. We were in San Diego for a family memorial and decided to share our love of this hobby with family members. We had no idea where lockdown was not being from San Diego (turns out in the middle of a busy street and area) and they don’t provide parking. Our game was at 7:45p. Our family came in separate cars and though hubby and I got there at 7:30p and found parking, street parking in San Diego can be problematic and it took my family a little longer, and they arrived at 7:50p. The game master told me he started our clock and we’d incur penalties until they arrived. Now, we had already filled out electronic waivers ahead of time, and done everything requested including trying to arrive early, however, with no on site parking we were at the mercy of Saturday night San Diego parking. Once they arrived at 7:50p, another group was in the lobby so the GM helped them and got them settled and told us to sit until they were ready…and continued to keep our time clock running!! By the time we got into the room we were down ten minutes. This is only shocking because in 400+ rooms I’ve never had this happen! Especially at a place that doesn’t provide parking. The GM was not welcoming to our family. Told us to walk down the hall and the room was the first door on the right and let ourselves in. He didn’t walk us to our experience. No rules or regulations were given (which is fine, we know them by now but we had first time players in our room so that could have been nice). The room was their easiest room, and that’s totally fine. Hubby and I knew we’d be taking a step back to let our family play. (Sucks when we paid $40 a person to do that but we really wanted our family to experience the joy of an escape room) One disappointing part was the room was worn. You could tell it had a lot of wear and tear and was not well kept. It also had a second door inside (which lead my family to believe it was multi room - it wasn’t. That’s a door to another game. Maybe cover it up, as it’s obviously not an emergency exit) Finally, my family ended up asking for a hint, and the GM just told them how to to do the puzzle!! I was aghast!! That’s not a hint when the answers are just given! Are you kidding me?! There were also so many of the items in the room that had do not touch stickers on them. The finale piece had so many do not touch stickers (and a “do not touch the rope” rope with no purpose…so why why the rope there?!) or anything on it, and was very anti-climatic. For a beginner Room people want to touch things and most everything was do not touch. We ended up escaping the room in 30 minutes so the time penalty didn’t even matter, but it was so off-putting to my family who had never played before. Based on this experience, they would not want to spend the money to do another room. So, in conclusion, I write our experience off as a bad or untrained GM, and a mediocre room. Hubby and I played two other games in San Diego, and they cost less (This was $40/person which is soooo expensive for a mediocre room. There are sooooo many incredible games in San Diego to experience and yes, this is an escape room, but it’s not an example of how magical or whimsical a room could or should be, so be cautious with your money and consider a higher reviewed game first for a better experience. If you are a small team (no more than like 3 newbies) you might enjoy this but there are only about 7 puzzles in the room and there are a lot of great rooms in SD to experience first so don’t rush to this one.
Steampunk TrainMind Twist Escape ExperienceEscape roomIRLFound this to be a mediocre room. Nothing really special about it. Set design was the highlight and definitely met the steampunk vibe. Some of the puzzles/props were definitely worn and didn’t work well. When we brought it up to the GM he just mentioned oh yeah, they’re well used so they’re finicky. A couple of the puzzles involved a leap of logic which got us stuck. This isn’t the best room you’ll do in Vegas, but it’s not the worst either. Right in the middle.
Dollhouse V.2PuzzleMazementEscape roomIRLWe played version one back in 2016 and had some time and came back for version 2. The atmosphere of the room is fun. Very creepy. There are a fair amount of puzzles to do which is nice. We didn’t escape as a team of 2 but they did let us finish the room and experience which was nice. We got derailed on a puzzle that just didn’t quite make sense and ate up 20 minutes of our time. Some puzzles were very straight forward, others less, so you would probably benefit from having more than 2 people in the room for different opinions and thought processes. Has a minimum of 4 players that we had to pay for, and as a team of 2 I would say don’t do that. It’s not worth the cost compared other games in the area they don’t require a team of 2 to pay for 4. GM and staff was good.
Ark Of The CovenantCinema Escape Rooms - Los AlamitosEscape roomIRLReally enjoyed Ark of the Covenant. Hubby and I played it together and had a lot of fun. It was definitely a good nod to the movie we all love. Puzzles flowed easily. Loved different medians used. Good solid room and experience. Noah was a great GM and you’d be lucky to have him!
PlaygroundThe Escape Game - San FranciscoEscape roomIRLWe loved Playground! What a whimsical game bringing you back to your youth! Puzzles were perfect for the theme, there was enough for everyone to do and feel like they contributed, and the surprise elements had the newbies on our team gasping with joy! Really really great game!
Gingerbread Cottage Escape GameEscapeSFEscape roomIRLI wanted to love this game but left very disappointed. I’ve never been transformed into a cookie before, so the premise sounded fun and whimsical but the experience for any veteran escape artist could be disappointing. Our GM didn’t help. Lacked enthusiasm for the game and us. (Also, could be he’s responsible for monitoring more than one game at a time. We didn’t need help but if two groups of newbies are there I could see attention easily being split). Puzzles were easy and on theme which was fine! It’s meant as a beginners room and for families and it definitely delivers there. My problem was set decorating and wear and tear. The room looked run down. And when we’re paying $50 a person, you could take just a small amount and go to any discount store right now and buy all sorts of Christmas items on clearance to really up the ambiance in the room and make it feel holiday-ish. Add some lights, a tree, and bam, you’re an on theme well decorated room instead of a run down office like attempt. The lobby seemed to have more effort than the room. So, bottom line, great for beginners and families. We went knowing that but for the holiday theme (as we like those) and this was definitely lack-luster. Anyone with a fair amount of rooms under their belt will likely be disappointed, but beginners should enjoy it.
Pirate ShipwreckSure Lock Escapes – Cypher Island (Renton)Escape roomIRLCan definitely see these rooms falling into the same category as Locurio as one of Seattle’s best rooms! Loved the Pirate Shipwreck! Our GMs Theo and Jaeden were fantastic adding to the experience. The set design is amazing! The puzzles were fun and made sense to the theme. We had a really good time and can’t wait to come back and do the others!
Dive To AtlantisThe Escape Artist - West SeattleEscape roomIRLReally enjoyed our trip to Atlantis! Have never been in a submarine that actually moved before so that was very exciting! The puzzles really suited the room! Logically they made sense! Our GM Dan was great. Really added to the experience and was rooting for us! Definitely a solid room and look forward to trying some of their others!
