Reviews

Cornstalkers: Lost in the Maize

Cornstalkers: Lost in the Maize

The Escape Ventures - Orlando

  • Escape room
  • IRL
About Last Night... [Immersive Experience]

About Last Night... [Immersive Experience]

Patchwork Adventures

  • Escape room
  • Other
  • Pop up
Overpriced, Unfinished, and Lacking Story Payoff As someone who has experience building escape rooms and who also has played many escape rooms, this experience was extremely disappointing and felt far from what was promised. First, the pricing makes no sense. At $75 per person, this felt wildly overpriced — especially since the host openly mentioned that the game is still changing and that there’s more work to be done. The experience felt like it was in a very early testing or beta phase and, at its current state, should not cost more than $15. The environment was not immersive and didn’t meaningfully support the story. Rooms were revealed without explanation, spaces felt disconnected, and even clue names didn’t match the physical layout. While I don’t mind a low-budget set, it still needs to make sense narratively — and this didn’t. The biggest issue was the story and characters. We were given character identities, but they had no real storyline or arc. Throughout the game, it felt less like a crime thriller and more like a race to see how many memories we could unlock in two hours. Because memories were uncovered randomly and by anyone, there was no sense of ownership, strategy, or roleplay. Our characters didn’t develop, and by the end, there was no clear resolution to what actually happened. This made the ending feel especially lackluster. We weren’t given a clear conclusion, and the “truth” was left entirely open, which made the entire investigation feel pointless. The host also arrived late, which immediately set the tone. During the game, he mentioned that if the experience gets big, he looks forward to having staff take over. While that’s understandable from a growth perspective, combined with everything else, it gave the impression that the experience hasn’t been fully refined yet — and unfortunately, that lack of polish shows throughout the game. Overall, this experience overpromises immersion, story, and social deduction but delivers an unfinished, disorganized puzzle hunt instead. I wouldn’t recommend it in its current form.