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deniecee
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Morty score
181
Escape rooms
179
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2
28
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deniecee
Denise Panaligan (she/hers) | Arcadia, CA
followed by
JoshWG
scottwhead
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Experiences (181)
Wishlist (28)
Reviews (170)
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All (170)
Escape rooms (168)
Haunts (2)
User’s rating
Squirrelor's Tavern Experience
Squirrelor’s Tavern
Escape room
Other
I wanted to drop by and give this review to show Squirrelor’s Tavern some love. This is not your typical escape room. Think of Dungeon and Dragons with dinner and immersion and puzzles. My group and I were able to snag some final week seats and right away, I was impressed with the atmosphere and the set. They had food for us a la carte but the ticket came with two drinks. During the dinner, guests were welcome to roam around and follow the main quest or to do some of the side quest puzzles. The main quests were heavy on the word scramble, riddles, and cyphers and I would have liked to see other types of puzzles! The side quests were more of the wooden blocks and tactile. I was only able to experience Season 1 but I heard there was a Season 2. I hope that the tavern gets reincarnated in some way so that everyone can enjoy. This is the type of experience that the more you put in, the more you get out of it!
Rita's Relics
Escape! at Margarita Adventures
Escape room
IRL
I’m going to give this location a heart because this room exceeded my expectations. Usually, when there is an escape room housed within a larger operation, I worry that less care has gone into designing the escape room but I can confidently say that I was wrong! I’m curious now about the other excursions in Margarita Adventures and I can’t wait to come back when their other rooms open up. Rita’s Relics as an experience was a rollercoaster ride throughout. There was that feeling of the satisfied “ah”after solving a puzzle, production value is a 10/10, and the rooms really made use of the space. Our game masters were all wonderful as well! The room could be tackled nonlinear at times but it was mostly linear. My hubby and I did it with just the two of us, but I can see a group of 3-4 breeze through this room. Parking is not a problem at this location. This is a gem of a stop if you’re in the San Luis Obispo area!
Project Minotaur
Quest Room - Hollywood
Escape room
IRL
40 Thieves
MindTrap Escape Room - Temecula
Escape room
IRL
40 Thieves is a masterclass in escape room design. From the minute I walked in, I felt like I was about to experience something incredible. And I did. From the intro “cut scene” to the interactions with the shopkeepers to the collaborative puzzles that get your party to look around the premises and communicate, they did such a good job with everything. I could see why this room earned its spot in the TERPECA awards. This is worth the drive if you’re coming from LA like we were. I would also recommend getting a bigger group because there are so many puzzles to do!
Winnie The Pooh
MindTrap Escape Room - Murrieta
Escape room
IRL
Let me start this review by sharing that I am the biggest Winnie the Pooh fan. This version is based on the A.A. Milne book so don’t expect to see the Disney version here. I loved the experience and I wish I could bring back some of the honey with me. As for the room itself, the puzzles were on the more difficult side but the flow felt balanced - with groups being able to tackle medium and harder puzzles at the same time. The snuggly characters might distract you from the puzzles themselves but you have to stay focused. You are helping prepare a surprise party for Winnie the Pooh after all. There was a physical activity in the beginning that had us laughing but it’s very doable and does not require too much exertion.The storm simulation and the ambiance does make you feel like you’re in the Hundred Acre Wood. Great production value. I would recommend doing this with a group. It’s family friendly fun with a surprise challenge of the puzzles. On a side note, I find it funny how this room is right next to one of MindTrap’s scarier rooms - Taken! They’re completely different in terms of the vibes. This room will leave you with the warm fuzzies.
Cold Case
Clever Fox Escape Rooms - Menifee Cherry Hills
Escape room
IRL
Cold Case is the peak scariest room I’ve ever experienced. In the description, it looks as if you are stumbling upon a cold case but expect more of a hostage breakout situation. Lucas, our game master, gave us the fright of our lives. He spent a long time explaining the rules - but I think he accomplished his goal of setting the stage and hyping us up for the adrenaline rush. I was pretty convinced that I will not make it out alive after the orientation. We were chained up and they put bags over our heads. If you love puzzles, this room has more of the live actor interaction than the puzzles themselves. They have a well oiled machine so that groups get the most out of their hour. They will come in more frequently if your group is solving the puzzles too quickly. So just know that coming in - 70% live actor immersion, 30% puzzles. Clever Fox Escape Rooms would easily be one of my favorite “horror” rooms - and I’ve done the classic scary ones (Zoe Reborn, Project Minotaur, Resurrection, etc.) You can tell that the game masters and the owners really do care about their rooms and they are proud of what they’ve designed. It’s not a high budget room by any means but you will get your monies worth in scares. I’m excited to come back and try their other rooms. Again, shout out to Lucas for helping us celebrate our friend’s birthday with a memorable experience!
The Mad Scientist [prev. The Laboratory]
Brain Games Escape Room
Escape room
IRL
This was such a fun room and the hype lived up to my expectations. We were told that this was a puzzle-centric room and it was! We had a group of seven and we all had something to do the entire time. My highlights for this room were the diversity of puzzles and there was a uniqueness in the execution for select puzzles. I also appreciated the track visual so you could see which puzzles were dependent on each other. I could imagine that without the track visual, folks could split up and get too confused if they are not communicating correctly. Finally, I believe that they adjusted the number of puzzles and that is very much appreciated! Highly recommend this room for puzzle lovers
The Ghost Of Mentryville
Arcane Escape Rooms
Escape room
IRL
This experience is hard to put into words because it raised the bar and blew away all my expectations. Coming in, I knew that we were going to do puzzles with a story as well but the way that this was executed, it was *chef’s kiss*. This room is a masterclass of how you can do so much with a small space, low budget, and limited tech. The entire time, as we were following along with the story, I had a sinister feeling that I was participating in something that I shouldn’t be and I haven’t really experienced that tension before with other live actors. The clues provided to us were also carefully shared in a way that led us to the right direction, while still challenging us to look at the puzzles differently. I wish I could forget (haha) this room so I could play it again! We had a group of four, which I think is the maximum number of people and they tell you right away to immerse yourself in the story. I think a group of 2 could work also! It really depends on who you could be trapped in a small room with and not feel claustrophobic. There is no time limit but most groups finish in 70-90 minutes.
Warlocked
Quest Room - Redondo Beach
Escape room
IRL
This room is quite immersive and I could see why it was nominated for TERPECA in 2024. There is so much to do and they also have “side quests” in addition to the main quests so I would recommend bringing 4-6 people. My only thing though is that I wish our game master gave us more time to actually accomplish the side quests since we had 8 people and I felt like some of us were just standing around doing nothing. Overall, after the puzzle walkthrough, I was impressed with how to solve some of the puzzles. The puzzles, at least the ones we did, were fun - there was a good mix of tactile, collaboration, and logic puzzles. The ending was quite a surprise and it was a fun reveal. Not scary at all but could have a couple of jump scares. Would recommend for a fantastical time.
Black Cat
Planet Escape Room
Escape room
IRL
This game blew me away! I love a good Egyptian-themed room and the puzzles all worked fine with a wide range of difficulty. Ambiance and props were top notch. There was one puzzle that stumped us all at the end, but when our game master, Thea, explained it to us, we just felt so silly for not making the connections earlier! That’s always a good sign. This is a room that would give you both the puzzle orientation and the personality that you would want in your experience. In addition, Thea was the funniest and most helpful game master ever. Most game masters I’ve experienced are pretty hands off but I like how she gave us affirmations throughout and did not give us clues unless we asked. Best customer service and what a unique plot line to the room too. I hope that Planet Escape Rooms continue to collaborate and produce escape rooms like this!
A Christmas Inheritance
Open Door Escape Games - Main Office
Escape room
IRL
I’ve had polarizing experiences with holiday-themed escape rooms - they’re usually really good or really bad. This room is really good. My first reason for giving this room a heart is because of the way they used the live actors. The live actors progressed the story and also gave us little breaks between the puzzles to engage with the story in a unique way. Then, there were the role assignments. The ideal number for this room would be 4, and that is because those 4 roles had special puzzles just for them. I did see that this room could hold up to 12 but I could imagine the experience not being as great with too many cooks in the kitchen. We had a group of 5 and I felt like we all had plenty of things to do among us. Finally, there were the puzzles themselves. There was a good combination of logic puzzles, tactile puzzles, music puzzles, etc. The diversity of puzzles was well thought out and I am curious about their Inheritance room now that I’ve seen their Christmas edition! If you could only choose one game in this location, choose this one! I do have a caveat though that Christmas is a Christian holiday so it may help if you have a Christian background, but all of the puzzles are accessible even if you do not!
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![The Mad Scientist [prev. The Laboratory]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/085b235a-03b9-4140-94b4-9b14936a8d7f.webp)
