Subway EscapeEscape Room PittsburghEscape roomIRLWhile not the most challenging room I’ve been in, the full immersion aspect is on point, and I had already left comments complementing Escape Room Pittsburghs aesthetic designs for Diamond Heist and Carnegie’s Millions. Subway Escape goes above and beyond from the well produced introduction video to a special effect that I haven’t seen in an escape room before, and that as a theatre tech absolutely love since I didn’t expect the effect and had to look around a bit to see the mechanism that did it. For some it’ll be like magic. In terms of puzzles, as mentioned, not the hardest to solve but enough to allow some non linear team work and parallel problem solving but some added difficulty keeping track of past things seen and what has and hasn’t been used. There were a couple glitches to the room that the game master noted, and who was attentively enough to recognize that we had triggered the solution to one but have us a nudge to find what didn’t open like it should have. Sounds like the company is always doing some internal review to keep the rooms working well. Can’t wait to be back in Pittsburgh and be able to try the last of their rooms!
XscapeWorksXscapeWorksEscape roomIRLTeam of four did a full two hour session and loved it. While it’s not the first time I’ve played a Time Machine room where you jump between time periods mid game, the multi room mini game setup is a lot of fun and absolutely thrilled that my team was able to book a full 2 hour session to get all four rooms. There’s a great variety of puzzles, physical, intellectual, observational, sometimes even following written instructions but the puzzles are well balanced and expertly arranged. Some convergence points taking full teams effort, some more individual, with other spots needing team to split up a bit. There’s an obvious division point if you’re doing pairs of rooms in 1 hour block, or together as a set of four, and the puzzles well balanced types feels well balanced between the sets, so if you can only do one hour, I don’t think you’d be missing out. When we played, the jump scares were animatronic and could be turned off if we had asked, and afterwards was told that they have some live actors in those roles in October. My team left them on and not much the type to be scared, had fun appreciating the tech (I’ve got theatre tech background, and at least one member has been on a theme park scare cast) but think that xscapeworks has it setup very nicely that turning it on/off can only add to the experience based on your preferences and personalities. The game master was amazing! Attentive to our progress, and in ways ran our game like a real D&D campaign. We didn’t ask for any hints, but we had a D20 we had on us and when she was “offering an observation check” we rolled the die and the value of clue matched wonderfully. Absolutely a great touch of game customization. Going in they did talk about a couple “pass” opportunities on some of the more complex puzzles, having played it it’s appreciated. We took one but those “pass” points sounded like spots they recognize and already have plans to address since they are a newer escape room and already working on improvements and possibly expansions for an already stunning game.
Carnegie's MillionsEscape Room PittsburghEscape roomIRLLarge spacious room that did a great job of tying into a local theme and the aesthetics a repurposed bank vault. Game master was attentive and gave a couple welcomed nudges. Really appreciated some of the mechanisms used including almost no key/combination locks so puzzles were a bit more intellectual puzzle solving.
Serial KillerBreak Out CharlestonEscape roomIRLMy second room at Break Out Charleston and they continue to demonstrate a great job of making some challenging puzzle pieces well also paying attention to the details in the aesthetics. Creepy sounds and decorations with a few spooky moments with the right puzzle solution. Few puzzles are a bit more physical but nothing too difficult.
Escaping Death RowBreak Out CharlestonEscape roomIRLNice mix of team based physical puzzles with more subtle detail orientated puzzles. Couple problems really needed some lateral thinking to figure out. The game was also well balanced with some time consuming puzzles that had a great mix of fun with a hint of frustration. None of the time taking problems were not offensive.
Diamond HeistEscape Room PittsburghEscape roomIRLFelt like a well designed room. Second room/site I’ve done of the Escape Room Pittsburgh and both of the rooms I’ve done with them so far seem to do a great job of some local callouts that you don’t get to see as much in chain escape room companies. In terms of the puzzle, nice semi linear puzzle with a nice variety of puzzle types including a couple red herrings (with bonus points to details that acknowledge as much in a way) found it easy for my team of four to rotate around a bit working as partners helping keep track of the details that while not always needed to solve a puzzle, can make it a bit easier to solve and helped us finish the room without any hints.
RansomEscape in 60Escape roomIRL3rd room I’ve done at Escape in 60, second there on the same day that was booked slightly after finishing the Egyptian Chamber. While there’s a light story that kinda directs the room, but it’s really nonlinear and easy to have a team divide up and story felt weak. Did enjoy a nice variety of puzzles from some basic physical activities to others relying on thinking and observations. While they rate it as a 7/10 hardness, same as the Egyptian chamber, I think the challenge is on more puzzles rather than simply more challenging, which worked perfectly well for my team of 4 reasonably experienced players, but could see it working great for larger teams with less experience.
Kidnapped!NC EscapeEscape roomIRLGood room for smaller, less experienced teams. Larger or experienced teams won’t find this a big challenge but it doesn’t aim for them. I was with my family (8 total) with most of the team having only done an escape room or two a piece and 3 who were doing an escape room for the first time. Kidnapped felt well made but no real head scratcher puzzles especially if you’ve done a few escape rooms. Having done a couple dozen rooms myself and seen a lot of the puzzle styles before so I tried to step back a little to be a bit of a in room game op. No actual hints need and we solved it very quickly.
The Egyptian ChamberEscape in 60Escape roomIRL𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 �𓅝𓃄 �𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿 𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 𓂨𓅝𓃄 𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿This review contains spoilers.Unscramble𓀗
The Queen PinThe Escape - HuntsvilleEscape roomIRLRoom was a bit more abstract than many of the rooms I’ve done, but it worked well. Some well constructed puzzles and enjoyed it quite a bit. Only issue we had was one of the locks wasn’t set right and one of our less experienced team members assumed that it was set up that way and didn’t wait until we found the correct key
