La Cathédrale Oubliée [The Forgotten Cathedral]Escaparium - LavalEscape roomIRLIn terms of sheer spectacle, cinematic immersion, and intensity, this room is out of this world (I actually think it has a slight edge on Magnifico, which is also wonderful, but somewhat weaker on the puzzle side). My sense of Escaparium, having done several rooms, is that puzzles take a bit of a back seat to production, but when the production is this amazing, who’s really complaining?
Ghost PatrolTrivium GamesEscape roomIRLCan’t say I was crazy about this room. A great beginning, and a couple of unique elements, like the fun use of sound and the general whimsy of the story/design, are pluses, but the second part of the experience was a bit of a slog, with puzzles that sometimes felt a little leaden and laborious. A big issue here is the oddly large quantity of assembly puzzles, which never quite feel to me like an actual escape room puzzle—more like someone took something prefabricated out of a box and charged me money to put it together for them, rather than designing an actual puzzle that requires creativity and reasoning. For future Trivium rooms, I’d love to see that element of gameplay deemphasized.
Election DayAppleseed AvenueEscape roomIRLI had deeply mixed feelings about this game, and have found myself more divided on it than almost any other room I can think of. On the one hand, the concept, the world-building, the use of multimedia and tactile puppets to create a narrative, the humor, the production quality—all amazing. But the experience as an escape room? Far less successful. First, as you’ve no doubt heard, your group is split—and it just so happens that one of the routes is almost undeniably more fun than the other. So that’s a letdown for the other half of your group. But second, and more importantly, there’s a weird irony in Election Day at its core: despite the immense tactile joy of the space, almost all of the puzzles are screen-based. Just endless point and click. Screen screen screen. The physical involvement in the room is so much more fun—things, objects, etc—but there’s so comparatively little of it. Why am I in this wonderful world just sitting on a damn computer? Why aren’t there puzzles in this world that take advantage of the space itself? A screen can be in ANY space, it’s not unique to that space. I’ve done the other rooms here (upstairs), and they have wonderful puzzles (def less flashy though). Why not build more bodily interaction and less digital interaction into the space? I hope they do this for the next installment in the room, because it will make for a much stronger experience and fulfill the potential this space really has.
Titkos Metró [Secret Subway]E-Exit Escape Room BudapestEscape roomIRLI’m 64 rooms in at this point, and Secret Subway is one of the best I’ve ever done. Trust me, do it.
Outatime - Through the DecadesEscapable - Thornes Lane WharfEscape roomIRLProbably the best time-travel themed room I’ve done. We did this alongside Loudini, which was also great. These guys are really good at incredibly satisfying, intuitive puzzle-making. We’ll definitely come back to do their other rooms the next time we’re in England.
The BirdMyssTic RoomsEscape roomIRLReally loved this room. At the time we did it, it had only opened a few weeks before, so a couple tech kinks were still being ironed out. But I think it’s the best room in MyssTic—charming and imaginative, with great flow and a nice mix of puzzle elements. A lot of detail and consideration went into this room, which is always nice.
The Hex RoomCross Roads Escape GamesEscape roomIRLGreat room! Still feels super fresh despite its age.
Flynn's ArcadeBrain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLEvery room at Brain Games is great. This newest one is no exception. Just a blast.
Winnie The PoohMindTrap Escape Room - MurrietaEscape roomIRLLike all of the rooms at this location, Winnie The Pooh is really solid, with a lot of care put into it. At the same time, it’s just an inch or two shy of a love rating for me because the puzzles themselves don’t quite equal the room aesthetics. But I understand and appreciate why others would go for the heart.
The Battle for BritainEscape PlanEscape roomIRLReally loved this room (along with The Adventure Begins). The rooms are built more around incredibly satisfying puzzles and gameplay than they are around FX and flashiness, and they make great use of practical, tactile elements (which also feel thematically fitting with the WWII settings). Our game master, Sarah, was also wonderful.
![La Cathédrale Oubliée [The Forgotten Cathedral]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/2c2890dd-87b6-4712-8136-8403e436ec72.jpg)
![Titkos Metró [Secret Subway]](https://res.cloudinary.com/mortyapp/image/upload/c_limit,w_260/f_auto/v1/store/s/5bfd2445-4248-4988-afbc-e09a1cf9ccea.jpg)
