EVIL RobotsThe Nemesis ClubEscape roomIRLPolished, high quality game with engaging, high tech puzzles and great atmosphere both in the room and the lobby/waiting area. All puzzles were on theme and worked as intended, there were some fairly difficult ones but everything was discoverable and the hints were fairly good with no unnecessary nudges. Puzzle were pretty novel, not a combination lock in sight. Would definitely come back to play their other games, excellent experience all around and well worth the price!
Moriarty's ManorMindFox EscapeEscape roomIRLThis room was good, the theming was strong and the quality of the high-tech puzzles was high. While most of the puzzles were pretty fun and none were particularly frustrating, none of them were very revolutionary to me, and some of the puzzles were not super well tied into the story. Some of the clues pointing to the puzzles were quite weak, so it was difficult at times to figure out what to do next, but our game master did a great job nudging us along. We did this room with two people, and while it was challenging, there wasn't so much to do that it was unmanageable. Most of the difficulty we found was in figuring out what to do with the puzzles. At times, this establishment does feel like it's taking itself a little too seriously; there are rules about not taking photos or videos, they take photos on their iPad in a specific location to send you instead of using your phone. In my opinion there wasn't much to warrant this level of secrecy; none of the puzzles were exceptionally novel, nor do I think incidental spoilers would really impact the experience of the room too much. Overall, I liked this room but it wasn't one of my favorites ever. You can feel the passion of the designers and the quality is high, and the atmosphere is pretty good.
The Mad Scientist [prev. The Laboratory]Brain Games Escape RoomEscape roomIRLIn my opinion, this room was underwhelming; it felt more like a science activity room than an escape room, and most of the puzzles were solved with minimal thought/skill. Although there were some novel elements and puzzles we hadn't seen before, the vast majority of the puzzles were exceptionally easy. Would not recommend more than two experienced adult players, there is definitely enough time to get through all 31 puzzles. A good number of the puzzles could be completed in less than 2 minutes. The theming is just alright, neither strong nor very poor. The room is broken up into 6 linear puzzle tracks finishing at a final puzzle, starting with 3 tracks unlocked. The GM stops you before the final puzzle to reveal the 4th and 5th tracks if you have enough time, then the 6th if you have enough time after that. My group of 2 completed the first 3 tracks with 40 minutes remaining, as we opted to experience the puzzles together instead of splitting up to speedrun. We completed the 4th, 5th, and final puzzle with 5 minutes to spare... caveat to follow. The room was missing one of the items needed to solve one of the later puzzles, and the GM didn't notice this until we spent ~15 minutes trying to solve it without the item. We picked up the hint phone and another GM came to give us the missing item, but we didn't get any time back, so we weren't left with enough time on the clock for the 6th set of puzzles. After the final puzzle was completed, it took a minute or so for the GM to notice. The employees were all nice enough, but I didn't feel like the attention to detail was there. Overall, I don't think I would recommend this room. It's a fairly well-maintained Gen 1.5 room with many very easy puzzles and some moderately challenging ones, but nothing really set it apart for me. Our experience was only OK.
Cosmic CrisisThe Escape Game - TorranceEscape roomIRLStellar set design, with stunning quality and styling. Linear, but the puzzles were creative and fun, with only a couple combination locks. Would recommend 2-4 people to really experience the room.
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient ExpressEscapology - ScottsdaleEscape roomIRLStoryline was not very cohesive and does not resolve in a satisfying way. Puzzles were fine, nothing was especially creative or impressively well made. We received nudges as we were finishing puzzles, and there were some issues with the room at the beginning, which was okay. We were able to accidentally open something we weren't supposed to, and were not stopped by a GM, which ended up ruining the flow of the game as well. I think we overlapped a shift change, which I'm sure didn't help. Overall, the game was fine, but for the price we expected better production quality, more high tech puzzles, and a GM that was more on top of their game.
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