Dracula EscapeSt. Louis EscapeEscape roomIRLThis is my favorite game I've played to date! It's so much larger than it first seems, and the puzzles are engaging, immersive, and plain old fun! There's an even balance between task-solving and logic-riddling, and the final race to the finish got my heart pounding. The animatronics are stellar, the set-design and props are Hollywood-level quality, and the sound track is not as overwhelming as Jurassic Island Escape was. Our game master was a hoot, playing into a Van Helsing persona for the initial rules brief and during the hints we had to ask for. We finished with 4 minutes to spare, having used all 3 hints before the final room. TAKE YOUR TIME in the middle hall (read additional notes on this review for more info), but don't dawdle, or you WILL run out of time. It's 5 separate areas total; only one area had 2 shorter puzzles, the rest had AT LEAST 3 puzzles each. We lost a lot of time in one area, and finished with only 4 minutes to spare. But daggum, it was fun!
Jurassic Island EscapeSt. Louis EscapeEscape roomIRLDefinitely a game for anyone who loves Jurassic Park (books, other games, movies, etc). Premise is intriguing, narrative flow is engaging, and the layout of the room immerses players in feeling "trapped by escaped dinos just outside this compound". I would say the soundtrack was too loud and chaotic at times; our group did have some folks who struggle with auditory processing, and the soundscape volume and staging was overwhelming and made things difficult. We only struggled with one puzzle toward the end: no spoilers, but one of the dinosaurs profile pix doesn't quite match what you're expecting based on other clues, so be a little open-minded. A solid balance overall between task-based solving and genuine logic-analysis. Good flow, lots of hidden surprises, and make sure to look up!
Atlantis RisingPanIQ Room - Las VegasEscape roomIRLThis game's premise is simple but doesn't feel like a cliche when you're in it. There's a newly rediscovered temple from Atlantis; get in, get some treasure, get out in one piece. The real strength in this room is the props and staging; without spoiling anything, it felt like stepping into an ancient Atlantean temple when we got into the second area. The soundscape, the texture on the walls, and the lighting combined to really transport us from the mundane to another world. That said, I personally had difficulty with the second area, mainly due to the soundscape. It overlapped and overlaid absolutely everything, and some of the puzzles were sound-related, so even beginning to solve those took some crowd-control among ourselves to allow those puzzle-specific sounds to come through. It was a good area to split off into groups and work on different puzzles all at once, but the amount of floor-space to maneuver was limited. I would not recommend it for larger groups, for the simple fact that you'd be tripping over everyone to get things done without breaking something.
The Lost TempleCU Adventures In Time And Space - OnlineEscape roomVirtual For my literal first experience with an escape (and a virtual one at that!) - it was definitely challenging! The puzzles did require some arts-n-crafts (cutting, folding, and taping paper into 3d shapes to use as props to solve), but the theming was very on-par for what I expected. I'd say 1 part Indiana Jones, 2 parts Lovecraft, and 1 part The Mummy: a fun blend of Depression-era folks meddling in things they probably ought not be meddling in! There was actually a jump-scare (you'll know it when you hear it; the bones don't lie) which while unexpected provided a few laughs. I appreciated that we weren't penalized for using hints (which we did need a solid half-dozen of, give or take). I do think that having the Game Leader as the only one whose input functioned to unlock the locks and advance the puzzles was a hindrance; might have been better if my partner and I were in the same physical space, which kinda defeats the purpose of being able to play remotely. Overall, a fun first experience, but would definitely consider it a challenging escape due to the reliance on symbolism and finicky runes in the puzzles.
The Morning AfterPanIQ Room - Las VegasEscape 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
