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 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
