Chapter 1: Occam's ApartmentOff The Couch GamesEscape roomIRLLots of escape rooms are grabbing a key to open a door to grab a key to open a box to grab a key... This one is definitely just a piece of art. Soooooo good. Incredible experience. The design philosophy here is centered on building immersion but they do not slouch in puzzle design. Best escape room I've ever done! So good I made an account on Morty to log it.
Prison BreakThe Escape Game - MilpitasEscape roomIRLReal highlight is the production design. Puzzles were pretty good, most fun puzzles are at the start of the room. Becomes more standard as the room progresses.
Gold RushThe Escape Game - MilpitasEscape roomIRLReally great set design. Some original ideas in here but the last part of the room is very search & count heavy and there is also a pure logic puzzle where you basically just have to do math, which is my least favorite type of puzzle.
HostageEDscapade GamesEscape roomIRLGood production design but puzzles toward the end of the room are a little tedious. I think also the sequence w/ live acting from the staff should be totally reworked. The issue with that sequence is that the person who is engaged talking w/ the live actor might run out of stuff to do. They should be allowed to rejoin the primary group after *they complete their task* not after *the primary group completes their task*. The current system creates a scenario where one person is isolated w/ nothing to do for, potentially, a very long time. It is also creates an awkward situation for the actor where they need to be all spooky and in character for waaayyyyyyyy longer than they should have to, so the impulse be silly and not on theme becomes very strong, which I totally get.
AloneXcapade - NewarkEscape roomIRLOur GM gave us a radio that wasn't tuned to the right frequency or perhaps he was just not listening to the radio for like 15+ straight minutes. The door was locked so we couldn't step out of the room to tell him. Nobody was looking at the camera so jumping up and down and waving didn't help. We had to literally bang on the *locked* door out of the room until a staff member happened to walk by and hear us. Non-traditional room that is very narrative focused. Puzzles were not great either. My impression is that the designer of the room wanted to make a "very original and smart room" but maybe leaned too far out of the universe of "design elements that are actually fun" in doing so. If you want a truly fantastic narrative escape room, check out "Off the Couch games".
