The Lab: Lockdown

Rating: 4.5/5 - MacGyver style with physical challenges, no escape room logic, but it's not for everyone. Pros: ➕Incredibly unique puzzle style, it's unlike anywhere else I've played. Every thing you use or do is mimetic, they all fit perfectly within the universe of the game and are more like challenging tasks. This is what I imagined escapes were before I started playing them, not the usual escape room logic like matching colors and putting numbers in order. ➕Creative use of objects and multiple variations to solve specific challenges ➕One of the most physically challenging rooms I've played (but it's still reasonable, not much worse than a challenge arcade). You will need to climb and use force. However, if you are clever then you can make both easier. ➕Teamwork and dexterity challenges ➕Adjustable difficulty, you can ask the GM to make things easier if needed. There is also an optional secondary objective but you don't miss much if you skip it. ➕The combination of two cliché themes works well. ➕Surprising amount of narrative that ties all the challenges together, they explain the story at the end if you didn't catch what happened. It's not a story-based room but there is a set sequence of events that occurred with specific characters. ➕Lots of tech and physical interactions, there were some mechanical locks but those made perfect sense in the setting. ➕Ending video is fun to watch, they show you alternative methods you could've used. ➕The set looks convincing with lots of decor and props and multiple rooms to explore ➕I'm a sucker for when rooms give you costumes to wear ➕The owner/GM was friendly and helpful as needed Cons: ➖This puzzle style can be very challenging or frustrating if your team doesn't have the right mindset (you need strong spacial awareness, creative use of objects). If you play escape rooms for traditional puzzles, this room is not for you. ➖Too many objects with the green tape meaning they aren't part of the game. I wish they secured things better or didn't have as much clutter. Though without the tape, it was hard to know what objects to use or not. ➖The dummies/mannequins they used were too unrealistic. ➖You may get some bumps and bruises. We played as a team of 3 and finished with less than a couple minutes left on the 80 min full experience, I'd recommend 3-4. We did gets stuck for a while and asked for a couple hints. But they were good about nudging us and not just telling us the answer. My ranking of the 3 rooms here starting with my favorite: 1. The Tomb (by far the coolest room here) 2. The Lab 3. The Bunker

This game represents a paradigm shift of what I thought an escape room could be. First off, it only has one traditional “puzzle.” You’ll only find it if you know what to look for, and it’s not even mandatory that you complete it. Second: it’s very physical, requiring a good deal of flexibility and the ability to crawl and climb. Third: forget what you know about escape room logic. The challenges presented in this room are based in real life, real objects, and real physics. Fourth: there are multiple win conditions and various levels of success. We had such a good time, start to finish. The GMs at Revo are very friendly, and despite the ramshackle appearance of the lobby, this facility is a well-oiled machine. Intro videos weave a compelling narrative, and debriefing videos tell us what we could have done better. With strong roots in Chinese escape room culture, this is different style of gameplay, and I loved every minute of it. Of the 3 games at Revo, this one has the least interesting set design, and could use a little extra effort to spice up the immersion. That being said, I still felt like I was trapped in a real research facility. Not a great game for set snobs or puzzle perverts, but perfect for anyone with a sense of adventure.

Mimetic is a great way to go! And I loved that they had costumes for us. It was tough, and nobody gets to participate in everything but I'll gladly do others there.

Definitely a unique experience. Loved the creativity required to “solve” the very real physical problems put in front you. All but one “puzzle” is different than any other escape room you’ll find. This room is for you if you want to integrate physicality into your escape and don’t mind the potential of being a little sweaty or bumped around by the end of it. The room is feeling a bit older, revamping a bit of the props, especially the ones you need to interact with a lot, would probably help with immersion and feeling less frustrated at some points. But since that’s my only concern I’m now very excited to try out their newest room (which apparently is even more physical)

I've heard so many good things about this room, and most of our friends have been long time ago. Since we live in Kitchener/Waterloo region, it was quite an effort recruiting friends who haven't been already. I've been wanting to try this one for so long, but the experience was truly disappointing. I've heard so many praises about how immersive and real world this room is, but it wasn't the case in 2025 anymore. Literally everything has stickers saying "not part of the game, no use", and there's only THE prop left to use. Yes, there's a physical component to it, still stand out a little from other rooms. But in terms of the mechanics, I'd say below average compared to new rooms nowadays. Nevertheless, I still want to try the other two rooms, just to confirm if it was my expectation or actually dropped room quality. Last but not least, the staff greeting us was surprisingly rude, but I will let this one go, maybe just a bad mood day.

Loved it! As other reviewers have mentioned very different from other escape rooms, they definitely want you using your common sense. Was tricky and much more physical than I anticipated. More the style with a few bigger puzzles rather than smaller, but you won’t find like clues to decipher things so much because it’s very non-traditional. Much more like how it would actually be if you were really trying to escape somewhere! Am excited to try their other rooms.

This was very different and very cool. Enjoyed the experience.