The Cabin Trilogy is without a doubt the scariest room I've ever played, but amazingly, they have a non-scary version. If you call ahead, they can offer you the same room without the scary elements. I even got chills while they were introducing the story. Before you enter the room, you stand in a dark hallway outside the room where they tell you the story. This allows your eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, and it provides a spooky element before the clock even starts. The room has a lot of generation one locks and simple generation one puzzles, but it's so scary that it's hard to focus on the puzzles. We spent a lot of time running from area to area, but we were scared to go into a new area, because we didn't know what would be in there.
I don't want to say much about this room because the element of surprise is so important to its design, but I will say that the room is more linear room than many rooms that I play. That linearity aids the immersiveness and scariness of the room, and it allows players to experience all of the puzzles. That's one of the reasons that I think this room is a great room for a small group. Yes a larger group would have a lot of fun doing this room, but I actually think that a smaller group would have more fun in this room.
I love the hint mechanism of this room. You don't have to carry a walkie-talkie or run to a stationary hint requesting device. I won't give a lot of details, but the hints are spooky, easily accessible, and helpful.
Because there are some small areas, some dexterity is helpful in this room, and it's important for players to pay close attention to all the details in the room. The scary distractions will cause you to think that details are only there to add to the design, but like the other great rooms at Escape Hour, everything in the room has a purpose.
Because the story of this room is the first episode in a trilogy, I was nervous that the room would have a cliffhanger ending, but that did not happen. The ending was exciting, and the game master came into the room to celebrate our success and actually debrief the experience.
