EscapeRoomExplorer
228 escape rooms
‘The Magician’s Secret’ is an enjoyable game within Escape Manor’s collection of escape experiences. While the first half of the game is filled with delightful magic-themed puzzles, our experience in the second half was spoiled by our GM experience. Without requesting any hints, the GM mistakenly gave us hints for another game and then repeatedly gave us clues (without us asking for any), even providing the answers for multiple puzzles. After the game, the GM mentioned that those puzzles always require cluing, so they preemptively told us what to do. If those puzzles are consistently challenging for players, further iteration on both the cluing and puzzle design may be necessary to improve the experience and reduce the need for GMs to intervene. The way ‘The Magician’s Secret’ initially delivers its magic-themed puzzles is wonderful, which is why this game gets a thumbs up overall.
Gameplay
The flow was intermittent, and it’s hard to say whether the flow was there in the second room as the GM gave clues without being asked that essentially told us what to do.
Atmosphere
The starting room looked great!
Customer service
We, unfortunately, had one of the most disappointing GM experiences in almost a hundred games. The GM gave us clues for another room without us asking for a clue, and then peppered us with clues (without us asking for any) and gave us the answer for multiple puzzles. When I asked why they did that, after gently pointing out that we had ample time left on the clock, the GM said those puzzles always need cluing so he preempted it.
Particularly interesting or different
No
Story
The story was woven throughout the puzzles.
Difficulty
Medium
Game tech
Mechanical
Ideal number of players
4
Scary
Not scary
Minimum age
15
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Not at all
Easy to find location
Yes
Parking
Limited
