Project Dark Cyber: Permanent Backdoor Shutdown

The "Project Dark Cyber" game at Armadillo Escape Room fell short of expectations in several ways. Located in a trailer behind the main building, the single-room setup offers five different puzzle routes with selectable difficulty levels. However, the lack of clear explanation about these difficulty tiers from the game master left us guessing about our choice. The gameplay environment presented some challenges. The absence of background music and a noisy air conditioner made communication difficult. Some aspects of the game design were questionable, such as reusing keys and requiring physical force to move certain items - practices typically avoided in well-designed escape rooms. The puzzles themselves were overwhelming at times, with an excessive amount of written clues, including full pages of text. When we managed to unlock items, it wasn't always clear what had opened. Some elements in the room appeared non-functional, though this might have been related to our chosen difficulty level. The combination of these factors significantly impacted my enjoyment of the game. I found myself disengaging from the puzzles, leaving my teammates to handle most of the problem-solving. Overall, this escape room experience was disappointing and not one I can recommend. There's considerable room for improvement in terms of game design, player guidance, and overall ambiance.

This game was very fun. There was a puzzle that did not work but the GM jumped in and was prepared. Puzzle flow was good and kept us very busy on the “expert” level. We would have made it out if it was five more seconds. I only wish the audio was a bit clearer. But what a fun room for the Houston area.

One of my favorite rooms. Choose your level of difficulty. Unique puzzles on the route we took.