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egtung
256 escape rooms
I wanted to like this game - as a tourist, local mythology/history is always interesting. Unfortunately, Go to Yabe not only failed to deliver on this promise, it's also one of the most broken games I've played. Neither the game nor the GM explained how the settings of the sub-rooms was relevant to either the story or the local area - some narration would go a long way. The most I think you can say is that it's folklore-inspired, but don't expect to learn anything. A number of things were broken about the game. A maglock in the first room hadn't latched closed properly, leading to some confusion over whether we were supposed to have access to the contents yet (we were not). A ceiling blacklight stopped working; fortunately, the GM was prepared with a small portable replacement. A prop didn't trigger and the GM wasn't paying attention (or didn't have a good visual), leading to wasted time where we weren't sure if we were doing the right thing. It also wasn't clear what was happened when we finally did trigger it. Later in the game, one input method stubbornly refused to work despite us doing the right thing and checking with the GM - it turned out we were doing it at the wrong speed, but there was no feedback we were doing anything wrong. And the final interaction mistriggered early, leading the GM to think we had finished far earlier than we did (which also suggests they were not tracking our progress well, since they should have seen that we had done very little in that area). It's not all bad - the set is more detailed than one might expect given all the other issues. The GM was a good sport, energetically getting into character before the game started. It feels like the game could be much stronger with some minor overhauling.
Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
The GM was the best part of the experience
Ideal number of players
3
3 enthusiasts felt OK, 2 might be better.
Scary
Not scary
Was anything broken?
Yes
This might be one of the most broken rooms I've played
Live actors
No
Accessibility
One transition requires all players to crawl a short distance. One area of the game requires at least one player to climb a ladder.
Easy to find location
Yes
Parking
Limited
There's some street parking (metered), though we ended up paying for a nearby parking garage.