M
Medic2012
70 escape rooms
We planned and arrived in the customary 15 min early timeframe. Upon arrival, you're greeted with a closed door stating that you should "wait" for a gamemaster. Standing in the hall with other groups gets old fast. The gamemaster arrived ~5 minutes after our scheduled START time, which was a bit concerning, and told us on the way upstairs that his last group "Went soooo long..." The GM introduced himself and admitted he was "pretty new" but "I know enough about the room to get you through all the puzzles". Wow... We were handed a walkie-talkie, which is how you get hints here. It doesn't appear there's a close eye on what you're doing, either, as we were asked "What puzzle do you need help with? Where are ya?" Immersion was broken when the GM entered the room on at least two occassions; one while we were in a remote area which created an unintentional jump-scare and almost compromised the safety of the GM! The time remaining was frequently reset, seemingly arbitrarily, and did not accurately reflect the time we were inside. The GM exclaimed that we were the fastest group he had seen on one of the harder rooms they have. We were planning on returning to do other rooms the following day. Even with the prospect of a 20% discount for bouncebacks, we opted NOT to do more rooms with this company. Overall, the experience could have been worse, but it had so many opportunities for imrpovement. I'll detail the room and gameplay itself in the breakdown below.
Gameplay
Not entirely original, the theme of the room is a serial killer's cabin. The flow was extremely linear, and though it all made sense, there were only a few cases where the puzzle tied directly with the "lock" to release it, leaving you kind of guessing where to use codes. None of the puzzles were particularly difficult, and we rarely had doubts about the numbers -- only sometimes where to use them.
Atmosphere
Only "OK" -- everything was static and only somewhat immersive. The "kill room" aspect was really just black plastic on the walls. Some of the items - though creepy - just didn't fit with the theme overall.
Customer service
Clearly young, inexperienced GM. Had nothing but problems with the operation of the room. DId not track our progress well, and spoiled the immersion. Seemed as though he was extremely overwhelmed and not well positioned to handle running 2 games simultaneously (which is what it appears they typically do).
Particularly interesting or different
No
This theme has been done a bunch, and though it was decently themed, it just didn't feel "special"
Story
This is a mixed bag -- I said yes, but it really was middle of the road.
Difficulty
Medium
Not too many context clues, but really not difficult if you have done other escape rooms. If this is one of their harder rooms, I would really hate to experience their novice ones.
Game tech
Mechanical
3 locks on one cabinet, for example. Very little tech.
Ideal number of players
4
We played with 3 and were out very quickly. Any more than 4 probably clog up the works -- there's not a lot to work on independantly, so all are struggling to see the same things.
Scary
Spooky
Some "body parts" and plastic novelties. Nothing unexpected for a story such as this.
Minimum age
12
Was anything broken?
No
Live actors
No
Physically active
Not at all
Accessibility
Entire room is in lower light, but flashlights are provided.
Easy to find location
Yes
Right in the middle of the pedestrian mall, the building was easy to find. However, there's no "check in" desk, and you are stuck waiting in the hallway until someone decides to come down.
Parking
Easy
Street parking nearby is available, as well as close parking deck.
