The Official SAW Escape

Not a great experience, definitely linked to the groups we were put with. Not the companies fault I guess but it’s a clear cash grab, especially with how they just push you through to the next section so the next group can come in

Well, here we are. I’ve wanted to do this room since it came out years ago and was so excited to do it finally… we left feeling so disappointed. First, the team mates we were paired with sucked- not the escape rooms fault. They have an option that you can have a private room for $400+ but let’s be honest, majority of us aren’t doing that so it’s a gamble (it is Vegas, I guess) Then our GM/actor… boy… I really wish I could say better about him since a lot of other reviews say their actor was a highlight. He, unfortunately, made the experience WAY worse. He would nudge us in the right direction when asked, but other than that, his character dialogue basically consisted of “wow, you guys are stupid” I don’t mind a game master that playfully roasts our group while in character, that can be very fun- but this was excessive to the point where it felt more like bullying and just plain annoying. It doesn’t add to the tension. The puzzle design is hit and miss. Gotta be honest, maybe these puzzles were cutting edge when the escape room first came out but I’ve seen a lot of these style of puzzles used better elsewhere and for less of a ticket price. Also, some puzzles are humanly impossible unless you complete some of the early rooms, which give you hints down the line. I would not come here for well put together puzzle design. The only thing positive out of our experience is the set design. Gotta give them their props I wanted nothing more than to sing this rooms praises from the mountain top, but due to falling short on the teammate gamble, our annoyed & highly insulting actor and high tech but illogical puzzle design, I cannot recommend this experience.

While SAW is probably fun for fans of the franchise (I've never seen it), I didn't enjoy the experience. In my opinion, the game design, the specific GM we had, and the specific group we played with were all poor. I think there were about 9 people total in our group, which is just way too much for players to reasonably be a part of what's going on, but also seemed like a typical group size. A lot of the players we were grouped with also seemed to have very little escape room experience, so things that a more experienced player might expect to go smoothly were instead a trainwreck - we failed two puzzles due to player inexperience slowing things down. The first time was sort of OK, as we were getting better at it and almost made it, but the second time was agonizing - watching someone else try to do a not uncommon escape room task and just not being able to do it, but also not wanting to be rude and snatch it out of their hands, and getting nowhere close. Part of this is also puzzle design - because the game is heavily pipelined and groups get pushed through when time is up, there's no incentive for designers to come up with good puzzles - people will get through on time regardless. I like most GMs, but the one we had annoyed me. Especially in the final room, as we were awkwardly waiting for one player to try to accomplish a task, the GM was just screwing with us, giving us meaningless tasks to do and lying about what to expect. I suppose he was entertaining himself, but it made me not trust him or his intentions, which is not what I want in a GM.

Soooo hard. But cool if you’re a big Saw fan.

The vibes were IMMACULATE. Best set work I have ever seen and so many rooms with such incredible detail. However, you didn’t get to try the puzzles until you solved them and you didn’t get any hints for a majority of it. The hints you did get you really couldn’t hear over the loud sound effects which were cool for the vibes but made it hard to know what’s up. If you didn’t solve the puzzle they just opened the door for you and moved you along to the next room to get the next group in/make sure you get to see everything. Really wasn’t sure what to leave for the review because it was gorgeous and horrifying but also didn’t feel like an escape room experience.

I'm a huge fan of Saw, and the atmosphere of this house is fantastic. The live actor adds a lot to the experience, and did a fantastic job. It's a linear escape room, so you progress through a bunch of rooms, each one with a 3-7 minute puzzle. We didn't finish most of the puzzles, so I'm not even sure what many of them were. The creators seemed to miss a great opportunity with the Saw franchise, because many of the puzzles have very little to do with Saw. Jigsaw was always explicitly clear about what you were supposed to do, it usually was just an awful thing that you really didn't want to do. He never sent you looking for lock combinations, keypad numbers, etc. There were a few good Saw moment puzzles, but I really expected more "Fear Factor" style challenges that never came (e.g. no searching for a key in a tub of ice and body parts, no having to hold an electric shock handle while someone else completed a challenge, etc.)... bummer. Overall fun, if you like Saw, though.

Least favorite escape room I’ve done to date. Important clues are said out loud but the room itself is so loud you can’t hear it. They give no clues in the first room so if you struggle in there you just have to struggle and be frustrated til that room times out and you’re moved to the next. The time limit given in most rooms didn’t feel like enough, especially when the things holding us back weren’t our fault, such as dark lighting making clues almost impossible to read or the wires we needed being tangled. The character actor was absolutely the best part, she was wonderful.