Labescape: Quantum Salvation

This was a unique game! It started off with us reading about different science concepts, which was interesting. You could tell the GM really loves what she was teaching. The room itself was one room that had all the info you needed. There were definitely some items that needed at least 2 people in different areas to get it to work. You start off with a lot of items all at once - tons of locks, a key or two that you aren’t sure where they go, etc. One item we found was actually a list of which boxes to open in which order and which puzzle goes with which box. Which was helpful when you have half a dozen puzzles and not enough info for any of them. But also broke the escape room excitement a bit of figuring out how puzzles are solved. Overall, this was definitely a unique room due to all the different things you needed to do to get your clues. Quantum Mechanics, Lasers, oh my! It was also fairly cheap as far as escape rooms go at $12 so I think you definitely get your money’s worth.

Rating: 3.5/5 Unique science experiments, great learning experience As a STEM nerd, this room was a joy. Most of the puzzles felt like science experiments and showcased many different principles that I've never seen used in an escape room. The puzzling itself was OK, difficulty seemed higher and there was too much information available from the start, fortunately nothing was unfair or illogical. There was a story tying everything together, though it seemed a bit stereotypical (find the cure to a virus). The set was also pretty plain since it's just a single room in a university building, but the interesting equipment helped make up for it. Puzzles were heavily padlock/combo lock based though there was still a decent amount of tech used. Our GM (who was in the room with us) didn't seem particularly enthusiastic but she was helpful and friendly enough. We played as team of 3 enthusiasts and finished with around 10 min left with minimal hints. I would recommend a team of 3-5 due to the higher difficulty, though they are public bookings.

I really like the premise of LabEscape: teaching science via an escape room is a great way to motivate people to interact with things they might not otherwise. I think the current implementation is a decent start, but also could use some tweaking to be a good escape room experience. The major issues IMHO are the public bookings and game flow. I walked into the game thinking there would be a group of 3 other enthusiast friends, but we learned that an additional 4 strangers had signed up. They were nice and smart people, but playing any game with 8 players is questionable, much less with people you've never met before. While I'd prefer private bookings with smaller groups, I understand that probably wouldn't serve LabEscape's goal - it feels like they're aiming more for a field trip of students. Game flow was pretty linear, which meant we could get blocked easily. There was also a lot of stuff available right away. As a teaching tool or engagement driver, LabEscape is great. I hope they continue to succeed and want more places to be doing stuff like this. I just don't think I want to play it myself, at least without some tweaks.

As someone who has played a fair number of escape rooms, LabEscape is certainly not the best escape room I’ve ever played. But it does do a uniquely good job of incorporating some fantastic science demos into its gameplay. The mechanics of the actual escape room are fairly rudimentary - relying on locks, searching, a run book, and very linear game flow (lockbox A gives you the reagents for experiment B which gives you the code for lockbox C…). I would love to see the LabEscape team do a little more gating of access to materials, rather than finding almost everything we would eventually need during our initial search of the room. Even so, if you are excited by science, this is worth playing. As long as you know going in what you are going to get, I think you’ll still have a great time, and the team’s enthusiasm is infectious