Inventor's Paradox

This escape room was SUPER thematic and had great set design. As soon as you enter the building, everything is gorgeously themed and you are transported into the game world. I played with a large group and we had a very positive experience. The puzzles seemed generally parallelizable and variable in style. There were rarely times where all players were standing around solving 1 puzzle. Great flow. The puzzles were also good, ranging from easy to challenging. Would highly recommend if you love escape rooms for the immersion aspect!

As soon as you enter the door, the immersion begins…and it becomes striking. The onboarding is genius - that’s all I’ll say. Lots of puzzling to keep pace (split up to conquer), and an intriguing story built-in. This game has lots of locks and boxes, being it is an older game that once was ahead of its time, but it’s truly a solid escape room adventure. We look to return to play The Mind’s Eye.

Th is my revised review of this game. I had done this game 7 years prior at their original location. The original was massive in size (at one point you were running down walkways!) so was curious to see how the game held up and if anything had changed. First off, the game itself. This is a beautiful game. It's an incredible storyline borrowing from Greek mythology but taking place in the modern day. The sets are still huge (imagine one room as a FULL SIZE library rather than one bookshelf). I have a slightly better appreciation at the game is now a little bit older, since there are a fair number of locks. This is in stark contrast to their other game, The Mind's Eye, which is purely technological The puzzles are not easy, and there is a lot to do, so bring your crew. The first time we played, there were at least six of us, and this most recent time, it was just me and my wife. We also started slightly late, so we had a little bit more of a time crunch. The flow is still there, so you will truly enjoy this. There are a few things that are different from the original location. The first time we played, we were turned away because we didn't have the password. We were advised to go back to our car and stay "tuned" with the password broadcast on an a.m. radio frequency! The other thing was how ridiculously huge their space was, as we started on a main street filled with shop, windows and street lights. Unfortunately, those things are gone now, but do not worry, the immersion is still there, and they have added a unique way to enter... I love this game and this company. I highly recommend not only coming and doing both games (which are connected by an overarching storyline), but this is something worth going to Pittsburgh JUST to do these games. (And stay for breakfast at Pamela's!)

We traveled a distance to do their room because we heard they moved and its a must do location. The entrance to the building and the thematics of the intro were so unique, we were excited with what was to come. They really do know how to start a room, however, the room itself puzzle wise was pretty meh (so many math puzzles) when we did need a nudge it was tough to understand the gamemaster giving us clues. The look And feel of the room was well done and there were some clever contraptions that really made is say wow. Also, I am never happy when we have to pay for extra spots to meet a minimum.

Amazing immersive experience from the moment you step onto the property. Did their first room as a seasoned duo and was impressed by the variety of puzzles. There was a lot to do for two people but we managed. There was no way to communicate with the GMs so we weren’t sure if we could ask for a hint but wasn’t an issue as we switched puzzle control to get a new set of eyes to solve. There was no clock so you had to rely on your internal clock (we chose to lock our phones away) or wait for the room to mention a time which happened twice. Overall the set design and quality of puzzles was worth the price for escape room enthusiasts.

This game play was fun! The entrance and first room were really quite unique. Puzzles were challenging for the two of us, but the GM said we did okay as a group of two and was willing to accommodate for certain puzzles. Would probably be easier with 4. I think the only let down is that this room is pretty hyped up, but I’m not sure if it lived up to the hype. Certain aspects of it were very cool while others fell flat.

Story: 4/10 Theming: 8/10 Puzzles: 7/10 Bathroom: 9/10 There is so much to say about this experience. This is immersive from beginning to end. There is a mechanism (that isn't a part of the room itself) that is a big WOW factor that my group still cannot fully figure out how they did it. We did this room with 3 people and we went into it not thinking we were going to be able to finish it based off of reviews we had read. My husband is a scenery snob so he was very impressed by all the details in every room. My main issue in hindsight was the story. I think I get the gist of it, but if you're going to go the extra mile and be so insanely immersive, I would just make sure the story was concise, clear and compelling. The end was a bit of a let down. It was fantastic that we escaped, but the room's elements put a lot of pressure on you that you'd expect the ending to be more climactic. Again, theming was impressive and the room design is really cool. The puzzles were... Fine. Nothing very technical and there are definitely a LOT of puzzles and there are a few that will definitely stump you. We did need help along the way. My constructive criticism would be to make the story more concise. I would either get rid of all extraneous locks (there were several that were NOT a part of the room and were to secure things) or color them to make it clear they are not a part of the room. I would also make abundantly clear what the auditory cues mean. There is no clock to show you your time in the room so they give you auditory clues at the 15 minute marks and we were definitely confused on what they were. It was a bit disorienting. This was a challenging room, especially with 3 people. We had a great time and we were very impressed by all the hard work!

Rating: 3.5/5 This was a pretty cool room, I liked it a lot but didn't love it. I wasn't a fan of some of the puzzles but the set, immersion, and theatrics were great. We made it out in time but needed a few nudges. Overall, I enjoyed it but was a bit disappointed since I had high expectations with it being a TERPECA finalist and Golden Lock winner. Pros: -Intro and check in process was theatrical and very unique, it starts the moment you enter the door. I haven't seen anything like this yet even after around 100 rooms. -One "wow, how did they do that?" moment, though it happened before the room even started. -Good amount of tech -Excellent use of lighting and audio -Game master was in character and gave us nudges when appropriate -Set was high quality and immersive -Set was large with multiple areas -A few cool, large mechanical props Could've been better: -Lighting was too dark at times -Ending was a bit anti-climactic -Story was kind of vague/weird Cons: -Too many math puzzles, if I have to get my phone calculator out to do the math then it's too much. -Too many padlocks (many did not fit the theme), lockboxes, and number puzzles -Puzzles weren't great, some felt tedious We played with 4 (mix of experienced and newbies) and we had a lot to do simultaneously, so I'd recommend 4-6.

There were a few disjointed puzzles, one that asked you to make a bit of a leap in interpreting it and times where you had to make out clues in the dark. Overall a good run but the hype left me feeling like it was a bit anticlimactic