Allister’s Secret

Maine Escape Games is a company I can count on to deliver excellent, tangible, puzzle-forward experiences with both unique settings and shocking amounts of high quality content per game - included many fun and surprising twists. Allister’s Secret pushes further into puzzle design than their previous games, allowing its classy and minimalist set to hide a plethora of satisfying secrets. While the set is nice, interactive, and everything looks right, it’s not the focus. Instead, I think this has many of their best puzzles and will appeal to practically anyone who likes puzzles - from large teams of beginners to smaller, more concentrated enthusiast groups. There’s a massive assortment of practically every kind, often baked into the set and making use of fantastically integrated environmental cluing. Nothing was overly difficult - the volume crated the complexity as there was always a lot to do and many avenues open at any given time. The best made use of beautifully constructed contraptions, many presented through classically intellectual / highbrow props (which made the puzzles thematic beyond their integration into the set). The few low points are mostly trivial. Two puzzles were a little underclued - while superficially obvious, I think some added complexity might actually make it less confusing. A few required mild outside knowledge: this is a tricky one because one in particular was excellent as a set of clues, but in practice would require somewhat specific knowledge (this puzzle is relatively easy to bypass with partial knowledge). As a small overall note - I think there was an opportunity to increase the drama of the experience. The narrative is interesting, the moments are fun, and there’s a great twist - but there was an opportunity for more emphasis in both the reactions from the set, and from the flow of the story. To be clear, this is indicative of a game in the upper echelon of the medium - many games never reach a level where the only real major improvement would be to make it “cinematic”, so to have that as a goal shows everything else is already pretty much perfect. Even if it isn’t necessarily a “dramatic” game, there’s plenty of wow moments in terms of solves, transitions, and interactions that absolutely make this a premier game in the New England area. I would highly recommend a visit to Maine Escape Games for all their games, from their older games that got me to their newest, high tech experiences.

Another great room for Maine Escape Games. They continue to be the premiere escape room venue in Maine and this room does wonders and diverts expectations quite a few times. The theme was a lot of fun for everyone and there is plenty to do. Would recommend for anyone.

Awesome room! Theme was fun and unexpected. Puzzles were interesting and creative. Multiple tasks can be done simultaneously so you aren’t all sitting around watching one person solve. An all around fun room!