TheEnigmaCode
592 escape rooms
Jurassic themes are hard to pull off due to the expectations of something epic. Leave it to Escape City to find a way to make what I consider to be the best one I’ve played yet. There’s a real sense of adventure embedded throughout Jurassic Island, from its sprawling-yet-dense set to surprising, theatrical moments. While the early portion of the game was more puzzle-focused, by the end Escape City chained wow moments to create what may have been one of my favorite ending scenes I’ve ever encountered. Just the sheer detail of the set alone was fascinating and always compelling. The main drawback, which I think will vary person to person, was the flow of the game. Just to be clear, the puzzles aren’t unfair, or even tedious. They’re fun, well-designed puzzles. The main issue I had was the sheer density of the set coupled with some of the cluing being added via paper. Paper based cluing tends to divorce the gameplay from the set in a way that can be jarring. In a set with a lot of detail and both glued and in-play hiding places, it tended to get buried and prevent a natural starting point from room to room. My suggestion would be to integrate these clues more thoroughly - it could create a good sense of where to begin and encourage a closer look at the stunning set. Even with that in mind, this is absolutely a must play game - I would just suggest searching thoroughly and making sure to (gently) try props that may look out of play. There’s some great moments in this one. I do think one thing I would unfortunately have to bring up is the game master - he really rushed through the intro with a very heavy mumble and did not respond to our request for a hint even after something had broken. He thankfully gave us extra time after my mother and brother exited the room to find him, but I don’t know if he was being honest about the cameras not working due to reports of past behavior I’ve heard from this individual. While ultimately apologetic, his behavior was standoffish and made the beginning a little rocky for someone like me who struggles heavily with social anxiety and anxiety in general. Hinting may be less of a problem with a slightly stronger integrating between the set and relevant information.
Gameplay
While every puzzle solved cleanly overall, and were overall quite fun, the level of visual noise made identifying what was relevant very difficult.
Atmosphere
Escape City does not disappoint with their set design, and Jurassic Island is no exception. This could practically be a ride at Universal!
Customer service
There was some initial confusion about whether we were being watched (which was complicated by a tech failure), but our host did give us extra time to accommodate for said failure and was apologetic. However, I think the attitude overall was very rushed and impersonal
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
Very adventurous and highly involved
Story
The story wasn’t always clear, but by the end there were some great puzzle/story moments.
Difficulty
Hard
While the puzzles were logical and usually not too difficult, there was a lot going on in the set which made finding a natural starting place or identifying what was relevant difficult.
Game tech
High tech
One of the most impressive tech builds in terms of effects!
Ideal number of players
4
Ultimately, 4 is the best due to some of the tighter spaces and more linear gameplay, but it could accommodate 1 or 2 more4
Scary
Not scary
Minimum age
12
Was anything broken?
Yes
One prop failed to trigger properly, and ultimately we had to leave the room to get the game master’s attention. After that, everything flowed smoothly.
Live actors
No
Physically active
Not at all
Accessibility
One person has to crawl, and there are stairs that are required to access one portion of the game. Color is relevant to few puzzles. The game space is generally tight and may not accommodate mobility devices.
Easy to find location
Yes
Parking
Easy
