The Artefact

‘The Artifact’ was an extremely disappointing experience. As a group of two with over 50 escape rooms under our belt, this room was one of the worst we have ever completed (or not completed in this case!). No jump scares as detailed in the description and far from a 5/5 for fear factor. Several automatic puzzles malfunctioned throughout the game, wasting valuable time. When we questioned this, no offer was made to extend or compensate for the lost time. Why should we lose time for issues outside of our control? The room begins by splitting players into two separate areas — something not advertised — and unless you have night vision, good luck navigating in the dark. The puzzles themselves aren’t particularly difficult, but the room lacks logical flow. There’s little connection between puzzles, leaving players guessing and often working on locks that aren’t yet relevant, wasting valuable time. We found no enjoyment in this experience and left feeling very dissatisfied. We’ve never before been told to leave exactly at the time limit without any explanation of what was left unsolved. A big part of great escape rooms for us comes from the enthusiasm of the game master and those who have spent time creating and enjoying these rooms. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel any of this at Escape Zone.