Past Forward

For an avid lover of solving puzzles and exploring mysterious and mind bending escape rooms, 404 Escape Room is a goldmine. Tucked away in the up and coming Irvington neighborhood of Fremont, this unassuming spot took me and my 2 friends by surprise. As we walked in, we were greeted by a boisterous group of people who were celebrating a bday party and were thrilled with excitement having solved the mystery game just in time, that energy was contagious. The escape room crew were super awesome and gave us a mystifying introduction which amp’ed up our excitement. The game “Past Forward” that the 3 of us signed up for, was not merely a nostalgic visual delight, but an absolute masterpiece that gives time travel a new definition. The transcendental experience takes you into dawn of time, something we only read in books giving you a first hand experience of what past looked like. The puzzles were so much fun to solve, some mathematically enchanting and some visually appealing. The difficulty is real…. I think 3 of us were too few and we barely made it out in time even after seeking clues. We are surely gonna come back for their other game “Stabbin Cabin”. If you are looking for the next great escape room experience, 404 Escape Room is going to give you a run for your money.

We played during the first week and the GM was welcoming and fun. We had a great time. The GM was attentive and gave hints that were small puzzles of their own which made the experience fun. Overall I'd say the escape room was easier than most that we've done (easiest 25%?). I'd recommend 2-4 players for it. It's definitely beginner and family friendly as well so it's fun for everyone. For more experienced players, I would also recommend trying to not use hints or at least relaxing and chilling to enjoy the room more. We did end up using a few hints, but in hindsight we should have tried to solve more. The storyline was better than most escape rooms (top 10%?) but isn't really that relevant to completing the puzzle. If you don't care about the story it's still great. Overall the theme was excellent and the puzzles were good. Of course some puzzles you'll see in other escape rooms just like other escape rooms. I don't think there were any particularly unique puzzles. I wouldn't say the escape room was perfect by any means, but was definitely solid and well above average (top 15-25%?) compared to other escape rooms in my overall experiences.