The Reel

The room has some disjointed puzzles that didn't make sense at first. There was one lock not reset and off when we came in. One flip switch type puzzle didn't trigger automatically and they had to do it. Just not a well put together room. Fun for someone new to escape rooms but enthusiasts will likely be disappointed. The staff was really friendly.

Overall the atmosphere of the game was wonderful. It was super immersion and the puzzles fit in universe. There weren't very many puzzles, but they all made sense when you thought about them. Not a beginner room, but not insanely difficult. The one thing that took away from the experience was unfortunately the game masters. We got two hints, one at the beginning that wasn't helpful, but it was timely. The second hint was near the end and we spent 1 full minute trying to get it. Then once we escaped we waited for a while before someone finally came to get us. Everyone has off days, but they were monotone in "congratulating" us and honestly sucked the energy out of the room. Overall a solid room, but there are definitely some kinks that still need worked.

Overall a straightforward and mostly reasonable room; it wouldn't be my room of choice for beginners, but at the same time I don't think it would be a bad one. Puzzle Effect takes the unusual stance of allowing photos in rooms, which seems like an interesting viral marketing tactic. There were a couple puzzles where the cluing felt a little rough (e.g. I figured them out because I'm familiar with common escape room puzzle tropes by now, but I didn't see a reasonable way for a beginner to make the correct leaps). Some of the props felt worn, but not in a way that was a markedly worse than other rooms I've played. The set in the first room felt a little bare and underwhelming, but after that, the production values felt better - almost as if the space was built out from the end to the beginning, but they ran out of money/time/attention when they got to the first room. The GM, Paige, seemed attentive on hints - after we had difficulty getting traction on the first puzzle, I mentioned to the group that I was ready for a hint and one was provided almost instantly. There were other points in the game where a hint popped up just as we were slowing down, which kept us moving at a satisfying velocity. On the other hand, there was (what I assume was) a timed hint that appeared well after we had solved the thing it referred to, so it wasn't perfect. I was worried a little by another review which mentioned the set being dark; while it was on the dim side (and thus not ideal for my older parents whose eyes don't work as well as they used to), I personally had no problem.

Uniquely themed room compared to range we've experienced. Lots of fun and involved some clever coordinating between players.

Pretty fun, some things threw us off on the puzzles, but we got them figured out, lots of interesting team work needed. And the set design was fun since it looked like an old school theater. The only very lame complaint I have is that it's all a bit backwards as it relates to rooms and how you would normally walk into a theater, which is a really lame thing to even review about.

I did this room as a beginner and thought it was challenging. There was one particular puzzle that threw us off but once we got a hint we were kicking ourselves. The theater theme was fun!

Certainly it was reel-y good but not amazing. Puzzles are very linear. Thematic is good. Puzzle effect allows photos in rooms which is fun!

I played this room alone on my much too long layover in Denver. I beat it with 5 minutes remaining, and had to ask for two clues, so it’s fairly easy. I got caught on stupid things my other half would have got if they were with me. I think it was an immersive game, everything made sense for the theme, and it was a lot of fun.

Fun game. Super quick with 4 people!! But still a good time!

One of the first rooms I ever did in Denver when visiting. Loved the theme and the first room seems deceivingly simple at first, but as you go from room to room the puzzles get more complicated. 4 people was the right number of people and not many traditional locks. We had quite a few beginners that found the room just challenging enough. There's one puzzle that I haven't seem done anywhere else. My friends said the room is having some things breaking down on it though.