Masters Of Magic

Wear and tear on one puzzle made solving it difficult

There are mandatory stairs

Mandatory stairs, color puzzles

Gameplay flowed well.

Well done atmosphere and loved the special effects!

Had some special “magic” effects that made the experience unique

There is one puzzle near the end that we had trouble figuring out because it was worn down too much to see the clue well

There are stairs. Not accessible.

It is a little hard to find so plan ahead. There are two locations in gatlinburg.

Unfortunately our GM also had to man the storefront of this location while we played. So given the circumstances he did a great job of being there for hints and nudges.

There were some theatrical aspects of the room that you actually partake in.

We had to park at a remote parking lot and walk about ten minutes or so to get to the room. It is on the main strip in Gatlinburg.

We initially arrived at their main location and booked the Masters of Magic, and only after we booked and paid for it did they tell us that the room was actually at a different location down the strip (~5 min walk). It wasn’t that big of a deal, but it that is just something you should tell a customer *before* buying tickets. The GM was *constantly* giving hints we did not ask for. There were a few of the “magical” elements that were spoiled because the GM told us about them before they happened. There were several times that once we found and object they GM just immediately told us what to do with it instead of letting us figure it out on our own. One member of our group had never done an escape room before and halfway through the game she said to the GM “you can let us struggle a little bit”. Even she felt like it was too much hand holding. It really did ruin much of the experience for us, in what would otherwise have been a really great room based on the atmosphere and staging. Also, when we finished… there was no celebration. No congratulations. They didn’t even stop the clock (it was still ticking as we walked out). No offer for a photo. It was a disappointing end, especially for our friend who completed her first ever escape room.

One bottleneck on a logic puzzle...

Got a little bit tight with 6 in some sections.

Climb some stairs

Pay to park nearby.

Pay to park nearby.

Utterly fantastic. Good puzzles with creative execution. There's at least one puzzle in this room where I was genuinely uncertain how they managed the tech implementation for it.

They really knocked it out of the park with this room's production quality. I believe only one puzzle involved padlocks, and it was for a puzzle where they were thematically appropriate. Also, people frequently underestimate the importance of sound design in creating a satisfying room. The designers behind Masters of Magic did not do so -- my partner and I both commented on how much the excellent sound design contributed to the game.

Nick is the kind of gamemaster every escape room owner hopes to find. He was sharp, funny, attentive, and struck the perfect balance of helpfulness. He helped keep us from getting discouraged or overly distracted, without spoiling any puzzle solutions or tricks for us. One specific note of praise for him: My partner is blind -- still has enough vision to struggle with things like flickering lights, but not much else -- and she commented on how well Nick did at making the game accessible for her, despite (according to him) never having had a blind player in his games before. That's a rare talent to encounter, according to her.

The plot is satisfying without getting too complex. It nicely provides a non-escape motivation for the game's time limit, which is always nice to see.

Honestly a nice mix of tech and physical interaction.

Players need to be comfortable moving up and down a staircase a few times.

1. Due (presumably) to constraints of the building, playing this game requires players to be able to easily navigate a full flight of stairs. I didn't see any backup elevator or ramp -- although I didn't ask, because it wasn't an issue for any of our players. This is not indicated on the booking site, as far as I can tell. 2. There were at least two instances I recall where we were hindered from acquiring necessary props by the fact that they were simply hidden in shadow, rather than by having them locked behind any kind of puzzle. This appears to be an intentional design decision, with large sections of the game being dimly lit. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but for someone with low vision/a visual impairment, it could sour the experience. My vision's pretty good, and I struggled with finding some of the props in question. 3. When we played, the main light in one chamber was flickering pretty badly. Not quite a strobe effect, but it was bad enough that my partner had to avoid opening her eyes in that room because it was triggering a migraine. The gamemaster confirmed this was not an intentional element of the set design that he could control -- just a temporary equipment failure. These things happen, of course. I only mention it to encourage the business to prioritize fixing issues like this, or at least put a notice on their site if they can't/won't fix it.

Very fun

Great job with the sets