Escape X
Irvine, California
Mystery of Murder Manor: Locked in a mysterious haunted room, our team of ghosthunters had to reunite the deceased members of the Cain family in order to free their ghostly spirits.
Casino Heist: A casino owned by a mafia kingpin has millions of dollars in cash and jewels inside. Our goal was to retrieve as much of the stolen material as we could within an hour.
Pros: From the moment we stepped into the waiting room, we loved Escape X. The owners were friendly and excited to share their passion for escape rooms with us. They clearly explained the story theme, the rules, and set the tone for the game. They were readily accessible for assistance throughout the game. The set design in Murder Manor was intended to create that eerie feeling of being locked in a haunted house. It worked. Our whole group proceeded cautiously around the room, unsure what to make of the spooky storyline. The puzzles were logical and varied in type and style. The storyline of trying to reunite the Cain family carried throughout each puzzle and culminated in the final challenge. It was a masterfully designed room in the flow of the puzzles.
However, our favorite room by far was Casio Heist. In a twist from the typical escape room goal, our mission was not to escape but to collect as much money and as much evidence as possible before time ran out. This added an intensity and purpose to our game play that motivated us far beyond expectation. We delegated tasks and found ourselves prioritizing our puzzle solving in order to maximize our gain. The puzzles were fun to solve and scaled in complexity. Several of the puzzles stumped us. Yet, in the end we still felt like big winners as a result of the quantity of our booty and the enthusiasm of the game master.
Cons: We absolutely LOVED Casino Heist and cannot think of anyway they could improve it. Murder Manor was a blast as well. Congratulations to the escape room owners on a well-designed set-up!
