Escape Bryggen, Escape Room Review

Escape Bryggen

Bergen, Norway

Hanseaticus: A group of smugglers have hidden their precious treasure. We had to locate the treasure and escape undiscovered.

The Crimson Hotel: A haunted hotel room housed dark secrets. We had to find a way out before we met our doom.

La Diva Supernova: An opera star has become the target of attack when a bomb is planted in her room. Our group had to find a way to defuse the bomb.

Pros: Escape Bryggen has three games in two different locations. The room in the heart of the historic district on the wharf was located in one of the old buildings in a back alleyway. This immediately added to the ambience. We arrived in Bergen in the morning and went straight to play the rooms. We had been awake for 32 hours and were exhausted from jet lag. We played all three games in a row with only about 15 minutes in between. We found our minds were foggy as we struggled to wake up enough to focus on puzzle solving. The rooms were particularly challenging, multi linear with lots of puzzles and locks. We slogged through the first game making slow progress and stumbling awkwardly as a result of the lack of sleep. We were not able to escape the first game. We did successfully escape the next two games as the adrenaline kicked in and we gained a bit more clarity with each game. The sets were basic but tied to the themes. The puzzles are all very logical, the game masters offered help as needed and the storyline of each room was outlined in the beginning. 

Cons: There were so many puzzles in these rooms that it was difficult for two people. Three to four would be ideal here. Other than that and our need for sleep, these were solid escape room 
experiences. So far Norway has scored an A on escape rooms! 

http://www.escapebryggen.no

The Room, Bergen, Escape Room Review

The Room

Bergen, Norway

Dark Wizards Room: Dangerous sorcery is afoot. Some creepy magic was happening in this room and we decided to escape rather than find out what happens next.

Pros: This was the fourth escape room we played in Bergen. Thank goodness we had finally slept. Our brains were definitely flowing much quicker through this game than they had been the day before. We made good progress at first. The logical nature of the puzzles made for quick work. This room also had numerous puzzles at once. We needed no hints for the first 40 minutes and progressed at a rapid pace. The last fifteen minutes or so we felt like we hit a wall and requested our hints in rapid succession. These helped move us along but in the end we struggled on the very last puzzle. We literally shouted out the solution as the game master walked through the door. Unfortunately it was much too late. Overall this was a solid room escape with clear logical puzzlss and great game flow. The game master was ready to offer help as needed.

Cons: The room was decorated to theme but we did not know the storyline. Afterwards we were able to read the story on the Internet. It may have helped a bit playing the game and added to the experience. Otherwise this was a very enjoyable experience. When in Bergen, be sure to play at The Room.

http://www.theroombergen.com

Vault Escape, Escape Room Review

Vault Escape

Riverside, Illinois

Inheritance: We were set to inherit a fortune. But only if we could solve our crazy deceased relative's riddles in order to locate it.

Mad Scientist: Another mad scientist bent on vengeance. We had to find a way to defuse the bomb before we fell victim to his plot. 

Pros: Let us begin by saying that the owner at Vault Escape was completely awesome. She clearly loves what she does and we appreciated her joy and the effort she put into her rooms. Also, she made a great game master with her attention to our progress and helpful hints as needed. The rooms themselves had clear, logical game flows. The puzzles were quite solvable and overall tied to the theme of each room. We can honestly say we enjoyed playing the games and figuring out each puzzle. The linear nature of the room also helped our progress. The rooms were small, best for two to four players. The sets, however, coincided with the general theme of the room.

Cons: A few of the puzzles tripped us up a bit with possible alternatives, but overall these are nicely designed games and rooms. Set-design is basic, but it works! It is mostly about good game flow and puzzles to us. We recommend this as a solid room escape experience among the best Illinois has to offer.

http://www.vaultescapechicago.com/the-vaults

Escape Factor Chicago Escape Room Review

Escape Factor Chicago

Oak Park, Illinois

The Timekeeper's Trap: Locked in the den of a crazy clockmaker, tick-tock will we be able to unlock the lock? Is time on our side?

Pros: The owner and game master was a delightful individual who thoroughly made us feel welcome and excited to play. He stayed in the room with us and carried us through troubled times or whenever we found ourselves at a loss. The room had a unique theme and the set design was clearly tied to this theme. Many of the puzzles were quite clever and we appreciated their connection to the story.

Cons: There were so many clock-related puzzles that our brains are still numb from the temporal experience. We had puzzle overload all around. We thought we did fairly well in progressing through the many, MANY puzzles, until time ran out and we were told how many more we had to go. If it were not for the helpful hints of the game master we probably would not have progressed as far as we did since most of the puzzles were overly complicated and convoluted, requiring some translation in order to solve them. Overall we think we liked it but we are not entirely sure since our thinking tool kind of shut down midway through this game. So we will get back to you on that one when it is up and running again. 

http://www.escapefactorchicago.com/#about

Escape Artistry, Escape Room Review

Escape Artistry

Chicago, Illinois

The Railcar: Trapped on a speeding transit train, we had to figure out how to put the brakes on this choo choo before we plunged to our deaths. In the process, we unraveled the evil plot of a domestic terrorist.

Pros: The game master was awesome. From the moment she walked out to greet us, she exuded an enthusiasm that was worthy of the greatest game masters in the world. She truly set the tone for the game we were about to play. She even managed to skillfully deal with the annoying hungover college kids we had to play with who thought they were ever so funny and clever to the amusement of nobody ever. She was a true master of the art of game mastery, if it was an art. We were then led inside the game play area we stood in awe for a moment at the cool set and pondered the background story as it played on the screen. Once the clock began ticking however, our attitude rapidly changed.

Cons: The puzzles were mostly riddles and math problems, typical of the kind found in any standard puzzle book. This is becoming one of our major issues with many escape rooms, the general lack of creativity and unwillingness to tie the puzzles to the storyline. We found ourselves parceling them out like homework. "Who's good at math?" "Who can do riddles?" "Graphs?" Etc. We trudged through these like a child shoving down their veggies. Even the mechanical puzzle, which I usually jump to do, was tedious and near impossible to complete. We escaped through a default method that allowed us to essentially bypass the difficult puzzles and move forward anyway. All in all, a puzzle design fail. But hey we got to hold a victory sign in the end. Score!

http://www.escape-artistry.com

Hidden Key Escapes, Escape Room Review

Hidden Key Escapes

Naperville, Illinois

The Hideaway: Kidnapped and taken for ransom, we had to escape a secret room. 

Pros: At the end of a long streak of escape room fails in Illinois, we were ready to hang up our hats and relinquish our title as escapologists. Until, we played The Hideaway at Hidden Key Escapes. We walked in determined to prove we were not complete failures. We were also starving and set on escaping before the restaurants closed. We set to work, methodically moving through the numerous puzzles. Clear game flow and logical puzzles helped keep us on track. We needed only one hint at the end (requiring us to move a piece of furniture despite our general hesitancy to do so given so many exhortations against doing so in other rooms). Finally, we escaped with much time to spare. We were elated and starving. So we hurried on out of there with a renewed love of escape rooms.

Cons: None. We escaped. We were literally so thrilled after our succession of losses that this place felt like the best escape room experience in the world. Seriously it did. But in retrospect, a clearly articulated storyline would have been nice. More creative set-design perhaps? Aw heck, who needs those, this is the best Illinois has to offer, so let's just congratulate them for logical puzzles and good game flow. Here, Here!*

*The sarcasm in this review is a result of Poorly-Designed Puzzle Fatigue (PDPF), a condition brought on by fruitlessly attempting to solve so many poorly design puzzles at other escape rooms in the area. Not at Hidden Key, thank goodness. 

http://www.hiddenkeyescapes.com

The Basement Escape Rooms, Escape Room Review

The Basement Escape Rooms

Aurora, Illinois

Traumatized: Captured by a serial killer . . . you can guess the rest. Essentially we had to escape or die.

Pros: Amazingly cool set and altogether horrific environment. Perfect for haunted houses, zombies, laser tag, and just hanging out in a scary room. We played laser tag and loved it. We definitely recommend you plan on spending hours here and shoot some zombies while you are at it. The escape room itself had a total immersive feel, except for the game master's presence in the room, which felt more oppressive than if Dr. Trauma himself had been in the room. 

Cons: There were so many puzzles (complex and illogical) that we were overwhelmed and the game master had to literally chart them out on a white board and guide us to each hint to help lead us through the game. We did not get far at all and more people most definitely could have helped. There were so many red herrings and distractions however, that playing this game was difficult to impossible at times. The sheer number of puzzles made progress exceedingly slow. The game master's apparent judgement on our abilities diminished all of our confidence and we temporarily determined to pretend that our name was the "escape wannabes" rather than the "escapologists." We literally succeeded at nothing except single-handedly saving our team from obliteration in laser tag. But the escape room experience was a total loss. 

http://thebasementescaperooms.com

The Room Lisle, Naperville, Illinois

The Room Lisle

Naperville, Illinois

Einstein Room: Not sure what the story was for this room but there were images of Albert Einstein on the wall so we are guessing that's where the name came from. 

The Gallery: Famous paintings adorned the walls and we were tasked with discovering the forgeries and solving puzzles to escape. 

The White Room: A completely white room. 30 minutes. That's all you need to know.

Pros: There were three escape rooms at this place and clearly we love escape rooms.

Cons: Where to begin... Let's start with the game master. When we arrived, she proceeded to provide a 15 minute lecture on the DO NOTS of the room. These included the typical rules such as do not climb or break as well as a few we had never heard of before such as "put the clues back right next to where you found them so the staff doesn't have to work so hard in resetting the room" and "don't do any renegade moves." She went on to explain that renegade moves included jumping ahead. Now, it is our belief that in a well-designed game it would be truly impossible to jump ahead (lock-picking aside) so this has never been a problem for us. However, during and after our game we were indeed chastised for making renegade moves, much to our surprise. Apparently, we solved several puzzles "before we were supposed to" which to us was not a problem at all but to the game master was apparently a most vile violation. Our advice: if you don't want people to jump ahead, make sure there is no way for them to do so. It is all about puzzle design and good game flow. Besides that issue, we found the puzzles mostly tedious to complete, feeling more like homework than imaginative and fun puzzle solving. The same was true for both the Einstein Room and the Gallery. In the Gallery, we played with several children and were pleased to assign some of the more homework type puzzles to them rather than have to trudge through them ourselves. The sheer number of puzzles combined with the arduous nature of them made it difficult to escape in the time limit.  With no story lines, we didn't necessarily feel invested anyway and were not really sure why we needed to even escape. 

With regard to the White Room, let's just say that we solved it after we failed to solve it. That will make much more sense to you after you have played it. Interesting concept and we appreciate the philosophy behind it and especially the fact that it was completely contrary to our room escape instincts and challenged us to rethink our game-play strategy in general. With that said, we were divided on whether we disliked it very much or hated it altogether. 

http://theroomlisle.com

Escape for Fun, Wheaton, Illinois

Escape for Fun

Wheaton, Illinois

The Chamber: As King Arthur's knights of the Round Table we had to find a way to free the sword from the stone and escape the castle.

Pros: We loved the introduction and the set in the room where they introduced the story to us. Our group of ten was very enthusiastic and this helped get us more excited for the experience to come. Our game masters were very happy young people who also surged with enthusiasm. However, our initial excitement quickly waned.

Cons: Let me just say that even more than set designs, what we most appreciate is logical, thoughtful and creative puzzles. Unfortunately, Escape for Fun did not deliver. We needed hints for every single puzzle mostly because the logic of each was convoluted. If, for example, we had discovered a certain number combination, often those numbers would have to be rearranged in some random unknowable combination in order to unlock a lock. Since many of the locks were the same type this created for a large number of possibilities that required either trial and error or multiple hints. In the end, we did not solve a single puzzle without hints from the game master. The set design was good. The room was very small and there was not much to do for large numbers of people. Many times people were standing around wondering what to do.

http://www.escapeforfun.com/index.htm

EscapeIQ, Escape Room Review

EscapeIQ

Los Angeles, California

The Vault: As secret agents we were sent on a mission to break into the vault and rescue our fellow agent.

Alcatraz: Out group of jailbirds had to find a way to escape the most notorious prison in the world.

Pros: Let us start by saying that the employees at this establishment were extremely courteous, enthusiastic and helpful. Let us end the pros list with that.

Cons: The set in the Vault was simplistic, adding little to the storyline or experience. Alcatraz had a much more theme-based set comparatively. The puzzles in both rooms were illogical at times and disconnected from the room themes. We required numerous clues and some technical assistance on puzzles that were either illogical or impossible to complete without assistance. The themes were the stereotypical escape room storylines with little variation or creativity. We escaped but with lots of hints which detracted from the thrill of escape.

If you are in Los Angeles and only have time for a few escape rooms, we recommend you skip this one since there are so many great ones in the area. But if you too are an escapeologist, then of course you would have to visit EscapeIQ.

www.escapeiq.com

Escape Room LA, Escape Room Review

Escape Room LA

Los Angeles, California

The Cavern: Trapped deep inside a cavern underneath the city streets, our group of adventurers discovered the remains of a lost city. However, we had to find our way out quickly before we ran out of air.

The Theater: We found ourselves trapped in an old haunted theater with a discontented ghost. We had to free the trapped spirit without permanently trapping ourselves in the underworld. 

Alchemist: This alchemists lab held many ancient secrets waiting to be discovered. Our group had to reveal them all and unite the four elements before the alchemist returned.

Pros: The set designs in the rooms at Escape LA are absolutely fantastic. We especially loved the alchemist set for its ingenuity and immersive feel. The cavern and the theater were also quite impressive. These rooms were very large with lots of room for movement which is great given the large group size. The puzzles were multi-linear, aligned to the story themes, generally logical and fun to solve. The puzzle master deserves praise for the effort put into aligning these to the overarching narrative.

Cons: We have very conflicting feelings about our experience at Escape LA. On the one hand, the puzzles were fun and the sets in the rooms blew us away. On the other hand, the large group size, massive number of the puzzles, and very limited time frame severely detracted from our full enjoyment of the experience.  Elsewhere In this blog we have railed against large group sizes and the limitations they place on a positive and productive playing environment. We will not repeat those points here except to say that once again (three times again) our theory on this was validated through our game play at Escape Room LA. We detest group sizes over six and recommend escape room owners think more about the player perspective in a game with this many people. Even with the large numbers of players in the room (10-12) we did not have nearly enough time to solve the multiple numbers of puzzles in these rooms. Although we enjoyed the puzzles and their clear ties to the theme, we felt there were far too many to solve in the time frame. With only 50 minutes instead of the standard 60 minutes the buzzer often went off with the exclamation from the game master "Oh so close, only two minutes away." In all three of the games we were only one puzzle away or one box in process of opening before a successful escape. The missing ten minutes and ridiculous number of puzzles explains the low escape rate at Escape LA. Even with our extensive game play knowledge, we found ourselves overwhelmed and short of time. We also had mixed encounters with the various game masters who were ever present in the rooms. We generally disapprove of game masters in the room since they tend to intervene either too frequently or discourage the free-thinking of players. This was no exception. The game masters interrupted our thoughts to say "don't touch that" or "that's not important" which tended to suppress the exploratory, trial and error approach to problem-solving that is essential to an enjoyable escape room experience. Instead, players often turned to them asking for permission to touch items or advice on how to proceed, in effect robbing them of independent thought and action. We did however truly appreciate the very thorough walk-through and debrief at the conclusion of each game. This should be standard practice at all escape room venues.

Major props to Escape Room LA on the set design. Truly remarkable craftsmanship and creativity. You definitely deserve the Eacapeologists Set Design Award! 

http://escaperoomla.com

Countdown Live, Room Escape Review

Countdown Live

Los Angeles

Krampus: Someone has been kidnapping children. Could it be Krampus - the Christmas devil? Our investigation team had to locate the missing children in a creepy apartment building and escape with the evidence to convict the Krampus.

Spaceship: The rocket was set for take-off. We had to find our way out quick if we didn't want to get launched into outer space.

Tiki Palace: Our island paradise just turned into a volcanic nightmare. We had to find a way to appease the goddess of fire, before we became toast.

Pros: The set of Krampus was an odd mixture of Christmas and Halloween - perfect for a Krampus themed room. As the escapeologists favorite mythical beast, Krampus proved a worthy nemesis for us to defeat. The unique theme of this room made it all the more fun. The set design in the Tiki room was very immersive with lots of attention to detail that added to the experience of being at an island resort. The set of Spaceship was likewise impressive. The puzzles were both logical and challenging in all of the rooms. We escaped but with one hint or less in each room and not much time to spare. The puzzles generally fit the theme of the room. Our game masters were extremely helpful and responsive when called upon.

Cons: Playing in the dark is one of our least favorite ways to play. We wouldn't mind so much if there were enough flashlights to go around. Otherwise one of us is always left in the dark. This was only a problem in the Krampus room. We had some trouble in the Spaceship room finding all the clues and the logic of one of the puzzles was difficult to follow.

Overall, Countdown Live is a top-notch, high-quality escape room experience!  If you are in Los Angeles you don't want to miss this one!

http://www.countdownescape.com/la

The Game Room Adventure Cafe, Escape Room Review

The Game Room Adventure Cafe

Elk Grove, California

Ruins of the Tukanii: The lost ruins of the Tukanii have finally been discovered. But now our team of explorers had to discover a way out before our luck caught up with us. 

Pros: This was a completely immersive game playing experience (with the exception of the occasional outside noises from the store). The set and decorations completely drew us into the storyline and created the illusion of actually being trapped inside ancient ruins.  We were stumped on only one occasion and needed a hint to move forward. The puzzles clearly aligned to the theme and were very difficult (but possible) to solve. We enjoyed the challenge of working our way through each puzzle in order to escape the temple. The game master mostly left us on our own (which we prefer) and it was quite possible to solve it with little intervention while still being extremely challenging. 

Cons: The set was AMAZING! Our only concern was in its durability moving forward. Having visited so many escape rooms, we are well aware of how much wear and tear these rooms endure over time. Some of the puzzles in this room seemed especially delicate and the technological components added potential complications in the future. 

We LOVED this escape room experience! Highly recommended both for first-time and more experienced escapeologists. 

                       

 

https://www.thegameroomcafe.com

Escape Sacramento, Escape Room Review

Escape Sacramento

Sacramento, California

The Gallery: Searching for hints about what happened to a missing artist, our group had to scour through her studio in search of answers before the police arrived.

The Study: As secret agents, we had to break into the study of an inventor who kidnapped some of our agents. 

Pros: The game master was very enthusiastic and helped to get the group fired up about playing the games. We appreciated his excitement. Our team did well progressing through the puzzles. Some unique puzzles really challenged our thinking. Set design was basic but appropriate to the theme. 

Cons: The puzzles were mostly logical, but a few could be modified for more clarity. The main issue we had was with the shear number of puzzles. There were so many boxes and locks to open and puzzles to solve that it seemed like overkill at times. Often the puzzles were not relevant to the storyline and theme and felt more like busy work. Fewer and better designed puzzles would infinitely improve the game-play experience. Overall we would not recommend Escape Sacramento as an experience for first players. More advanced players however, would enjoy the challenge of the multiple puzzles. 

http://escapesacramento.com/games