TrapZone, Escape Room Review

TrapZone

Costa Mesa, California

Asylum: A creepy insane asylum, a secret experiment, a heinous crime: we had to discover it all before the doctor discovered our presence in the asylum.

Pros: We were warmly welcomed by the owner of this establishment who took the time to chat with us for a while before our game began. This interaction helped us to better connect to our game master before we dove into the stressful task of puzzle-solving. This is a brand-new business with only one room to-date. Still, we were impressed by their ability to use a few props to enhance an existing office space and create an asylum-themed room. The puzzles fit with the psycho mental ward theme and were generally logical overall.

Cons: There were a few puzzles that could be slightly modified or clarified to improve the flow of the game and the player's experience. Still, the game master helped us quickly navigate through these small delays. There were a number of surprises that kept us on our toes as well. 

This is a good, solid room escape experience that we would especially recommend to newbies. It was an added bonus that it was so close to our favorite Costa Mesa restaurant: Seabirds! Go play at TrapZone then eat some deliciousness at Seabirds.

http://www.trapzonerooms.com

The Grand Detectives Society, Room Escape Review

The Grand Detectives Society

Santa Ana, California

Da Vinci's Lost Workshop: We entered Da Vinci's secret workshop seeking the truth about his mysterious final invention. 

Pros: The owners and game masters here really go above and beyond to make your experience fun and memorable from the moment you walk in the door. They remain largely in character throughout the experience and help generate enthusiasm even before the game officially begins. Once we entered the room we found ourselves surrounded by a neat, orderly, and well-designed set that included no unnecessary props or red herrings to distract us from our task. We quickly discovered the game was multilinear and our team of five split up to begin working on different puzzles. The mix of mechanical, word, and symbol puzzles kept us busy down to the very last seconds of the game. In the final pinch, the game master intervened to provide us with a crucial hint that helped us cross the finish line with less than a minute to spare. It was a close call, but we were ecstatic to finish this very challenging room.

Cons: We honestly loved every minute of our experience at the Grand Detectives Society. We applaud the owners and employees for the effort and love they have devoted to their business. Our only advice to future players is to assemble your finest puzzle-solving team and bring your A-game because this room poses quite the challenge!

http://www.detectivessociety.com

    

Escape Long Beach, Escape Room Review

Escape Long Beach

Long Beach, California

Bad Blood: A pop-star (Taylor Swift) had been kidnapped. Her biggest fan was investigating the case before she herself became a victim. We had to rescue them both by entering the bedroom of the missing teenager to pick up where she left off in her investigation.

Pros: This room had a fun theme and a set decorated appropriate to the storyline. The game master was friendly and straightforward in providing instructions and guidelines. We progressed through the game swiftly (pardon our pun), solving puzzles rapidly as we moved along. There were no logical fallacies or problems encountered in the game. In fact, we did not need a single hint and finished with 25 minutes to spare.

Cons: The puzzles were relatively uninteresting and generally lacking in creativity. We found ourselves feeling more like we were doing our homework than playing a game. Perhaps it was the teenager's bedroom decor and Taylor Swift music playing the background that added to the oppressive feeling of the puzzles. In short time, were were channeling the spirit of the missing teen and developing our own classic adolescent bad attitude. Only our successful escape saved us from a complete temper tantrum.

Not bad. Not good. Like, what-everrrr. Play if if you have time and judge for yourself.

https://www.escapelbc.com

Evil Genius, Room Escape Review

Evil Genius

Los Angeles, California

Occam's Apartment: Occam's death had been ruled a suicide, but we didn't believe it. We entered his apartment to discover the truth.

Norcross Art Gallery: This art gallery housed a dark secret that our team had to discover.

Pros: At present, Evil Genius has two rooms both connected by a common storyline. The mysterious death of Occam is a compelling narrative that kept us on our toes. We played both games back-to-back and the transition tied the games together adding to our experience at Evil Genius. The puzzles were sufficiently complex to keep us perplexed through most of the game, but were not impossible to solve. Norcross Gallery seemed more difficult than Occam's Apartment but with hints we were able to successfully make our escape. The set design was immersive and corresponded with the theme. Added audio elements in both games added a different element. The game master was enthusiastic and remained in character throughout. 

Excellent! We loved Evil Genius! 

http://www.evilgeniusescaperooms.com

60 Out, Marina Del Rey, Escape Room Review

60 Out

Marina Del Rey, California

Zen Room: Sent into a dream state, we had to work our way through our sleepy subconscious to bring color back to the world.

Outbreak: A deadly virus has destroyed most of humanity. Our goal was to locate the serum that could save the world. 

Pros: We finally made it back to 60 Out Marina Del Rey (our favorite Los Angeles escape room thanks to the Titanic room). We couldn't wait to see what amazingness they had to offer. At first, we played the Zen room and entered a dream state where we had to find our way out of our slumber. This room was genuinely unique with crazy out-of-the-box puzzles and some twists and turns that had us laughing. As avid players (now over 200 games), we appreciated the ingenuity of the Zen room.

After a pleasant and calming experience in the Zen room, we were dropped into a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly virus had devastated the planet. We stumbled our way through this game with a few technical difficulties that greatly slowed our progress. Some puzzles required us to break the conventional rules of escape rooms and therefore further delayed us until our game master encouraged us to overcome our normal instincts and go ahead and break this or that particular rule. 

Cons: We had a problem with malfunctioning equipment and though we voiced our concern multiple times, the game master and first did not hear our concerns and then assumed the problem was with the player. This 20 minute delay annoyed us but in the end it all worked our well. Our game master was otherwise super friendly and helpful, we just recommend they double check the equipment and then listen carefully to the game to understand the problem. 

Overall, we once again really enjoyed the experience at 60 Out. Highly recommend this place as on of LA's best!

https://www.60out.com

60 Out, Los Angeles, Escape Room Review

60 Out

Los Angeles

Senator Payne: The Senator has a dark secret. We had to break into his office and discover the truth.

Casino Heist:  An abandoned casino was hiding million dollars. We had to find it before the building was demolished.

Pros: We already love 60 Out so it should come as no surprise that that we also enjoyed playing at the Corinth Avenue location. The game master at this site was super friendly and lots of fun to chat with. She was helpful throughout our game, providing much needed assistance as necessary. We really enjoyed the sets and the puzzles in both games were logical. Casino Heist proved our favorite game at this location. We struggled a bit but still managed to pull off the heist. 

Cons: Zero. 60 Out once again provided a solid game-play experience. We loved both of these games and although we definitely still recommend you play the Titanic game at the Marina Del Rey location, you really can't go wrong at any 60 Out location.

https://www.60out.com

Myst Escape, Escape Room Review

Myst Escape

Mountain View, California

Ghost Ship: Trapped on a ship with a ghost (or maybe it was a ship that was a ghost), we had to discover its secrets to make our escape. 

Pros: The game master greeted us warmly and then proceeded to clearly articulate the rules and expectations for our gameplay. Once we entered the escape room, we discovered a relatively average set that was decorated with a few scattered props aligned to the theme. The puzzles were similarly average with some of them being clear and logical, a few overly complex or convoluted, and one or two that seemed to defy logic or explanation. In the end, with lots of help from the game master, we escaped and were happy to depart from the group of annoying strangers that the fates had unfortunately assigned us to play alongside.

Cons: Logical fallacies are always annoying and therefore we wish to repeat our admonition to puzzle designers and game masters: if players consistently get stuck on a specific puzzle, then the problem is the puzzle design, not the players. Please do not assume that it is simply a very clever puzzle that challenges players to the extreme. Worse yet, do not assume that players just do not understand the "logic" of it. If one or two teams here and there need a hint on the same puzzle, then there is no problem. But clearly if most every group needs help, then there is a problem and you should fix it. 

Reader Warning: You are approaching a long-winded side-note. Feel free to cease reading this review here or at any point if you are feeling queasy or uncomfortable. 

While we are on the subject of things that frustrate us, another common annoyance is the continued trend of pairing people with strangers. I know it is a financial incentive for owners to pack rooms to capacity. However, please think about the player experience first and foremost. If we get paired with a great group of strangers, then all is well in the universe. On the occasions when we get paired with children, teenagers, drunk people, a fraternity/sorority, or a group of generally annoying people, then we quickly find ourselves very much regretting the ordeal. A bad experience playing an escape game may mean that customers never want to return to your establishment (or any other) to play again. For $30-$50 a person, a bad experience seems like a colossal waste of money (and time). The customer is also less likely to recommend escape rooms to others. So we recommend that you allow teams to play games with their own group. If you must therefore require a minimum number of players to book the room privately, then so be it. But, please stop grouping us with random strangers. 

Side-note over. K thanks!

http://www.mystescaperoom.com/

Escape My Room, Room Escape Review

Escape My Room

New Orleans, Louisiana

Mardi Gras Study: A murder in the DeLaporte mansion begs to be solved. We had to join forces with the police to close the case. 

Jazz Parlor: A reclusive matriarch has a hidden treasure that our group was tasked to find. 

Pros: The sets at Escape My Room are FANTASTIC. We loved the immersive feel and experience created by the set design. Definitely worth a visit just to appreciate the work put into the rooms. The storylines were also enjoyable and elements in the set add to the overarching narrative. 

Cons: Our main complaints center around our experience with the game master and puzzle design. Some of the puzzles were overly complicated leading to logical fallacies. Numerous red herrings also burned up large portions of our time. These issues could have easily been remedied with more specific guidance from our game master. However, our moderator did not seem to fully understand the game flow or the puzzle solutions. He struggled to assist us and sometimes delayed our progress. Lock failures added to our frustrations. At one point our game was completely stalled by faulty materials and the game master was unable to deal with the problem. We ultimately left angry and annoyed but the owners responded promptly to our concerns. 

Overall we recommend you visit Escape My Room if for no other reason than to appreciate the awesome work they have put into set design. The rooms are too good to be missed. We hope that the issues with locks and the training of game moderators have been remedied by the time you visit. We have no doubt you will enjoy your experience at Escape My Room!

https://escapemyroom.com

Clue Carre, Escape Room Review

Clue Carre

New Orleans, Louisiana

Mardi Gras Den: The jester is playing tricks on the Krewe's royal court. The parade is ready to roll, but first we had to locate our Krewe's hidden masks.

Voodoo Room: Maria Laveau's secret Love Potion is hidden by magic spells. We had to break the code before we became the victim of the Voodoo curse. 

Haunted Swamp Room: The ghost of a Voodoo priestess haunts this swamp. Exorcising her ghost was our team's top priority. 

Vampire Hunter Room: Can we kill the Count before he awakes? Our group of vampire hunters were on a quest for blood.

Pros: We loved the rooms at Clue Carre! Each was perfectly fitted to New Orleans history and culture. The storylines, puzzles, and sets were all designed to theme. Although the rooms are small, we found the sets completely immersive. The puzzles were enjoyable and challenging. The game masters were hospitable, helpful and fun to talk with. The hint system was non-intrusive, gently guiding us when necessary. We played each room back-to-back and had an consistently great experience in each game.

Cons: They should build more rooms ASAP! Seriously we loved this place so much, we wanted to stay and play more. Thanks Clue Carre for setting the bar high for escape rooms everywhere! Hope to be back in New Orleans soon to see what they do next!

https://www.cluecarre.com

Enchambered, Escape Room Review

Enchambered

Sacramento, California

Containment Breach: After a terrible mishap following an experiment, a scientist locked himself away in his lab. Our mission was to break into the lab and discover its secrets.

Pros: The set design at Enchambered is A-MAZING. The immersive environment immediately engaged us in the story and enhanced our play experience. The puzzles were directly related to the science-experiment-gone-awry theme. The rooms were clutter-free, but the puzzles still challenging enough to keep us busy for nearly the entire time. The hint system was non-intrusive and perfect for the room theme. The game master helped us with a simple direct hint. Although we needed this one hint to remind us of an obvious piece of evidence that we overlooked, the room really required no hints at all, which in our book, makes it a perfect escape room.

Cons: Smaller group sizes would greatly enhance the experience. We recommend playing in group sizes of four for best play experience. Even though the size limits are higher here, it would be worth it to book a less popular time in order to play with a smaller group. 

We HIGHLY recommend playing at Enchambered when you are in Sacramento. A top-notch escape room experience!

https://www.enchambered.com