Enigma Escape Rooms, Escape Room Review

Enigma Escape Rooms

West Hollywood, California

The Secret Temple: Our group of fellow reporters was sent in to investigate a secret society. In search of their hidden temple we delved deep into the mysteries of the clandestine organization.

Apartment 205: As a team of special agents, we were sent on a mission to deactivate a bio-chemical bomb that was found in a Hollywood apartment. But first we had to locate the bomb before time ran out.

The Will: A wealthy industrialist commits suicide? But was it a suicide? Or was it murder? We had to help the family figure out the truth so that the deceased could rest in peace.

Crime Scene: Sent in to investigate a crime scene at a theater, our group had to prove that the death was not a suicide but a murder. The police do not take kindly to interlopers, however, so we had to figure it out and act fast.

Pros: We visited this place on four separate occasions to play the four different games. The owners/game masters were consistently enthusiastic, gracious, and fun. They clearly love their business. The sets in the rooms were aligned with the storylines and themes. The decor added to immersive feel. We played in groups ranging in size from 4 to 8 people. The rooms worked well with groups of any size. The puzzles were linear and logical and a good mix between searching and solving. We especially enjoyed the creativity and unique mechanical puzzles of Crime Scene!

Cons: The couch in the waiting room - I almost didn't escape from it!

Legend X Iteration, Escape Room Review

Legend X Iteration

Santa Ana, California

The Dynasty - Royal Library: Traveling back in time to Ancient China, our group found ourselves inside the Imperial library tasked with the job of retrieving a powerful forbidden seal.

Pros: The room was decorated in Chinese artwork and furniture according to the story theme. We breezed through the challenges in the beginning and enjoyed some nice surprises with the technology of some of the puzzles. We successfully solved the first game and were told that we could progress to the next one. This was a fun twist to the traditional game. We did not move very far in the second game before time ran out. The game master was friendly and explained the process well. 

Cons: The puzzles in the second room were less logical and we struggled with these a bit more as a result. Would love to come back and finish this room and begin the next!

http://legendxiteration.com

Escape X, Escape Room Review

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!

http://www.escapexrooms.com

Puzzle Workshop, Escape Room Review

Puzzle Workshop

Irvine, California

Secrets of the Illuminati: Our group snuck into the study of Sir Edwin Falkier, a member of the secret society of the Illuminati with the intent to locate and steal the sacred relic, the Statue of Sekhmet. However, we had to move quickly before the Illuminati caught up with us. 

Pros: The game master was attentive and a great guide through the game. We loved the puzzles in this room. Many of the puzzles required deductive reasoning which is something that we do not often see in many escape rooms. This made them quite possible to solve even without prior exposure to the puzzle type or any special skills. The puzzles in this room also varied considerably in type allowing every player to utilize their own unique skills to solve the puzzles. We escaped in record time.

Cons: The room set-up was simple and basic in design. Same for the waiting room. The storyline was clear in the beginning but not consistent throughout the room. 

http://www.puzzleworkshop.com

Ryptic Room Escape, Escape Room Review

Ryptic Room Escape

San Mateo, California

Escape from the Poltergeist: Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters of course! As ghostbusters we had to discover the mystery of the haunted office before we met our supernatural doom.

Escape from the Aliens: A famous UFO expert has been kidnapped by aliens. Our group was tasked with the job of discovering what happened to him before the aliens returned to take us for an extraterrestrial experience. 

Pros: The game master was very friendly and helpful. The storyline was clear and the rooms were decorated to fit the theme. Some nice surprises in the poltergeist room enhanced the experience. The puzzles in both of these rooms were very logical and nicely scaled in complexity. We found ourselves out of time in the Poltergeist room before we were able to successfully break out. 

Cons: The puzzles in Escape from the Aliens were a bit too many for a two-person team but would work well for a group of 4 to 6. Some of the puzzles were more time-consuming than enjoyable to solve. Overall, this is was a solid escape room experience, great for escape room newbies and veterans alike. 

https://ryptic.com

Escape Game 911, Escape Room Review

Escape Game 911

Santa Clara, California

Police Station: Finding ourselves in a precarious position falsely accused of theft, under arrest and confined in a cell in a police station, we had to find a way to gather money, evidence, and escape imprisonment.

Pros: Generally logical and easy to solve puzzles. A great escape room for first-timers as a way of introducing the concept. Also good for small groups. We played as a group of two and found it easy to solve within the time limit. Great for boosting one's confidence in playing escape games.

Cons: Perhaps too easy . . . We broke out with over half the time left to spare. Puzzles could be better scaled to increase difficulty at each level. Generally cheap set design and flimsy locks/puzzles posed problems at times and slowed us down, but we still had plenty of time to break out of jail!

http://escapegame911.com

Palace Games, Escape Room Review

Palace Games

San Francisco, California

The Great Houdini Escape Room: The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco attracted the brightest minds from around the world. The famous magician Harry Houdini allegedly built the first escape room as a challenge to those geniuses. Our less than brilliant group had 80 minutes to attempt the same puzzles and challenges that these legendary innovators faced over 100 years ago.

The Roosevelt Escape Room: This room had some connection to Theodore Roosevelt and World War I. Although the historical narrative made little sense, we knew we had to solve puzzles to escape. 

Pros: Both rooms had awesome, AMAZING sets. High-tech, elaborately decorated rooms created an immersive feeling for game-players. The puzzles were all tied to the theme and were creative and unique to this escape room. A mix of puzzle types but many mechanical elements. The Houdini Room had a great storyline that carried throughout the entire experience. The storyline was less clearly articulated in the Roosevelt Room and seemed more of a hodgepodge of history. Puzzles were difficult in both rooms and definitely required the whole team. Palace Games is an absolute MUST-DO for escape room addicts.

Cons: The game moderator's opening speech was too long and detracted from our initial enthusiasm. The large group size (they encourage 12) is way too big. These are such great rooms, it would be nice to take them all in with smaller groups. They now allow groups with a minimum of 6 but you have to pay $400 at the outset for the whole room. This equates to $66 per person for a 6 person game. The tendency is then to try to pack 12 people in the room in order to reduce the price per person down to $33 dollars which is much better but still at the high end of the escape room price scale. Twelve people in the room is overwhelming. We recommend that you pay the extra money per person to keep the group size down to 6 people. This may make it more difficult to solve the sheer number of puzzles in time, but the reduced stress level and ability to focus and listen to your teammates will create a better and much less chaotic experience in the end. Less is more in our opinion. We don't like to miss what's happening by having too many distractions.

http://palace-games.com