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

Unlock Escape Rooms, Escape Room Review

Unlock Escape Rooms

Clovis, California

Pros:  The game master and owners were friendly, enthusiastic and truly a joy to get to know. We loved their passion for the games and their ability to make us feel welcome. The waiting room was tidy and inviting. The rooms were beautifully designed with lots of attention to detail in the construction of the sets. It is definitely worth visiting Unlock Escape Rooms to see the sets themselves. 

Cons:  The puzzles in both of the rooms we played had serious logical fallacies. Had this been an issue with one or two puzzles in each room, it would have been easy to overlook. However, since nearly every single puzzle in both rooms was completely lacking in logic and flow, we needed assistance on every single one. But our progress came to a complete standstill approximately 15 minutes into both games as a result of the lack of any kind of hint system. We ended up wasting time for 45 minutes each game until the clock ran out and the game master entered to try to explain the illogical puzzles to us. Even after the post-game walk-through we failed to understand the logic of the puzzles. Many first-time game players and escape room newbies might not understand the inherent problems in the puzzles and conclude, as the game master tried to convince us, that we simply fell short as a result of our own lack of problem-solving skills. Since we are experienced game players with a good success rate, we concluded that our failure in both rooms 15 minutes into the games was a clear sign that the puzzles in these rooms need quite a bit of reworking.  

We recommend you visit some of the other great escape room experiences while in the Fresno area until Unlock Escape Rooms acknowledges the issues and works out the logical kinks in their puzzles. We have no doubt that once the puzzles are redesigned, this will be a great place to play!

https://www.unlockescaperooms.com

The Great Escape, Escape Room Review

The Great Escape

Clovis, California

Mafia Bomb Squad: Sent in to dismantle a bomb in a 1920s speakeasy, our team of bomb experts had to get the job done before the mob made us their next hit job.

Pros: Great storyline and theme. The puzzles were generally generally logical with a good flow. We especially enjoyed dismantling the bomb with only 20 seconds left on the clock. 

Cons: This company, like many others interested more in profit than player experience, crams too many people in a single, small room. Teamed with a group of 10 strangers added to the awkwardness of the game play experience. Despite the challenges of communication in a large group and the difficulty of locating and reuniting numerous misplaced puzzle pieces as a result of a room full of first-time players, we managed to carry our team to victory. Some of the puzzles were flimsily constructed, adding to the difficulty of completing the task. We objected to the overly complex nature of a few of the puzzles that only heightened our angst in an already tense environment. 

This could be a fun experience if the group size was reduced to six or less, if we were not teamed with strangers, and if the puzzles could be redesigned to improve clarity and flow. 

http://thegreatescapeclovis.com

Mind Games Clovis, room escape review

Mind Games Clovis

Clovis, California

Family Jewels: Our dear old aunt had recently passed away and in the process of searching her apartment we discover the secret to her hidden wealth. But we had to find its location before our cousins beat us to the punch.

Skip Tracer: Our detective friend had mysteriously gone missing and we had to search his office and find him before the police arrested us as suspects in his disappearance. 

Escape Your Nightmare: Our neighbor has a dark secret and we were determined to discover what it was. We had to sneak into his house and get out before he returned home from his daily errands. 

Pros: Great storylines and fun puzzles. We found ourselves stuck on a few puzzles that could have had a more logical and less convoluted flow. The puzzles were generally enjoyable to solve in all of the rooms. Our favorite room was Escape Your Nightmare. The ambiance of the set and the added elements of fear helped enhance our game play experience. We found ourselves in a panic at the end to find our way out before our creepy neighbor returned home. A great time despite our narrow escape.

Cons: We hit a few snags in Skip Tracer and Family Jewels with some logical conundrums in some of the puzzles. Overall, however, the rooms were fun to play and highly recommended. 

When in Clovis, don't miss playing Mind Games!

http://www.mindgamesclovis.com

Fresno Escape Room, Escape Room Review

Fresno Escape Room

Clovis, California

Pipeworks: The city is losing power. Our team of engineers had to figure out a way to restore power fast. 

Pros:  We had previously played Crimson Storm at Bakersfield Escape Room and really enjoyed our experience there. We had high expectations for Pipeworks at Fresno Escape Room and we were not disappointed. The lobby of the Clovis room, just like the Bakersfield establishment, was neat, clean and welcoming. Although it seems like this should be a given, not all escape room businesses hold themselves to a high standard of cleanliness. The sets at Fresno Escape Room (and Bakersfield Escape Room) are likewise solidly built and themed to the room's storyline. This allows for a seamless player experience from start to finish.  The focus is more on solving puzzles and less on tearing apart a room to find hidden clues. The puzzles themselves were logical and themed to the storyline of the individual game. Game masters provided assistance through monitors in the room. 

Cons: We struggled a bit on some of the puzzles in this room, but with the help of the game master eventually successfully restored power to the city. 

Fresno Escape Room and affiliated companies such as Bakersfield Escape Room are top-notch, high-quality game experiences. We highly recommend a visit when you are visiting California's Central Valley. 

http://fresnoescaperoom.com

Xcape Room Fresno, Room Escape Review

Xcape Room Fresno

Fresno, California

Temple: King Kuhli is hiding his treasure in a secret temple. Our goal was to get in and get out with the treasure before our time was up. 

Murder Scene: A serial killer on the loose, and we had to track the murderer down before we became the next victim. 

Bunker Room: Terrorists are threatening to launch a nuclear attack against Washington D.C. We had to stop the launch sequence and save the nation. 

Pros: All of the rooms at Xcape Room Fresno consisted of a nice balance of searching for clues and puzzle solving.  We needed hints at times to solve the puzzles successfully but the clues were mostly logical overall. The game master was helpful and assisted us as necessary. We really enjoyed the immersive set of Temple and definitely recommend it as their best room. 

Cons: The puzzles were logical but more like riddles and math problems and less unique. We prefer when puzzles are themed to the individual game and unique to the specific place. Overall we had a great time at Xcape Fresno and definitely recommend playing a game or three with them!

http://www.xcaperoomfresno.com