As an escape room lover, this place really disappointed…read more
This review will explain why without giving away any spoilers.
In the mafia themed escape room:
- one of the compartments was stuck, meaning we couldn't get the next clue even though we did the clue correctly. When we talked to the manager, she said that the drawer gets stuck and they have to push the drawer in hard to get it to close. At that point, isn't that a sign to fix the sticky compartment??
- one of the flashlights was dying so it was difficult to properly complete one of the clues.
- the set up of one of the clues is not clear, and once you mess it up, you're kind of screwed for the final clue.
- The most unforgivable disappointment was that two of the props were switched. The wrong one was laid out, and the one meant to be laid out was locked away in a box, meaning the code was wrong, so we couldn't get the clue and the code made no sense.
More detailed disappointments my group and I noticed but might be particular to just us:
- no sound cues. Usually in all other escape rooms we've done, there's at least a sound that indicates that you got the clue, something opened, or a light turned on or off. If you're in 3 rooms at once with a small number of people (we only had 4), then it's extremely difficult to understand that one clue led to the next hint in a different room.
- not all the clues are super relevant to the theme and felt kind of gimmicky, which was a bit of a bummer.
- the game master didn't seem very enthusiastic. Part of the experience is to feel immersed in the situation, but being flatly explained what's going on (which we already read in the description) didn't feel like we were leaving behind the real world and entering into our story.
- the walls are so thin! The walkie talkie to connect with the game master was dying/cutting out frequently, but we could actually hear them clearly through the walls. Additionally, we could hear their conversations and their laughter in all three rooms we were there.
This place gets 2 stars instead of 1 because it doesn't seem like they made the story themselves, so they can't be blamed for the story itself. The game master read one of the keys for the clues to us from a manual, but couldn't explain more in depth because "that was all that was given in the packet."
Also, the escape room game themes are pretty unique; I haven't ever seen or heard of a mafia escape room, so that was interesting.
I can't really say I recommend this place, or maybe it's just this room. RIP my money.