Not worth the time or money. Don't go here!
When I heard that there was a Poe-themed room, I had to try it. I've grown up in the Baltimore area and have always been a Poe fan. That brings me to issue #1 with this place: What was advertised as an escape from Poe's study had almost nothing to do with Poe. There was a printed copy of "Annabelle Lee" in the room, and two of the clues had to do with "The Raven": this was the extent of the references to Poe made in the room.
Either the designer of the room knows jack about Poe, or was just fantastically lazy.
#2: The room had no immersive backstory. I've done several escape rooms before this one, and each time there was a story that explained why we were in the room and what our ultimate goal was, aside from solving the puzzles. There was no such thing here. We were walked to the room and told something vague about helping Poe with some of his work, but having to get out of his office first. Come on! It's Edgar Allan effing Poe and that's the best you can do?? There are so many awesome ways one could use his stories to create a compelling and immersive experience, but again, the designer either knows nothing of Poe or was incredibly lazy.
#3: There were more "red herrings" (i.e. clues that were not necessary to solving any puzzles or escaping the room) than there were actual clues. I get having one or two, but the sheer number of them made the room seem cluttered and poorly put together. It also seemed as if they were there to distract from the fact that some of the more technology-based clues were barely functional, which leads me to issue four.
#4: The tech didn't work. There was a desk that was supposed to light up when magnetic objects were placed on it. We placed the objects in their correct spaces...and nothing happened. Then we wandered around looking for other info for the next five minutes and got nowhere, so we asked for a clue from the employee watching our room. Our "clue" was that we needed to fiddle with the objects on the desk, moving them centimeter by centimeter until they were just right, and then it lit up. Then, there was a clue involving a typewriter, but when we typed the correct sequence, nothing happened. We spent 10 minutes gathering around the typewriter, trying to figure out what we were doing wrong. We decided to again ask for help from the employee watching the room, and she told us that what we had been trying over and over was the correct sequence. We tried it many more times before it finally worked. In both cases, we wasted time because we did the right thing, but the technology didn't work, AND because the employee watching didn't step in and tell us we had solved the clue correctly, but just needed to fiddle with the components until it worked. If the tech doesn't work the first time, it shouldn't be in the room, period. Moreover, the employee was either not watching us as closely as she should have been, or just didn't step in to correct for the technological faults in the room. Either way, it's bad practice.
#5: Bratty Kid. There was a 6/7 yr old child in our room with his family, and he was a holy terror. He bumped into me multiple times, pushed my SO out of the way to get past him, kicked at a member of his family and almost knocked him into me, rolled around on the floor, and complained loudly the whole time while his parents pretended like they couldn't hear or see him. I'm a first grade teacher, and it was all I could do not to pull out my teacher voice and make the kid sit down and be quiet. I know that Mission Escape can't make parents do their jobs, but they CAN impose an age limit on rooms. No 7 year old was going to find that room possible or enjoyable. He should not have been allowed in in the first place, but I'm sure Mission Escape didn't care as long as they got their money. This leads me to my final issue: money.
#6: cost. This was my fifth escape room experience in the Baltimore/Annapolis area. In every other location, I've had a fantastic time, and done so for under $18. Granted, that's with groupons, but I'm really pissed that I paid literally double what I paid at an awesome location in Nottingham the weekend before ($32 for two people at Escape It, vs. $58 for two people at Mission Escape) for a terrible experience and a poorly-put together room.
If you enjoy escape rooms, don't waste your time or money here. Go to Escape It in Nottingham or Escape Adventures in Finksburg instead. You'll pay less money, and have a lot more fun. read more