When we're too worn out from hiking the Beehive State's gorgeous waterfalls, or if we just want the experience of escaping a dark, cold forest getting ready to be roasted in an oven by sister witches without wearing hiking gear, we head to one of the many spellbinding escape rooms in the state. Unfortunately, the cost of an hour is just about as high as that in SoCal now that inflation has hit, but for fun in private, with no waiting and unparalleled immersiveness, escape rooms are a family entertainment we are so grateful is available to us, and, more importantly, for a duo, which we now are, since we are empty-nesting!
Our first escape room in Utah this year was with More than Mysteries in Murray, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Hansel and Gretel is a favourite Grimm tale, and we wanted something cutely creepy but not really scary - and did More than Mysteries deliver!
More than Mysteries is located on the third floor of an office building, easy to find if you followed Google's breadcrumbs. Upon exiting the elevator (or take the stairs), turn right towards the toilet and it's the business at the end of the floor. We were there about five minutes early on a Monday, and we did something we never thought we would ever do: we did the scaring! Our game mistresses - not one, but two - sister green witches in full garb - opened the door the same time we did, and we pretty much stumbled onto each other. We just had enough time to take in that the lobby was beautifully furnished, and before we knew what was going on (good thing we signed our waivers before!), we were measured (heads and general oven-fitness), instructed on our roles and responsibilities (no videos, hurray!) and shoved (gently) into the candy cottage. We were allowed to keep our phones, but there were lockers if we wanted them.
It was déjà vu! We've done other similar themes but this was very original. In spite of the witches' fear, it was not too hot, nor too cold (it was nice they told us they would adjust to our temperature preference) and was decorated just like an antique book illustration, absolutely gorgeous and in-theme. The cat was an especially well-thought-out touch. It was a dim room but, again, plenty of lights were included for ambience and game and there were not so many red herrings as you would think in a room so well-laid-out: many times, what appeared to be a red herring was actually essential to our very simple goal of getting out of the witches' clutches.
Hansel and Gretel was what we would call an intermediate G2 (second generation, medium-tech) room, with traditional locks and a couple of higher tech locks, with a good hint delivery system and a timer in the room. We were grateful for the pen & paper provided for notes, because the clues were not that straightforward, and the non-linear aspect of the game meant that sometimes two puzzles were needed to open a third lock. Our favourite puzzles were the ants and the candles - so clever! It was the perfect room for two to four people, very family-friendly (with only one or two locks which needed bending down to access), perfect for a date, to start the day or end it.
We made it out of the forest in 50:28, completely forgetting about the chocolates and lemon drops. It was a sad second when we took off our costumes to take our victory photos on our phones and with hand painted signs. For the first time ever, we actually had our photos taken with our game hosts!
We had a really good time, and really appreciate the thank-you email sent to us after the game. The room was so well-planned and thought-through, it was as though we were really walking in the footsteps of the original fairytale. We can't wait for the summer to get here so we can visit again for their new rooms: Black Widow Escape and Curse of the Enchanted Artifact. Perhaps if we followed the trail of the spiders instead of pebbles ... read more
