Compared to other franchises, I would say the strength of The Escape Game is that the clues make a lot of sense and the experience is immersive. They give an unlimited number of clues, every game guide is attentive and enthusiastic, and every room is fun! I'm going to rate them from my favorite to least favorite, with the caveat they were all amazing. The only thing I don't like about The Escape Game is that you cannot book a private experience. With the exception of The Playground and Cosmic Crisis, the rooms do not need more than 4 people. Make sure you take advantage of the 20% discount and pick up a gift card if you want to book another game!
The Brooklyn location is in the food court. If you're coming from the Prince Street entrance, go down the escalator and turn right. You will see the lock design, and just follow it into the storefront. It is located near Likkle More Jerk and Fat Fowl if you are coming from another direction.
#1: Cosmic Crisis
Cosmic Crisis is The Escape Game's newest experience, and it's not at the Manhattan location yet! Come to Brooklyn y'all! I would highly recommend coming to this room with a team of 4, and teamwork is NECESSARY to escape. This was incredibly fun with interactive puzzles that felt like you were really saving the spaceship. While it gets linear toward the middle, the tasks involve cooperation, so no one is really left standing around. Be prepared for a dramatic ending ;)
#2: The Depths
This room had less enthusiastic ratings from friends who have done it before, but my low expectations were heavily exceeded. I liked the room because I am a science teacher, and I felt like I had many great "solves" in this room. This room probably has my favorite puzzles of the franchise so far. I was trying to figure out how to put the differences in words, and the best I can come up with is that it's more based on pattern observation than object manipulation. One of the top things that stood out about this room was that my friend and I could work concurrently on tasks, and we didn't get bottlenecked. The ending can be stressful with 2 people, but we made it work!
#3: Playground
As a teacher, this room had an additional level of connection. There was also a LOT of stuff to do. It is also the only room where I think you absolutely need to have 4 people minimum. I also like that you need to work as a team to solve some of the puzzles, which makes the escape room experience better. There was a huge variety of tasks for each subject, so make sure the right person is assigned to the right task!
#4: Timeliner: Train Through Time
I really liked the concept of Timeliner, especially the immersive experience with our names on the train ticket. For me, I wish they were less ambitious with the time periods so they could make each separate room/era more immersive. Call me traditional, but I wasn't a big fan of looking at screens. My advice to you in this room is that order matters :) My friend absolutely loved this room, but she also contributed to more puzzles and felt more successful. We do want to add that one of the last puzzles should be a little easier to manipulate in terms of room design; my friend's hand hurt like crazy after it.
#5: Gold Rush
This room edged out Prison Break because it was the first one I did, so there's an additional "wow" factor for doing the first room in the franchise. In each step of Gold Rush, the beginning allows for the work to be split, but then the room gets linear, and some people could be left standing around. This was also the easiest room in my opinion. My group and I got out with 20 minutes left to spare. There is one part of the room that requires a bit of skill (so having more people guarantees that someone has that skill), which was the only thing that held us up.
#6: Prison Break
Even though this is their "hardest" escape room, I personally think both The Heist and Special Ops are harder in terms of puzzle design. What makes Prison Break hard is how you need to strategize, but we sniffed out the trick early on. We got held up a bit because the moderator didn't hear a question we asked about something and there was one clue that was a bit of a stretch. Overall, a majority of the room made sense and who wouldn't have fun escaping a prison cell? read more