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Exit The Game – The Sunken Treasure [Review]
SCUBA puzzle adventure!
Location: at home
Date Played: November 11, 2018
Team size: 1-4; we recommend 2-3
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $10
Publisher: KOSMOS
REA Reaction
One small change can greatly impact how a game feels. The Sunken Treasure had entirely linear gameplay. This departure from Exit The Game’s semi-linear approach to tabletop escape game design created a smooth and calm puzzling experience. I found it pleasurable.
We never wondered whether we were working on the right puzzle, or one where we had all of the components. We knocked out the challenges as The Sunken Treasure served them up. This enabled us to focus on the story and play with confidence.
While linearity worked well here, this isn’t an endorsement of linear play-at-home gameplay across-the-board. As with most design decisions, it’s situational.
The Sunken Treasure is one of the easiest Exit The Game installments that we’ve encountered. This didn’t bother us at all; we rather enjoyed the calmer seas.
If you’re a fan of Exit The Game, this is one of the must-play chapters. If you’ve never played before, this should be your first.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Smooth linear gameplay
- Tangible puzzles
- An approachable difficulty curve
Story
We set off in search of the legendary treasure of the Santa Maria. You’ll be shocked to learn that we did, in fact, find it
Setup
The Sunken Treasure followed the same destructible paper-puzzle structure that I explained in our first batch of Exit The Game reviews, but with one significant difference. For the sake of brevity, you can read about the structure in our original review:
Unlike the others, however, the gameplay in The Sunken Treasure was entirely linear. It presented the puzzles one at a time. Solving each one advanced the story and provided us another complete puzzle. This small change significantly – and in my opinion, positively – impacted the play.
Gameplay
Exit The Game’s The Sunken Treasure was a linear play-at-home escape game with an approachable level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ The linear gameplay removed ambiguity. This was the first Exit The Game that we’ve played where we never found ourselves attempting to solve a puzzle before we had all its components. We never once missed that added challenge.
➕ As the story progressed, the puzzles ramped up along a comfortable difficulty curve.
➕ With one exception the puzzles felt fair and solved cleanly.
➖ One puzzle had us in the weeds trying to figure out what we were supposed to see. In the end we got the correct answer for the wrong reason. We never would have even noticed if I didn’t make a habit of checking the hint cards at the end of each puzzle to verify that we had approached it properly.
➖ While we didn’t really need it, the hinting wasn’t granular enough. Should you need a hint on one of the more complex puzzles, you’re likely going to get more of a push than you’ll want or need. Exit the Game could smooth this over by adding a few extra hint cards to the more complex puzzles.
➕ We adored the tangible interactions in The Sunken Treasure. They exceeded my expectations, based on my experience with previous Exit The Game tangible puzzles. 👍
❓ This felt like the easiest Exit The Game that we’ve played to date. I didn’t mind at all. In fact, I liked it. Your feelings may differ on this subject.
Tips For Playing
- Space Requirements: minimal, a small table or floorspace will suffice
- Required Gear: paper, pencil, and scissors.
Buy your copy of Exit The Game’s Sunken Treasure, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: KOSMOS provided a sample for review.
(If you purchase via our Amazon links, you will help support Room Escape Artist as we will receive a very small percentage of the sale. We appreciate the support.)
YouEscape – Magnum Opus [Review]
Escape room video conferencing.
Location: the Internet
Date Played: October 20, 2018
Team size: 1-4; we recommend 3
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $30 per team (regardless of player count)
Ticketing: Private
REA Reaction
And we have another new escape room format!
YouEscape offers Internet-based escape games. The creator/ gamemaster pointed his camera at a table with puzzle props. We delivered commands that he executed.
We didn’t know what to expect from this one and ended up having a good time. YouEscape is still exploring how to build games for this format, but they are off to a good start.
There’s an opportunity to create something unique this way. In its current format, it’s an affordable way to play an escape game from the comfort of your own home.
If you’ve played all of the games in your area, want to play with friends who live far away, or really love escape room puzzles, give YouEscape a try. They are creating new games on a monthly basis.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Friends who don’t live in the same place, but want to play together
- Any experience level
Why play?
- A novel escape game format
- The challenge of instructing interaction with physical objects
- Cooperation across different physical locations
- Fun puzzles
Story
The master alchemist had disappeared and it was up to us – his apprentices – to discover why.
Setting
Magnum Opus was an online escape game where we joined a video chat with our teammates and the gamemaster. The gamemaster’s camera was pointed at a table with all of the game’s props. We only saw a pair of hands reaching in around the camera and doing as we instructed.
The physical props, puzzle components, and locked boxes resided with our gamemaster. Additional instructional materials and puzzle components were organized into folders in Google Drive.
We remained in our own homes, communicating with our teammates and gamemaster through Google Hangouts. We issued commands and he interacted with the props and delivered verbal hints. Repeat until solved.
Gameplay
YouEscape’s Magnum Opus was an atypical escape game played over the Internet by a remote team giving the gamemaster verbal commands. There was a moderate level of difficulty, some of which came from learning how to control the game.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, instructing, communicating, puzzling… and navigating different tabs and windows.
Analysis
➕ YouEscape’s format enabled cooperative gameplay through physical escape room components, across different locations and time zones.
➕ Playing via the gamemaster’s hands was deceptively challenging. In fact, we missed a critical detail in one puzzle for quite some time. I’m sure we would have seen this if we’d been handling the props ourselves. We appreciated how the format added different twists to puzzle solving.
➕ YouEscape designed some excellent puzzles. We particularly enjoyed the opening and closing challenges. Magnum Opus was at its best when we had to explore the props to solve the challenges.
➖ The physical props and puzzles looked like prototypes. There was plenty of room to craft more captivating game components.
➖ Although YouEscape set Magnum Opus against a mystical alchemy theme, that theme was absent or unimportant for much of the experience. With the exception of a few physical components, most of the props and puzzles didn’t draw on alchemy.
➖ Much of the gameplay took place in Google Drive. While YouEscape shared well-organized folders, we found it burdensome to continually switch windows and tabs. We can solve puzzles in documents and browser tabs any time, without a gamemaster in a physical room of puzzles. This portion of this experience didn’t take advantage of what made YouEscape’s gameplay format special: the hands and props. It was also clunky to use.
➕ YouEscape offered a different spin on the escape room concept. We see potential in combining physical props and puzzles with Internet-facilitated player communication. We recommend YouEscape lean into the physical components, upping the intrigue there. Those elements made the format special and introduced interesting new gameplay challenges.
➕/➖ The Patreon subscription model is great if you want to play monthly… and a big hindrance if you want to experience a one-off game. Additionally, the race to constantly generate new content could eventually hold YouEscape back from producing some truly wonderful games, as speed of development will ultimately be in the driver’s seat.
➕ YouEscape is rapidly iterating. A day or two after we played, we received this image of the newly revised “set.” If YouEscape can continue working on this concept, distill their games down to the best interactions, and gather compelling props to facilitate the fiction, they will have a fantastic product.
❓I think this format offers an opportunity to create delicate, messy, or dangerous interactions that are safe when handled exclusively by the game designer, but could never appear in a traditional escape game.
Tips For Visiting
- You will need a computer than can comfortably handle at least 6 browser tabs and a video chat without freaking out, a stable Internet connection, a microphone, and a notepad (physical or virtual, but we found physical to work best).
- We recommend that each player use their own computer, from their own space, and communicate through Google Hangouts. This allows each player to move between the tabs/ windows as they’d like.
Book your hour with YouEscape’s Magnum Opus, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: YouEscape comped our tickets for this game.
Lockout – Europa [Review]
By Jupiter’s moons! (not available in English)
Location: Antibes, France
Date Played: September 30, 2018
Team size: 3-5; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: 20-35 € per person depending on team size
Ticketing: Private
REA Reaction
Europa was a puzzle-focused escape room that offered some unusual interactions and puzzles.
At times this mission felt futuristic and spaceship-y. Other times, it felt like an escape room of locked boxes.
While I enjoyed many of the puzzles, as we escaped, I found myself wishing that the concluding story beats, puzzles, and interactions felt more like they had belonged on this spaceship.
Overall, if you’re in Antibes, France, and looking to play an escape room, this would be a fun choice with interesting puzzles.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Interesting and varied puzzles
- Nifty moments
Story
The European Space Agency had received a signal from a missing ship that was returning with samples from Jupiter’s moon Europa. We had to board the ship and return with the samples.
Setting
Europa was set on a futuristic spaceship.
The set was uneven. Most of the game had a steel and space-y look. Some segments looked like a traditional lock-and-key escape game.
Gameplay
Lockout’s Europa was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ Lockout designed some excellent, layered puzzles.
➖ Europa presented us with a mission and detailed steps to follow to achieve it. It wasn’t clear, however, which puzzles fit with this series of objectives. We played a decent amount of this game in the dark because of this confusion.
➕ We especially liked the use of augmented reality in one puzzle.
➕/➖ One interesting puzzle concept missed a beat. We liked the inventive concept, but the solution was only partially clued.
➕ Lockout executed standard escape room puzzle concepts to facilitate teamwork. This worked well.
➖ Europa was a heavily padlocked spaceship containing a lot of locked boxes. It felt overly locked with props and locks that didn’t aesthetically match the game concept. This contributed to a general feeling that too many items in this game didn’t belong on a spaceship.
➖ The win was anticlimactic. Solving a complex puzzle yielded yet another key. We would have liked to see that solve integrated contextually into the story of this spaceship and our escape from it.
Tips For Visiting
- You must be able to read and understand French to play Europa.
Book your hour with Lockout’s Europa, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
YULU – Fire Quest [Review]
🔥
Location: at home
Date Played: June 8, 2018
Team size: 1-4; we recommend 1-¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Duration: 15 minutes*
Price: $??.??
REA Reaction
Fire Quest torched our expectations. We set this DIY obstacle course up for my 11 year-old cousin at my brother’s 30th birthday party. Within a few minutes, 10 people spanning 3 generations were running around our makeshift challenge course competing for the best time.
Fire Quest can play well for young children or older kids with good motor skills. The players define the course, making it as easy or hard as they desire. With a bit of creativity, it works remarkably well for adults. Additionally, this could make for an epic drinking game.
While there’s room for improved variety in Fire Quest’s built-in components, consider this a strong recommendation for families, children, and adults who haven’t forgotten how to enjoy themselves.
Sadly Fire Quest was a limited release by YULU. It will not be distributed through their regular channels. This is too bad because it’s a fabulous game. At the end of the review, you’ll find links to a few marketplaces with limited quantities of Fire Quest available for purchase. Buy it now if you want it. This might be your only chance. We hope it gets a wider release some day.
Who is this for?
- Anyone with a willingness to play
- People with a bit of mobility
- Fire Quest was designed for children
Why play?
- It has appeal for players of all ages
- The torch balances well but not effortlessly
- It’s easy to set up, learn, and administer
- Endlessly adaptable
Story
We entered a temple filled with obstacles and treasure. We had to carry our torch through the challenges in order to earn our prize.
Setup
Fire Quest was fantastically straightforward. We had a torch that cradled a fireball.
To start the game, one player picked up the torch from its base, starting the timer. Upon lifting, the torch randomly started glowing one of five colors. The colors corresponded to a challenge that we had setup around us. Whatever color the torch glowed was the challenge that required completion. That player cycled through all five challenges in the order the torch demanded, returned the torch to its cradle, and checked their time.
Red – Hoop Challenge
We had hung three hoops with big clips on a book shelf. The player had to pass the torch through those hoops.
Yellow – Balance Challenge
Four paper disks each depicted a different task (step on the disk and touch it with your hand, pivot 360 degrees on the disk, etc). The player had to navigate a path of these disks following the instructions while traversing them and acting like the surrounding floor was lava.
Green – Action Challenge
The player drew one of five cards. Each card depicted a trick that had to be done with the torch (pass the torch behind your back, between your legs, etc).
Blue – Rope Challenge
The player clipped the torch to a blue rope and had to lead the torch along the rope’s path.
Purple – Obstacle Challenge
This was my personal favorite challenge. Fire Quest asked us to create our own obstacle (climb over/ crawl under a thing, jump over something, etc).
Gameplay
YULU’s Fire Quest was a DIY obstacle course with a customizable level of difficulty.
Core gameplay – as defined by the instructions – revolved around balance, coordination, and dexterity… but you could use this torch to facilitate a wide variety of challenges.
Analysis
+ The torch and fireball were the core of Fire Quest. YULU nailed this. Balancing the fireball isn’t brutally challenging, but if you do something too difficult or stop paying attention, gravity will do its thing. They balanced the… balance. When the fireball dropped the player always knew it was their own fault.
+ The LED lighting of the fireball mixed with the sound effects and timer felt satisfying and drew in new people.
– There was one small problem with the torch: accidentally double-tapping on the slam pads. Less careful players could easily double press the button, effectively bypassing a challenge from the torch’s perspective. This could have been avoided by YULU disabling the button for a few seconds after it has depressed.
+ The baked-in timer made the game really easy to self administer.
+ The hoops fit together snugly but had built in break points. If impacted, they could separate without actually breaking.
– We found ourselves wishing that YULU had done a little more with the paper components like the yellow stepping stones and the green challenge cards. A few more of these items would have added a lot of depth to the challenges at minimal expense.
– The yellow stepping stones would be better laminated or made of a more durable material. They do get stepped on, after all.
+ Fire Quest brought together three generations for a little while to do something new.
+ By having the timer count up instead of down, it allowed everyone to play at their own pace and ability. It also allowed us to make increasingly lengthy and complex challenges without slamming into a limited timer.
+ Fire Quest was a game that begged for creativity. I think that YULU did this knowingly. The purple challenge was designed as a “create your own challenge,” which ensured that every player knew that creating challenges was an option. Fire Quest wasn’t rigid. It suggested how to play and then invited customization, silliness, and adaptation… It wanted us to play.
Tips for Playing
- Batteries not included. Fire Quest requires 3 AAA’s.
- Some of the torch colors don’t illuminate clearly in sunlight. Yellow was particularly difficult to see in the sun.
- Use your imagination and feel free to reinvent the challenges as you see fit.
- If you turn this into a drinking game, please do so responsibly.
- For playground play or other simplified purposes, Fire Quest could be reduced to the torch and the cradle.
Buy your copy of YULU’s Fire Quest, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Fire Quest is available in limited quantities from Zulily and Ebay and Christianbook.com and Walmart.
Disclosure: YULU gave us a complementary reviewer’s copy of this game.
13th Hour Escape Rooms – The Grand Parlor [Review]
The Grand Parlor
Earn the urn.
Location: Wharton, NJ
Date Played: October 28, 2018
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 5-7
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $29 per player
Ticketing: Public
REA Reaction
The “grand” in Grand Parlor was not an overstatement.
13th Hour Escape Rooms delivered a creepy interactive adventure, for a larger team, on a large scale.
The Grand Parlor felt epic and delightful.
While not every puzzle made sense in the experience, or was on the same level, the vast majority of the gameplay elevated the impressive gamespace… and the majority of our critique is about details that wouldn’t even get mentioned in our reviews of more average games.
We visited 13th Hour in October to experience the effect of actors on The Grand Parlor. We loved this augmentation, but your mileage will vary depending on your gameplay preferences (see below for a full explanation of the actors and how to get or avoid them).
If you are anywhere near northwestern New Jersey, and can enjoy an eerie and sinister vibe, we highly recommend an excursion to 13th Hour Escape Rooms. We’ve loved many of their escape rooms and The Grand Parlor was no exception. It rivaled The Great Room.
Who is this for?
- Fans of the creepy
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- Best for players with at least some experience
- Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Why play?
- Expansive and immersive set
- Large-scale interactive puzzles
- Epic and joyous moments
Story
The ashes of Bishop, a notorious killer and beloved member of the Hayden family, had gone missing. If we could help the Haydens find Bishop’s urn, then they would let us leave their parlor unharmed.
Setting
The Grand Parlor was set in the most spacious area of the creepy Hayden family farmhouse. From the dark and foreboding entryway, it opened up into a massive space with height, depth, and hiding places. The props ranged from parlor staples to farmhouse essentials.
Gameplay
13th Hour Escape Rooms’ The Grand Parlor was a standard escape room with a higher level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, exploration, making connections, puzzling, and communicating.
While the puzzles were not especially difficult on their own, the large gamespace and large-team dynamic raised the level of difficulty of the overall experience.
Actors in October
13th Hour runs a haunted house in additional to their 5 escape rooms. On October evenings and weekends when the haunted house is operating (sometimes including Christmas & Valentines Day), the escape rooms have an added twist: actors. The 6 actors roam the 5 escape rooms providing character, hints, and the occasional jump scare. They are also the gamemasters.
The set, story, puzzles, and gameplay do not change for October. The escape rooms are open year round.
We visited The Grand Parlor during October to experience the actors in the escape room. Our other reviews of other 13th Hour games do not include this discussion because we did not visit those games when the actors were in rotation.
➕ The actors were impressive. They added character to the experience. They surprised us at well-timed moments. They were a ton of fun. If you’re looking for feels and immersion over focused puzzles, I highly recommend playing these escape rooms with the actors.
➖ At times, the actors were heavy-handed. They were the hint system as well as added character for the space. If you want focused puzzle-play, don’t visit in October. You’ll be frustrated by the interruptions. You’ll also have less control over the hinting.
A visit to 13th Hour in October is an individual decision. The actors don’t make the escape rooms better or worse. They make them different. We loved the creepy, playful horde roaming Hayden’s farm. They improvise and have fun with you. It’s also perfectly reasonable to have zero interest in that added layer.
Analysis
➕ The set was impressive. It was detailed and designed. The vertical scale and the decor were captivating. It was an incredible environment to explore and puzzle through.
➕ The gamespace opened up over the course of play with exciting, grand reveals as well as more surprising, quiet opens.
➖ It was easy to miss the best moments if they triggered while we were elsewhere in the gamespace, working on something different. The Grand Parlor would have benefited from gameflow that guided all players into position to witness the most exciting moments.
➕ The Grand Parlor was creepy, playful, and joyous. Note for the timid: it was creepy, but not scary.
➕ 13th Hour Escape Rooms produced layered, but approachable puzzles. We had to connect elements across the large gamespace, which forced communication and teamwork. This structure worked really well.
➖ The gamespace echoed a lot. With a large team of players – and the actors as well – the space was full of commotion. Communication became frustrating.
➕ 13th Hour Escape Rooms’ entire facility is themed. Their lobby and hallways look more aesthetically impressive than most escape rooms.
➕ For one simple puzzle, 13th Hour designed an original take on a common escape room trope. It was phenomenal.
➖ We spent a lot of time trying to solve one puzzle before we had all the information. We would have appreciated additional gating here, especially because the eventual solution didn’t feel like adequate payoff for the wasted time.
➖ A few interactions seemed to belong in a different game. One in particular didn’t make sense – conceptually or aesthetically – in the Hayden family’s parlor.
➕ One standard parlor prop surprised us with an impromptu, silly, and playful interlude. It was delightful.
➕ The large-scale interactions supported the grandeur of the set. These contributed to nifty and satisfying puzzle solves that felt great in the gamespace.
Tips For Visiting
- There is parking available.
- We recommend Hot Rods BBQ.
- Most of the team needs to be able to climb stairs. While it is possible for a player or two to play The Grand Parlor without climbing any stairs, if you play this way, you’ll miss significant components of the game.
Book your hour with 13th Hour Escape Rooms’ The Grand Parlor, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: 13th Hour Escape Rooms comped our tickets for this game.
A special thanks to the Hayden Family for allowing David to photograph them and live.
New York Times Sunday Crossword Contest Escape Room
Yesterday’s New York Times crossword puzzle (November 11, 2018) was an escape room in crossword form. It was also a contest. Can you escape this crossword puzzle?
Crossword Puzzle Contest
This crossword escape room puzzle was the 2018 New York Times Crossword Puzzle Contest.
To enter the contest, email your solution to crosswordcontest@nytimes.com by Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern time. You might win more puzzles… a whole years’ worth in the form of a calendar.
Escape Room Crossword Instructions
“This crossword represents an escape room, with four articles you’ll need hidden inside. After you complete the grid, follow the directions at 41-, 70- and 99-Across to find what to do next. Working correctly will lead you to a four-word phrase with a total of 12 letters. That is your answer.”
Subscribe to New York Times Crossword puzzles.
If you’re new to crossword puzzles, this is a difficult one. It’s not particularly challenging, as far as New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles go, but the trick is, well, tricky, especially for less experienced puzzlers.
Escape Rooms
In this blog post, puzzle creator Eric Berlin, writes a bit about his love for escape rooms. He also mentions how to find the good ones… spoiler… it’s us!
Turns out, it’s pretty hard to turn the Sunday crossword into an escape room. We think he did a great job!
At the end of the blog post Eric writes, “…if it encourages you to get your friends together to try a real escape room, all the better.” We couldn’t agree more!
Thank you for the shout-out Eric.
Update
The deadline for submissions to the contest has past. The New York Times receive almost 20,000 entries to this contest, which was a record number of entries. You can find the solution in this blog post.
7 Unexpected Tidbits from the 2018 Escape Room Enthusiast Survey
What do Escape Room Enthusiasts think?
Errol Elumir of The Room Escape Divas posted an escape room enthusiast survey, open during July – August 2018. Members of the community helped craft the survey. Lee-Fay Low compiled the results.
This is a really interesting data set… and I want to dig into some of my observations about it (even if this post is publishing a little later than I had intended).
First off, let’s get this out of the way…
Bias
As you read these tidbits, keep in mind that biases are inherent in the process:
(1) This was a self-selected group of respondents.
“Participants in this survey are not representative of escape room players at large. The sample is biased towards people who identify as enthusiasts, have played more rooms, and spend time on English language online enthusiast groups.”
(2) Many of the questions were multiple choice. Respondents ranked items in a list in order of importance. Lists are not exhaustive.
(3) Many of the words in the survey weren’t defined. Different players likely interpreted these concepts differently.
Bias isn’t a knock against the survey. (In fact, David helped write the survey.) Bias is, however, important to be aware of.
The survey results deliver interesting and valuable data for the community and the companies. Plus, this data will become more interesting over time as it starts to illuminate shifts in trends.
Here are a few tidbits that I found to be particularly interesting:
[1] 562 enthusiasts answered the survey.
There are a lot of us out there who want to spend our free time thinking about escape rooms and who will take time to fill out a pretty detailed questionnaire. We’re excited to see the enthusiast community growing.
[2] Discovery over immersion
When asked what motivates us to play escape rooms, “discovery” edged out “immersion.”
When I travel in industry circles, I constantly hear reference to immersion. Immersion seems to be this elusive gold standard that companies aim to achieve.
While the most enthusiastic players are certainly motivated by immersive experiences, they are more excited by discovery.
Discovery is an under-explored concept. As players, we seek the unexpected. It’s energizing.
[3] Subscription-based puzzle games aren’t speaking to us… yet.
When asked which escape room-related activities they’ve played, subscription-based puzzle games ranked below escape room board games, in-person puzzle hunts, immersive theatre, and online puzzle hunts.
The subscription-based market is younger than these other adjacent forms of entertainment. We’ve reviewed a number of subscription puzzle games and generally enjoyed the concepts, but found that the products weren’t mature enough yet. There’s a lot of room for creators to develop this idea.
Don’t discount this style of entertainment just yet.
[4] Theme matters, but there isn’t consensus around best themes.
When asked what’s most important when booking an escape room, theme ranked second only to personal recommendations. Theme mattered more than reviews, booking type, location, and price.
That said, no one theme out ranked the others. Tombs and space were the most popular themes, but so many others were almost as popular.
Escape room enthusiasts are searching out themed experiences, but theme is a personal preference.
Data on popular themes will be skewed because theme pervasiveness seems to be a fairly regional phenomenon. For example, much of the United States has tons of labs, zombie apocalypse, and prison break themes. These themes are barely present in our home market of New York City.
As we travel around, we often find pockets of similarly themed games. Is that regional similarity good or bad? I’m not really sure, but it is a thing.
[5] Use of technology is not very important.
For a well-designed game, the most important thing is puzzle quality. Of the 15 game characteristics listed in the survey, use of technology ranked 13th.
This data supports a common misconception that escape rooms need fancy technology.
Technology is not inherently valuable. It’s one tool in a game designer’s toolbox.
Our opinion has been that technology is usually best when it’s hidden and the player doesn’t think of the interaction as a tech interaction… it’s just a fun moment.
[6] There is a bias towards multi-room games.
Not a single person said they prefer single-room games over multi-room games. While about 12-15% of respondents are indifferent to this differentiation, the vast majority of respondents prefer multi-room games.
I would imagine that this has a lot to with transition reveals. Room transitions usually present an opportunity for a memorable moment… and for discovery.
Additionally, single-room games are often a sign of a cheap company cramming a game into the smallest space possible.
I’d guess, however, that this bias is correlation and not causation. As escape room companies have built more sophisticated escape rooms, they’ve also shifted toward multi-room design. Many of the best escape games we’ve played have been multi-room games, but they weren’t necessarily the best because they were multi-room games.
We’re indifferent to room count because we’ve seen some amazing tiny games and some horrible massive games. What matters most is how a designer uses the space they have.
[7] We love logic puzzles?!
When asked how important different puzzle types are, logic puzzles out ranked all the other puzzles types listed by a pretty wide margin.
I love logic puzzles! In my experience, however, more teammates shy away from these than embrace them. (More logic puzzles for me!) While my experience is anecdotal, this makes me wonder whether all of the respondents were operating with the same definition of “logic puzzle.”
As I think about a more broad definition of “logic” puzzle, however, I see an opportunity for escape rooms to stretch how we make connections and to reimagine logic for physical environments. This is an opportunity I’m really excited about.
Data
Read the full data summary here.
And check out the nifty interactive dashboard that our friend Randy Hum of Escape Rumors created with the survey data.
Heyou Escape – La Terrible Affaire Bambell [Review]
The Terrible Bambell Affair (available in English)
Location: Le Cannet, France
Date Played: September 30, 2018
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: 24-30 € per person depending on team size
Ticketing: Private
REA Reaction
I keep telling people about La Terrible Affaire Bambell.
Heyou Escape’s horror thriller was one of the most interesting escape rooms we’ve encountered in our travels.
All about story and fear, La Terrible Affaire Bambell relied on traditional escape room gameplay to facilitate the narrative and the feelings it created in players.
This escape room worked because of creativity, hard work, and commitment.
La Terrible Affaire Bambell wasn’t a good or a bad escape room. It was theatrical. It was terrifying. It was a weak puzzle game… hell, it was barely a puzzle game. It was an intense and interesting experience.
If you’re looking for traditional, puzzle-driven, non-threatening escape room gameplay, do not play La Terrible Affaire Bambell. If you’re in the south of France and you seek something unique that might shift your perspective on what an escape room can be, then Heyou Escape’s first outing is a must-play.
Who is this for?
- Horror fiends
- Adventure seekers
- Story seekers
- Players with at least some experience
Why play?
- Frights
- Worldbuilding
- Thought-provoking conclusion
Story
We were new police recruits on a risky first assignment. Our sergeant had tasked us with investigating the apartment of a suspected serial killer.
This man had been monitored by police for some time; they were confident that this was the guy. We need to inspect his residence to determine if he was the killer and how many people he had murdered.
There were two catches:
- He had a photographic memory. We had to put everything back exactly as we had found it. Because…
- He could return to his home while we were investigating. If he returned, we had to hide.
Given the dangers, our sergeant would be on the radio supporting us the entire time.
Setting
Heyou Escape led us to an apartment in a real apartment building. En route, he improvisationally melded the real life environment with the game world.
Once our sergeant had “picked the lock” to the apartment, he left us in a dark, creepy living room lit only by a few flashlights (that were chained to the wall).
Gameplay
Heyou Escape’s La Terrible Affaire Bambell was an unusual theatrical horror escape room with a higher level of difficulty (more on that in the analysis).
Core gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, and enduring the tension.
Analysis
➕ La Terrible Affaire Bambell was unique. Its story, rules, and approach to gameplay were unlike anything we’d encountered in more than 650 escape rooms.
➕ Heyou Escape established their story and world by integrating the real world into the experience. This was brilliant and immersive.
❓ La Terrible Affaire Bambell was scary. This was the first game that we had ever played where one of our teammates quit in the middle of the game (and no, that wasn’t Lisa!). Heyou Escape told us that 30% of teams have at least one player abandon due to fear. Whether this is amazing or terrible is up to you.
➕ Heyou Escape introduced a game mechanic that I spent more than half of the game thinking was stupid… until it turned into my favorite aspect of the game. I cannot say more without ruining it.
➕/➖ The mediocre puzzles only worked because of the heavy gamemaster involvement (which was well integrated into the game). That being said, the puzzles were never the reason to play La Terrible Affaire Bambell.
➕/➖ The set was creepy. It established the right tone, but it didn’t look incredible. It also lacked believable hiding places (which really were critical to this narrative).
➕/➖ The hiding from the serial killer was intense even if I couldn’t believe that we were effectively hiding ourselves from the killer.
➕ The actor/ gamemastering was fantastic. It made this world feel real, even when we could see the seams. We further commend Heyou Escape for delivering all the dialogue in English. (We later received a behind the scenes glimpse that demonstrated just how hard the staff had to work to make this crazy experience work.)
➖ The ending came too late… or the climax came a little too early. By the time that La Terrible Affaire Bambell had come to a conclusion, the story had begun to unravel.
➕ Heyou Escape left us with an interesting question about the game… and the more I thought about it that evening over dinner and wine… the more I appreciated the uniqueness of La Terrible Affaire Bambell.
Tips For Visiting
- This is truly a horror game. Be prepared to be scared.
- Players need to be fairly mobile.
Book your hour with Heyou Escape’s La Terrible Affaire Bambell, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
I Lock You – Meurtre à Hollywood [Review]
Murder in Hollywood (available in English)
Location: Nice, France
Date Played: October 1, 2018
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: 90-144 € per team depending on team size
Ticketing: Private
REA Reaction
From the premise to the gameplay of the second half, Meurtre à Hollywood was an unusual escape game. Our goal wasn’t to escape, stop a calamity, or find some special item. We needed to figure out how to arrange the set for filming a television show.
With this unusual setup, I Lock You’s second game started out as a traditional escape room and transitioned into something different. I Lock You used these differences to craft an interesting environment and unique puzzles to match it.
While the puzzle flow and set design quality varied heavily throughout Meurtre à Hollywood, the overall experience was memorable and worthy.
If you’re in Nice and looking to explore an escape room that does something a bit different with the medium, I strongly recommend Meurtre à Hollywood.
Who is this for?
- Story seekers
- Puzzle lovers
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Puzzle quantity, quality, and intrigue
- Amusingly dramatic finale
Story
Our Hollywood careers were taking off; we landed roles on a popular crime drama staring Scarlett J. Unfortunately the crew that was supposed to arrange the set had been fired. If Scarlett were to show up at filming time and find the set in disarray, she would surely quit the show. We had to save our acting career and the production by reasoning out how to assemble the set before its star entered.
Setting
Meurtre à Hollywood spanned two spaces: Scarlett’s dressing room and the crime scene set that we had to make right.
The dressing room was simple and plain, but had the right props to indicate its purpose.
The crime scene was vibrant, with lively lighting. This segment of the game was unusual and interesting.
Gameplay
I Lock You’s Meurtre à Hollywood was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ Meurtre à Hollywood delivered unique gameplay; the concept behind the second half was new to us.
➕ We especially liked the tangible interactions that facilitated deeply layered solves.
➖ The set and prop aesthetics varied a lot. While some elements had charm and quality, the gamespace mostly looked homemade and messy. Additionally, I Lock You included a lot of clue structure on laminated paper.
➕ Some of Meurtre à Hollywood’s best puzzle moments shed new light on the movie set and altered our perspectives.
➕/➖ I Lock You went 1 for 2 on transitions. In one instance, they surprised us with an unexpected open. In another, we wanted to move forward, but the cluing was tenuous for a puzzle that seemed a lame choice of gating.
➖ The puzzle flow was rough. It was easy to derive solutions without a place to input them or a clear way to keep them organized for later use.
➕ I Lock You’s destructible worked well. Their cluing on this was smart.
➕ The final scene was dramatic and entertaining.
Tips For Visiting
- This game is available in English.
Book your hour with I Lock You’s Meurtre à Hollywood, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: I Lock You provided media discounted tickets for this game.
🐈 SAW Escape Room [Meme]
The oldest conversation in escape rooms.
