Regional Recommendations Guides
15 things to know before playing an escape room
We’re hosting the Reality Escape Convention live in Boston on August 21 – 22, 2022.
We’re inviting escape room and immersive game players, creators, and owners. Tickets are limited and selling quickly. Get yours while you can.
A professorial pursuit
Location: San Diego, CA
Date Played: March 6, 2022
Team Size: 3-6; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $35 per player
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
In Moriarty’s Manor, we broke into Professor Moriarty’s house to recover some evidence that would exonerate Sherlock Holmes from a crime for which he’d been framed. This was an interesting take on a Sherlock theme, set in the extended Sherlock universe rather than the classic Sherlock study.
MindFox Escape’s first room, Black & White Cafe, was delightful and unique, while also fairly simple, small, and tech-free. I was impressed by just how much MindFox Escape stepped up their game in Moriarty’s Manor, with a much larger set, more tech, and more intricate handmade components.
With this more ambitious design also came some new challenges and areas for improvement. While the gameplay generally filled the space and flowed wonderfully, a few areas of the set felt underutilized. The puzzles consistently fit the theme, but a few that felt more in an old-school escape room style stuck out.
MindFox Escape is one of the rising stars in the San Diego escape room scene. Both Moriarty’s Manor and Black & White Cafe are well worth a play, and with their focus on lighthearted themes, I look forward to seeing what MindFox creates next.
Continue reading “MindFox Escape – Moriarty’s Manor [Review]”We’re off to see the wizard…
Location: Urbana, IL
Date Played: March 12, 2022
Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 2-3
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $35 per player for 2 players, $30 per player for 3-4 players, $25 per player for 5-6 players
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: stairs for at least 1 player
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
The Wizard’s Curse was clever, compact, and thoroughly charming. The smallest of CU Adventures’ current offerings, it was best suited for smaller teams, but had no shortage of delightful interactions.
CU Adventures has a talent for putting original twists on common themes, both in their in-person and virtual/ tabletop games. In The Wizard’s Curse, we encountered a familiar story: we had to find a way to defeat the evil wizard who’d cast a spell over our kingdom. Even if this story was nothing new, the room’s polished puzzling, multi-level set, and fun characters made this a memorable experience.
If you’re choosing amongst the rooms at CU Adventures, you can’t really go wrong. Especially for small teams, newer players, and magic lovers, I recommend playing The Wizard’s Curse.
Continue reading “CU Adventures in Time & Space – The Wizard’s Curse [Review]”“Let it be the devil!”
Location: Neptune, NJ
Date Played: April 9, 2022
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $32 per player
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: This room is on the 2nd floor but they have same level access.
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
Based on local myth, the legend of the Jersey Devil, Legend of the Pines had us out in the woods investigating the Jersey Devil.
The first thing that stood out about Legend of the Pines was that Solve It Sherlock had built a compelling wooded set, which is generally hard to do.
The second thing that really stood out about Legend of the Pines was how effectively Solve It Sherlock worked with the local myth. This game was unique and felt at home in New Jersey. Plus they closed the game and story out with a finale that they had clearly put a lot of love into.
Where can Legend of the Pines improve? I think a few of the puzzles and solutions could have tighter design. Nothing major, but there were a few nuances that could be improved.
Overall, Solve It Sherlock produced one of the few standout games in area. If you’re a traveling escape room player, this won’t blow your mind, but you’ll enjoy it. For locals, this is comfortably among your best options in the region.
For more than 250 years, locals had spoken of the Jersey Devil, telling stories of it prowling the marshes of Southern New Jersey. Late at night, we’d happened upon an abandoned ranger station. As we explored, it became clear that the ranger had been studying the Devil. With the howls of a beast nearing us, we had to figure out what to do with the ranger’s notes.
A grim gallery
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Date Played: March 11, 2022
Team size: 4-8; we recommend 5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $32.95 per player
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
We left The Painter’s Collection feeling conflicted and confused.
On one hand, the set was quite pretty, making excellent use of beautiful art coupled with some interesting interactions. There was a unique aesthetic. Someone had clearly put a lot of effort into The Painter’s Collection.
On the other hand, the gameplay felt fragmented and many of the puzzles were irritatingly under-clued. The amount of times we triggered/ solved something and didn’t know why our approach worked, or took a hint which left us wondering “how were we ever supposed to know how to do that?” was disappointing.
Maybe it was too many cooks in the kitchen or too few… I don’t know… but this meal was undercooked.
The good news for Eludesions Escape Rooms is that The Painter’s Collection was 95% of the way to greatness… and it shouldn’t take much to get it there. However, that missing 5% was clue structure and playability, and that’s critical. I hope that Eludesions does the work to make this game as great as it ought to be. It’s too cool to be left in its current state.
When a painter was falsely accused of witchcraft, the townspeople raided his home and learned the terrible truth that his daughter was actually a witch. She preserved her father in a painting to keep him close… and then began luring townspeople to her home to trap their souls in her art.
The young witch intended for us to become her next victims.
Crystals and wands and bubotuberpus, oh my
Location: Fullerton, CA
Date Played: March 6, 2022
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: from $108 per team for teams of 2 players to $216 per team for teams of 6 players
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: not recommended for anyone with arachnophobia
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
The Magic Cottage: Sisters Curse was beautiful (and just so cool!) with a gorgeous set and magical moments. Infinity Escape truly did some incredible things in this game.
Throughout The Magic Cottage we found ourselves vacillating between love and frustration. We loved the set and the interactive props. However, we struggled against low lighting or limited space.
There is a ton to love in the beautiful, magical world in The Magic Cottage, and it is beloved by a lot of folks for good reasons. From my perspective, the greatness was evident throughout the game. All of its issues are fixable, and I hope that Infinity Escape takes a second look at them.
The Magic Cottage is a worthy game. If you’re in Southern California, it’s well worth checking out. The moments you’ll remember from this escape game are fantastic.
Back in the 14th century, we were on a mission to break the magic on “the most haunted cottage in all of Britain.” Two sister witches had engaged in magical battle with one another and they had both lost, trapping themselves within their cottage.
We had to break the curses and determine which witch to assist.
