Another zombie! This one might have brains.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date played: March 21, 2016
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 5-6
Price: $33 per ticket
Theme & story
The Zombie Virus has been released in Russia. A group of researchers discovered the cure, but succumbed to the disease before they were able to produce and distribute their antidote. It was our job to enter their lab, determine how to cure the Virus, and distribute the antidote before we were turned into brain-eating monsters.
The game was set in a lab-like environment with a creepy zombie apocalypse twist.
Flirting with horror
In the The Zombie Lab, Room Escape Los Angeles created a game that felt raw and just on the edge of horror. It never crossed the line to become really frightening, but there were moments where it felt like it was just about to do so.
Cool tech & puzzles
Room Escape Los Angeles used an interesting variety of technology to craft a wide array of puzzles. There was something for absolutely everyone to solve and it made for a very entertaining experience.
Attention to detail
More than most games, The Zombie Lab rewarded attention to detail and punished those who wouldn’t take the time to seriously search and learn their way around the game space.
There was always something to do in The Zombie Lab.
Duplicative locks
Room Escape Los Angeles had one nuanced problem that we found in both of their games: they used too many of the same model key and combination locks.
This created needlessly tedious situations where we found ourselves having to try a key in a number of different locks or apply the same combination into too many locks.
Solving puzzles and opening things is fun. Applying the same solution over and over again because “1234” can fit in 5 different locks is a bit of a drag.
This is a very fixable flaw, but one that wore on our team.
Should I play Room Escape Los Angeles’s The Zombie Lab?
I burned out on The Walking Dead after season three. I avoid zombie movies like the plague. I am generally tired of all of the mindless shambling corpses in American popular culture… so I was skeptical going into The Zombie Lab. The skepticism didn’t hold up. The Zombie Lab was a fun game. It toyed with zombie tropes without becoming too much.
The variety of puzzles created an environment where every player on our team had more than one moment to shine.
The technology that supported the game was fun, interesting, and durable. The Zombie Lab was intense, well executed, and kept us guessing until the very last moment of the game.
Leave young children at home. Everyone else should be just fine in The Zombie Lab, even if they get a bit jittery at times.
Book your hour with Room Escape Los Angeles’ The Zombie Lab, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Room Escape Los Angeles comped our tickets for this game.
