OMEscape Canada – The Kingdom of Cats [Review]

A kung-fu movie with cats and puzzles.

Location: Markham, Ontario

Date played: April 28, 2016

Team size: 3-8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $20 CAD per ticket

Story & setting

We were humans attempting to avoid imprisonment in The Kingdom of Cats. To make our escape we had to battle the various members of the royal family by solving their puzzles. The story didn’t come through very strongly.

The setting, however, was both regal, and, well, cat-like. It was adorable and fun to climb through this feline kingdom, even if the story surrounding it didn’t make a ton of sense.

The Kingdom of Cats was bright and welcoming. It was not scary.

Puzzles

The best puzzles required cat-like interactions. Meow this was cute and fun.

OMEscape Canada incorporated some fun technologically driven interactions as well.

The puzzles drew on a variety of skills. They weren’t particularly difficult, but they were enjoyable.

Standouts

This game was simply charming. The whole experience was weird, quirky and adorable. It was different than your run-of-the-mill escape room.

Shortcomings

As with the other games at OMEscape Canada, we entered wearing blindfolds. However, there was no reveal in the first moments that warranted the hygiene hazard of the blindfold.

There were many generic puzzles that weren’t the cat’s meow.

Should I play OMEscape’s The Kingdom of Cats?

At its best, The Kingdom of Cats had wonderful cat-inspired interactions and puzzles set in quirky surroundings. At its worst, it slipped into generic escape room tropes and puzzles that could have been in any room. I truly wish that OMEscape fully committed to the bonkers theme and built absolutely every interaction around cats. It felt like they ran out of ideas before the room was finished.

If you are looking for a challenging escape room, this won’t be your game, but it was immeasurably family-friendly.

This game was not handicapped accessible. If you can’t move about an interactive set, this one isn’t for you.

If you can suspend your disbelief and are happy to embrace a different game environment, give this one a try. Enjoy it for the cute, feline-inspired set and the ingenuity behind that experience.

Book your hour with OMEscape’s The Kingdom of Cats, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.