“Science, my boy, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.”
― Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth
Location: New York, New York
Date played: June 6, 2016
Team size: 2-7; we recommend 4-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: It’s complicated
Emergency Exit: [A] Push to Exit
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
Story & setting
Here’s the setup: “You wake up and find yourselves in a mysterious cube shaped room. Who put you here? How can you get out? What is ‘The Experiment’? As time winds down you will start to wonder if the experiment… is you!”
The story was minimalist. This game was about the puzzles and the unusual The Cube inspired environment.
The room had a great sci-fi insane asylum aesthetic.
Upon first glance, there was nothing in the room but a chain that was all bunched up with locks. With careful examination, we quickly learned that there was more to this room than met the eye.
Puzzles
The Experiment included a great mix of logic, dexterity, and task-based puzzles. The Experiment included a puzzle for everyone.
The puzzle design did an excellent job of ensuring that we always knew exactly where to input our solutions. From a player perspective, I can’t really understate how important this was.
Standouts
The look of the room was badass. I loved the game space.
The Experiment included an excellent mix of puzzles.
Escape Games NYC hand made many of the puzzles in this game; these creations were damn cool. I thought one was so nifty that after I had solved it, I stopped everyone from playing for a moment just to show them how it worked. I usually wait until after the game to do stuff like that.
Shortcomings
The Experiment included a set of dry mathematical puzzles that seemed lazily thrown in. Both the puzzles and their presentation felt out of place in this room escape.
Everything looked great at first glance, but upon closer inspection, many game components lacked polish such that they felt unfinished.
Narrative in generally a good thing. The Experiment, however, could have benefited from dropping the story entirely (there wasn’t much beyond the intro) and instead focusing on creating a completely polished, fully immersive environment.
Should I play Escape Games NYC’s The Experiment?
The Experiment pulled off a cool trick: By using an unusual environment, they created a game where the story didn’t matter anywhere near as much as the environment and the tasks that it demanded of us.
It’s a nifty feat. This is the strongest, most interesting escape room that Escape Games NYC is offering in 2016.
The Experiment is a great game that would be mind-blowing with a little more attention to the rough edges and a few finishing touches. It’s absolutely worth experiencing.
Book your hour with Escape Games NYC’s The Experiment, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Escape Games NYC comped our tickets for this game.
