“In olden times, when wishing still helped…”
-The Frog King, The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Location: Syosset, NY
Date played: July 9, 2016
Team size: 6-12; we recommend 8-10
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $30 per ticket
Story & setting
Set in a conglomeration of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, we had an hour to break the witch’s spell… because of course there was a witch.
The story and staging in Grimm Escape were reasonably strong. Each game element incorporated something from one of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and all puzzles were devoted in some manner towards breaking the witch’s spell.
Puzzles
This was one of the most challenging rooms we have ever played because there weren’t many mechanisms to help us understand if we were on the right track. The many logic puzzles and riddles built upon one another without affirmation.
It was possible to make a fatal mistake and have no way of knowing it until time expired… which was exactly what happened to us. We made a mistake of a single letter and solved everything else correctly, but there was nothing we could do to derive the correct answer at the end of the game.
Make no mistake about it: every puzzle was solvable. However, the game offered only subtle clues and the lack of answer verification made amalgamation tricky.
Standouts
The environment was adorable and fun.
There was a tiny bit of magic; it was innovative and compelling.
The volume of puzzles stuffed into this room was impressive.
Shortcomings
The game fiercely bottlenecked at one point where it hinged on a puzzle that was barely clued. It created a weird situation where if we didn’t see the solution quickly, we were stuck hacking at it all together or asking for a hint.
One complex logic puzzle took two of our teammates over half of the game to solve. Lisa was one of these players and felt that she couldn’t write this review because she had played such a narrow portion of the overall game.
The puzzles built on themselves without verifying that we we had correctly solved them. We had a tiny mistake in our puzzling, and the irony of it was that Lisa knew the correct answer, but she was off solving the never-ending logic puzzle. By the time she rejoined the group, our error was buried and impossible to untangle.
In a final twist for our team, we had the exit key in our hand with time to spare, but didn’t win. A teammate was turning the dials on the final puzzle while we were trying to solve it and he opened it despite 10,000 possible permutations. We were told that it didn’t count and the lock was promptly shut by our gamemasters.
Should I play Puzzle Break Long Island’s The Grimm Escape?
The Grimm Escape has a cute exterior but in its heart, it’s sadistic. I’d venture to guess that it is deliberately cruel because Puzzle Break advertises it as their most challenging room.(That is saying something, as all of their games are far more challenging than most escape rooms.)
As with all Puzzle Break games, this was a serious puzzle game with a low probability of success. If that’s the style of game you’re looking to play, then consider this the biggest challenge you’ll find in the New York Metro area since SCRAP closed their doors earlier this year.
Bring a full team of people who really love to puzzle intensely.
Book your hour with Puzzle Break Long Island’s The Grimm Escape, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
