!EPACSE
Location: Oak Park, IL (metro Chicago)
Date played: August 11, 2016
Team size: 2-3, we recommend 2
Duration: 20 minutes
Price: $15 per ticket
Story & setting
Set in a doctor’s waiting room, we had 20 minutes to complete our intake paperwork in order to see the doctor before he left for vacation.
The gamemaster played the receptionist in an adorable parody of a doctor’s office.
Escape Factor added an additional layer of theming: in this waiting room, everything was backwards. This added to the fun of the environment. Note the name of the doctor.
Puzzles
Although The Waiting Room of Dr. Awk C. Abmoor was short, the puzzles were challenging.
The puzzles focused on word-based challenge, and relied heavily on word skill, which wasn’t surprising, given the theme of this particular doctor’s office. However, Escape Factor also integrated a variety of other puzzling skills, continuing to play with the idea of inversion.
Standouts
The gamemaster’s character and game introduction were adorable and designed so as not to break the fiction. Our gamemaster truly delivered his script.
The overarching concept of The Waiting Room of Dr. Awk C. Abmoor was fresh, unusual, and clever. It gave an additional level of theming to the escape room.
The glibness and humor were an added bonus.
Shortcomings
We played the game while it was still in late beta testing and some of the puzzles needed additional refinement.
One was particularly tedious to solve even once we had figured out how to do it.
In another instance, we were foiled by a sight puzzle that Escape Factor had not yet figured out how to clue for players like us who couldn’t see it. (We consistently struggle with sight puzzles.)
Should I play Escape Factor’s The Waiting Room of Dr. Awk C. Abmoor?
This was an adorable 20 minutes for two people. It was light and fun, but still presented a challenge.
Word lovers will be particularly at home in this game.
This was Escape Factor’s second creation and we are excited to see what they bring to their next full length game.
Book your session with Escape Factor’s The Waiting Room of Dr. Awk C. Abmoor, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Escape Factor provided complementary tickets for this game.
