Komnata Quest – Mousetrap [Review]

Update: This game has been closed and folded into Joker’s Cafe.

The first time I’ve been in a phone booth since 2001.

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Date played: November 6, 2016

Team size: 1; we recommend 1

Duration: 15 minutes

Price: $15 per ticket for a 15-minute solo game

Story & setting

Mousetrap was a single-player game that locked individuals in a bepuzzled phone booth. Similar to Komnata Quest’s far more extreme Boxed Up, Mousetrap cast me as Sherlock Holmes caught in another of Moriarty’s dastardly schemes.

The gamespace was small and simple: a well-lit box designed to look like a replica London phone booth.

It had a phone, a shelf, and not a whole lot more.

Puzzles

Mousetrap was a remarkably standard room escape experience, albeit for one person. The 15-minute game had your standard searching and solving structure.

It was reasonably challenging, especially considering that each player had to solely rely on themselves to work through every aspect of the game. Four of us played and our completion times were 7, 10, 11, and 13 minutes. My time was the fastest, but it was only because I bypassed a third of the game. Everyone felt the pressure of the clock.

Standouts

There was a lot of game for a single player on a 15-minute timer.

Speaking as a player who never solos room escapes, it was fun and intense to play alone.

Komnata Quest did a lot with a little on this one.

Shortcomings

While Komnata Quest managed to squeeze a lot of gameplay into Mousetrap using very few props, it got a bit redundant as a result.

One key prop in the game will be subject to heavy wear. By the time I used it, the wear allowed me to bypass a lot of the game by accident. If Komnata doesn’t stay on top of replacing this prop, the quality of the game will suffer.

Even with regular upkeep, Mousetrap as I played it had too much potential for bypassing. It’s possible to make a few small tweaks to prevent what I did, but they need to take the initiative to actually do it.

Mousetrap was expensive for what it was.

Should I play Komnata Quest’s Mousetrap?

Mousetrap is not an entree and I cannot recommend that anyone visit Komnata Quest explicitly to play it. It’s either an appetizer or dessert.

It was a fun experience to solo a game and we enjoyed competing for the fastest time in the group. Mousetrap wasn’t incredible and it didn’t push boundaries, but it was a good way to spend a few minutes after playing a larger team game.

The big catch with Mousetrap remains the price. $15 for a 15-minute experience is tough to justify, especially considering that it is possible to win in half the time. More than a dollar per minute is a big ask for what really is an add-on experience.

If you’re a die hard escape room enthusiast, Mousetrap is fun.

If you’re looking for an approachable game to solo, Mousetrap is pretty much your only option in the region.

If you’re going to miss that $15, then I’d suggest skipping Mousetrap. It was a good time, but it’s nowhere near a must-play at that price point.

Book your session with Komnata Quest’s Mousetrap, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you using the coupon code escapeartist to receive 10% off.

Full disclosure: Komnata Quest comped our tickets for this game.