The Texas Snowpocalypse.
Location: Austin, TX
Date played: January 9, 2017
Team size: 4-10; we recommend 2-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $25 per ticket
Story & setting
Cabin Fever was a ski adventure gone wrong. When a blizzard hit our ski area, we took shelter in a cabin that would soon collapse under the weight of the snow. In order to escape, we needed to determine our own location, find the “tractor key,” and unlock the door to our crumbling shelter.
Having grown up skiing, the story felt to me a little like a Texan’s interpretation of a snowmageddon.
Austin Panic Room went to great length creating the wooden aesthetic for this cabin. It was spacious and well lit. It felt like “Texas meets Vermont.”
Puzzles
The puzzles were relatively basic, using common escape room props and puzzle designs. They flowed logically. The puzzle design was solid, if not challenging.
Austin Panic Room incorporated a few tech-driven interactions into the cabin experience.
Standouts
Cabin Fever relied on many locks, but it was always clear where to input any given puzzle solution. The room escape had good connective tissue.
There were some very cute puzzles.
While the story didn’t ring true to us Northerners, we did appreciate the originality and aesthetic.
Shortcomings
The final puzzle lacked an elegant solution. Whereas everything had come together so smoothly up until that point, there was no graceful way to derive that last bit of information. This made the conclusion less satisfying than the rest of the game.
Cabin Fever felt light on content.
The win conditions didn’t make a ton of sense, even once we’d won.
Should I play Austin Panic Room’s Cabin Fever?
Cabin Fever was game for new players. The puzzles weren’t particularly challenging and it was easy to find the thread of gameplay and follow it to the escape. The set was adorable, even if the story was not believable.
Cabin Fever would be a fun introduction to room escapes.
While there wasn’t enough game within Cabin Fever to truly satisfy a team of experienced players, this might be a good choice for an experienced player to play solo or an experienced team to speedrun.
Book your hour with Austin Panic Room’s Cabin Fever, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Austin Panic Room provided media discounted tickets for this game.
