The answer to the universe?
Location: Buffalo, NY
Date played: January 21, 2017
Team size: up to 6; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $27 per ticket
Story & setting
Our lab partner called in sick on the very day that emergency decontamination triggered. We had an hour to find his half of our research and escape before the incinerator toasted our lab.
Perplexity Lab #42 was a sterile, white, lab-ish environment filled with puzzles of a science-y nature.
Puzzles
Puzzles were the focus of Perplexity Lab #42.
With a little physics, a little bio, and a little chemistry, there were a lot of tangible grade school science-based puzzles to solve.
Standouts
With a bit of science magic, Perplexity Lab #42 had a great puzzling moment. It was a simple solve, but excellent execution.
Perplexity did a good job of keeping things tactile.
Perplexity Lab #42 had a number of strong implementations of more typical escape room style puzzles.
Shortcomings
Among the specimens kept in the lab, the selection of red herrings was breathtaking.
There was quite a bit of unnecessary reading material included in the name of realism. We had one person burn a lot of time exploring this redundant and largely useless material.
The set looked like purgatory. It was flat white and while it did have a lab feel to it, it wasn’t inspiring.
One rather clever puzzle suffered from some issues of readability and orientation.
The conclusion wasn’t particularly satisfying.
Should I play Perplexity’s Perplexity Lab #42?
If you’re looking for a puzzle-centric game, Perplexity Lab #42 has some excellent puzzle offerings. Tangible and creative, there’s plenty of challenge worth exploring.
The catch with Perplexity Lab #42 was that its red herrings, usability issues, bland environment, and reading material merged to create some tedium that hamstrung the experience.
While it wasn’t easy, it was certainly beginner-friendly and also offered enough puzzle intrigue to keep experienced folks entertained.
Book your hour with Perplexity’s Perplexity Lab #42, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Perplexity comped our tickets for this game.
The next Room Escape Conference is taking place in Niagara Falls, NY from May 1-3, 2017. The conference organizers sponsored our trip to Buffalo, New York, Niagara Falls, New York, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, to play this game and others in the region. We strive to help conference attendees visit the room escapes that are best for them.
