Update 4/19/22: If you enjoy The Nest, we hope you’ll check out our interview with creators Jeff Leinenveber and Jarrett Lantz on The Reality Escape Pod.
So many feels.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date played: June 2, 2017
Team size: 1-2; we recommend 1-2 (see below)
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $65 per ticket
Story & setting
As the next of kin for a recently deceased relative that we’ve never met, we were given access to her long-lost storage unit.
Staged within a beautiful and dark storage unit, we explored the life of this stranger. We got to know her through her personal effects and her audio recordings on cassette tapes that narrated most important moments of her life.
Puzzles
The Nest used a variation of the escape room format to tell an intimate and moving story. There were puzzles within this experience, but it was not a puzzle game.
The puzzles were easy obstacles that served as gates between chapters of the story. The puzzles weren’t the point of The Nest.
Standouts
The story was painfully moving.
The set was gorgeous and brilliantly designed.
The puzzles served as clever gates that also made sense within the narrative.
The voice acting on the cassette tapes was magnificent.
Shortcomings
The darkness added to the atmosphere, but necessitated carrying around a handheld flashlight along with the cassette player. This was clunky and distracting.
The flashlight was in bad shape and frequently flickered out on us.
Should I visit Scout Expedition Co.’s The Nest?
Lisa and I emerged from The Nest and couldn’t bring ourselves to speak about what we heard, saw, and felt for hours. The Nest wasn’t a puzzle game and it wasn’t an adventure: it was a journey through another person’s tragedy.
It was powerful and beautiful.
If you approach The Nest as a game to win, you will completely miss the point. Don’t look for clues or meaning in the props as you would in an escape room. The puzzling simply leads you through the experience. You aren’t at risk of losing.
The Nest is incredible, but it’s not for everyone. The content is mature, not in a violent or sexual way, but because it’s emotionally heavy. It’s also an experience that requires some crawling, so if you aren’t up to that, don’t buy a ticket.
Additionally, when you buy a ticket you can choose to go alone or with another person. Both options are viable, but will profoundly change the experience. I have to imagine that a solo experience would be haunting and intense and maybe a little cumbersome when dealing with the flashlight and cassette player. I was happy to experience The Nest with Lisa, but she is the only person that I know with whom I would have wanted to feel those feels.
The Nest left me feeling exposed and I am so happy that I was there. Tickets are limited, but if you can get your hands on one, take as much out of it as you can.
The next wave of tickets go on sale on June 18th at 12pm Pacific.
Book your visit to Scout Expedition Co.’s The Nest, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
