Blitzkrieg is one of the best escape rooms in Portland, Oregon. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in Portland.
War is hell.
Location: Portland, Oregon
Date played: May 21, 2017
Team size: 4-8; we recommend 4-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $36 per ticket
Story & setting
Set in World War II, we sought a purportedly powerful occult item before the Nazis could determine how to harness its power.
This military bunker raid took place at night, so we were in a dark set, each carrying a substantial Maglite to illuminate our progress.
Puzzles
Tech-driven and loosely clued, the puzzles took a lot of exploration to work through.
Standouts
The tech was embedded into the environment well.
The flashlights were substantial and worked well.
We were guided by an in-game actor: Sarge. He was an intense presence in the room while remaining kind.
Shortcomings
The entire room escape took place in low light. While everyone had a flashlight that worked well, these were cumbersome to hold while puzzling. This created situations where someone inevitably functioned as a lamp for other puzzling teammates.
One bit of tech was quite finicky.
There weren’t a lot of puzzles, but many of them became a bit frustrating. This was amplified by access to puzzle components out of sequence. In one instance, we solved something before we were supposed to, which left us confused until things came back together late in the escape room.
It felt like Labyrinth played looser with historical accuracy than necessary.
Should I play Labyrinth Escape Games’ Blitzkrieg?
Blitzkrieg was a confusing game:
It felt like it wanted to be historically relevant, but then it had strange and unnecessary anachronisms and inconsistencies.
It felt like it wanted to be an Indiana Jones adventure, but it never committed to the paranormal MacGuffin.
If felt like it wanted to tell a story, but while the puzzles were well embedded in the set, they rarely carried much narrative.
There were plenty of interesting interactions in Blitzkrieg and I feel like there’s a compelling escape room in it. Mostly, however, I was frustrated by strange causes and effects. I left wishing for more clue structure, more puzzles, and puzzles that carried a complete story arc. That’s what it felt Labyrinth was striving for.
If you’re looking for a challenging room escape and you’re ok with having an in-game actor push you over a few humps, then give Blitzkrieg a try. The set was fun, the actor was great, and there were some solid puzzles… once you figured out what they were demanding.
Book your hour with Labyrinth Escape Games’ Blitzkrieg, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: Labyrinth Escape Games provided media discounted tickets for this game.
