Room Escape Artist

At least there weren’t sharks.

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date played: June 25, 2017

Team size: 6-14

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $28-30 per ticket

Story & setting

Following in the footsteps of Robert Stroud, also known as “Birdman of Alcatraz,” we were attempting to escape the famous prison by uncovering his escape plan.

Philadelphia Room Escape’s Escape From Alcatraz was a metaphorical prison escape at best. The room was a strange mix of worn used furniture and unusual wallpaper designs.

Puzzles

The puzzling in Escape From Alcatraz was bumpy and built around searching a gamespace that was larger than it should have been. Additionally, Escape From Alcatraz contained trivia with no references in the room escape and decipherments that require guesswork.

Standouts

Our gamemaster was kind and made a very funny joke during his introduction to the game.

Shortcomings

The set was incredibly unappealing, beat to hell, and covered in splinters. When I moved a piece of furniture (which was a necessary action), it turned out that it was propped up on one of its legs and the thing fell on me. I’m fine… but wow.

The puzzling wasn’t fun. It involved too much searching, paper-based puzzles, outside knowledge, and guessing.

Should I play Philadelphia Room Escape’s Escape From Alcatraz?

There are flawed room escapes that need some editing and rethinking, but could work. Escape From Alcatraz was not one of those games.

Skip Escape From Alcatraz.

Full disclosure: Philadelphia Room Escape provided media discounted tickets for this game.