Room Escape Artist

Camping is in-tents.

Location: Boston, MA

Date played: September 20, 2017

Team size: up to 5; we recommend 2-3

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $33 per ticket

Story & setting

We were staying in an Airbnb-ed tent in the woods when we learned that previous guests had gone missing. We needed to determine their fate and escape it ourselves.

The Retreat captured the woodsy feel of a rugged weekend getaway. Trapology staged this adventure at night, which made for a dramatic, low-light setting.

Puzzles

The puzzling was linear. It started off simply and became increasingly complex. The Retreat had a remarkably smooth difficulty curve.

Standouts

The puzzle flow with the incrementally escalating complexity worked really well.

The set was varied. We enjoyed the thematic transition.

Trapology crafted mild horror, avoiding kitschy and childish props. The Retreat was approachable; it set a scary tone, but wasn’t truly horrific.

The Retreat was amusing. We especially loved the humor incorporated into one of the late-game puzzles.

Shortcomings

The Retreat took place almost entirely in low light. While on-theme, this could also be frustrating. We relied a little too heavily on flashlights.

Although entertaining and thematically appropriate, the puzzles felt born of the escape room genre rather than created to convey the narrative.

Should I play Trapology’s The Retreat?

The Retreat was a well-designed, small-team game in downtown Boston. We don’t usually see this type of escape room in a major city and it was refreshing.

We recommend The Retreat to newer players looking for an on-ramp and the comfort of their own group. The smooth difficulty curve makes this escape room a good starting place.

Experienced players will likely play through The Retreat pretty quickly, but once it gets going, there are some fun puzzles to chew on.

We are delighted that The Retreat offers a small-team experience. Because it is built for 2-3, and could even be enjoyed by a solo traveler, we recommend that Trapology use private bookings (maybe with tiered pricing) so that players don’t inadvertently get crammed together. It’s an intimate game and best enjoyed that way.

Grab a close friend or two and go exploring Trapology’s Retreat.

Book your hour with Trapology’s Retreat, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: Trapology comped our tickets for this game.