Mine Trap is one of the best escape rooms around Salt Lake City / Park City. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in the Salt Lake City / Park City area.
There’s something precious in this mine.
Location: Park City, UT
Date Played: January 8, 2018
Team size: 2-8; we recommend 3-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $37 per ticket
REA Reaction
Mine Trap started off strongly and escalated to an explosive conclusion. While it dragged in the middle, the beautiful set design kept us engaged.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- History buffs
- Any experience level
Why play?
- The set
- The final act
Story
We were on a tour of Park City’s old silver mines when a tunnel collapse sealed us in. Could we find the tools and information necessary to find daylight before running out of air?
Setting
We entered a surprisingly detailed mine shaft filled with wood, stone, and tools. With the notable exception of some carpeting, the set looked phenomenal.
I wish that I could show you a photo or two, but they were forbidden. Don’t let the logo fool you… Escape Park City’s Mine Trap had a set worth seeing.
Gameplay
Mine Trap had three acts to it.
The first act was a basic search-and-puzzle beginner’s on-ramp. It was smooth, well designed, and approachable.
The second act was pure puzzles and combination locks. Escape Room Park City played with interesting concepts, but due to some design decisions, the Mine Trap dragged here.
The final act brought in a little physicality and a ton of innovation. Come for the set, but stay for the third act.
Standouts
Mine Trap opened gently with a puzzle on-ramp. While it was more challenging than Escape Room Park City’s other game, Travel Room, the approachable start opened it to players of all experience levels.
With Mine Trap, Escape Room Park City leveled up their set design. This set would look great in any US escape room market. It’s especially impressive in a city without competition.
We enjoyed the final act. The puzzles were inventive, thematically appropriate, and well clued.
The conclusion blew us away.
I cannot overstate how much I respect Escape Room Park City’s approach to pricing. Mine Trap cost twice as much as their other game, Travel Room. It was worth it. Mine Trap was twice as interesting, twice as complex, twice the size, and more than twice as detailed.
Shortcomings
At any given moment, we confronted a lot of locks, primarily of the same digit structure. While it eventually became apparent why certain codes went to certain locks, for much of Mine Trap we felt like a solution could go anywhere. Dropping 4-digit numbers into half a dozen locks quickly became boring.
We found one common escape room prop far too early. We had to use it senselessly from that point onward. Escape Room Park City’s band-aid for this problem was a rule that they declared before the game, “Don’t turn off the lights, it won’t help you.” We still lost a lot of time and fun on this prop. A better solution for their gameplay problem could be MacGyvered using some of the existing items in the room.
A few of the puzzles involved pixel hunting. We had to find nit-picky details with minimal cluing to derive solutions. While these puzzles were fine, when mixed with the aforementioned digit structure and prop, the game simply dragged when it could have roared.
There was carpeting in the middle of our silver mine, which was confusing.
Tips for Visiting
- Mine Trap costs almost twice as much as Travel Room, but it offers twice the value.
- The building has a parking garage.
- Enter the building through the elevator in the parking garage. (This was confusing.)
- Park City has no shortage of food options.
Book your hour with Escape Room Park City’s Mine Trap, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
