Escape Room Live Georgetown - Ghostbusters [Review]

Closed Game, Escape Room Live, Washington DC

Escape Room Live Georgetown – Ghostbusters [Review]

8 June 2018

4 minutes

Update October 2022: The Escape Game purchased this location from Escape Room Live. They revamped 3 of the escape rooms (including this one), turning them into essentially new experiences with 60-minute game clocks. The 45-minute experiences are only slightly changed from the original games in the space.

“Ray. If someone asks you if you’re a god, you say . . . . . YES!” – Winston Zeddemore

Location: Washington, DC

Date Played: April 21, 2018

Team size: 2-10; we recommend 2-5

Duration: 45 minutes

Price: $28 per ticket

Ticketing: Public

REA Reaction

This officially licensed Ghostbusters was beautiful. Escape Room Live Georgetown pulled iconic characters and moments from the original Ghostbusters films and produced an experience that was a great escape room and a fun homage to the source material.

The difficulty curve on Ghostbusters was a bit steep for newbies, so I’d encourage players get at least a game or two under their belts before taking on these ghouls. Experienced players should note that Ghostbusters is a 45-minute game, so if you get in a groove, it’s possible to knock this one out quite quickly.

We think this one is worth checking out if you’re anywhere nearby.

In-game: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man peering in through a window.

Who is this for?

Adventure seekers
Story seekers
Puzzle lovers
Scenery snobs
Players with at least some experience
Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Collectors of spores, molds, and fungus.

Why play?

It’s an official Ghostbusters escape room
A beautiful set
Strong puzzles
Seeing some classic movie characters
The Escape Room Live lobby & bar

Story

Slimer, the Librarian, Mr. Stay Puft, and Vigo the Carpathian were on the loose in New York City. Who were Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, and Zeddemore gonna call?

Us. They called us.

In-game: The main set of the Ghostbusters firehouse. There is a large box in the middle of the room for manipulating hazardous objects.

Setting

Ghostbusters was staged in famed firehouse. The set was loaded with details and Easter eggs that called back to the original Ghostbusters movies.

This was a beautiful and fun environment to explore.

… And no, there was no pole to slide down.

In-game: Closeup of a Ghostbusters trap.

Gameplay

Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Ghostbusters was a standard escape room with nonlinear gameplay and a higher level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, puzzling, and capturing ghosts.

In-game: The portrait of Vigo the Carpathian. — He is Prince Vigo!

Analysis

+ In this licensed Ghostbusters escape room, Escape Room Live Georgetown made great use of the most iconic magician/ tyrant, god, and class 5 full roaming vapor.

In-game: The Librarian ghost.

+ The set looked fantastic and felt Ghostbusters-y.

– There wasn’t much of an on-ramp. Ghostbusters threw us into the deep end and it was difficult to figure out exactly how to make progress (especially for the newbies in the group).

In-game: A close up of the proton pack schematics and the Ghostbusters logo.

+ Once we got rolling and learned how the game wanted us to play it, there were good, satisfying puzzles.

– Most of the puzzles were technology-driven, with serious lag and delay. We found ourselves staring at solved puzzles for long stretches of time waiting for the puzzle-concluding sequence to trigger.

– One of the core puzzle’s input mechanisms offered almost no feedback. When I was inputting the solution, I wasn’t even sure that it was working until the puzzle resolved.

+ The hint delivery system made perfect sense given the source material.

+ There was a smart augmented reality sequence.

+/- The finale had a great interaction, but it was missing a satisfying puzzle. This escape room was begging for a final boss battle.

+ The Escape Room Live Georgetown lobby is really something to behold. It’s a massive full bar with ample seating and tables. This was a lovely place to hang out.

The Escape Room Live Georgetown bar. It looks posh. — Yup. That’s a bar. No, we didn’t drink before our games. We are professionals.

Tips for Visiting

There is a parking garage few blocks down at M and Wisconsin. Street parking is a challenge in this neighborhood.
There are lots of restaurant options in Georgetown.
For baked goods, we recommend Baked & Wired. Be prepared to stand in line on the weekend.
Plan to spend some time in at the Escape Room Live bar.

Book your hour with Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Ghostbusters, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escape Room Live provided media discounted tickets for this game.

2 responses to “Escape Room Live Georgetown – Ghostbusters [Review]”

Dominique

June 8, 2018 at 11:23 am

I’m fascinated that there is a bar. Obviously, they allow people to play impaired. As an ER owner myself, I’m shocked because the few times we have made exceptions to our strict “no drinking before a game” policy, we have regretted it. People are too rough with props and puzzles, they don’t listen well while impaired to rules like “please don’t stand on the furniture” and “no need to take your flashlight apart”. It’s always been a disaster. I’m dying to know how these folks get around what appears to be a universal problem and that is, impaired people don’t listen or think well. I’ll have to go there and chat with the owners someday.

Reply
1. David Spira
  
  June 8, 2018 at 11:27 am
  
  I can’t really say, as we didn’t partake in alcohol. They were more encouraging of us staying after at the bar than drinking beforehand.
  
  Reply

🖋️ Author

Written by

David Spira

Co-Founder of Room Escape Artist & Co-Host of Reality Escape Pod. David conceived of Room Escape Artist because he saw the potential of this new entertainment medium back in 2014. From the start, he applied his professional skills as a digital experience designer to the burgeoning industry of escape rooms. David is full of ideas: from in-depth research pieces to new content types… like cute animals solving puzzles. He is always pushing REA to try new things, take risks, and be something more.

Room Escape Artist