Panacea is one of the best games in Boston. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms in Boston.
Pandemic: Alchemy
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Date Played: December 15, 2018
Team size: up to 8; we recommend 4-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $30 per player
Ticketing: Public / Private if you book at least 4 tickets
Emergency Exit: Yes
REA Reaction
Room Escapers is at their best when they build large-team, puzzle-focused, humorous adventures. They checked all those boxes with Panacea… and this may be the finest example of their style thus far.
Panacea was visually striking with an elegant color palette and beautiful faux stained glass windows. While the build quality was occasionally lacking, it was a generally wonderful environment.
From a gameplay standpoint, there was a lot to puzzle through. Our entire team was occupied from start to finish. Panacea just needed a culminating puzzle that brought all of us back together for a finale.
All in all, this was a seriously satisfying game, and regardless of experience level, we highly recommend playing Panacea if you’re visiting Boston.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- Any experience level
- Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Why play?
- Beautiful alchemy-inspired decor
- Challenging puzzles
Story
With a disease ravaging the world, humanity’s last hope was hidden in an old Boston apothecary. We entered the preserved establishment-turned-museum with one goal: master the 7 principles of alchemy and produce a mythical cure-all.
Setting
We stepped out of Room Escapers’ lobby and into a beautiful old bepuzzled apothecary-turned-museum.
The build quality varied from item to item. Some of the game was beautifully constructed, while other portions were a little more finicky or flimsy.
The most beautiful feature of the room a set of fluorescent office lights that were converted into faux stained glass.
Gameplay
Room Escapers’ Panacea was a standard escape room with a high level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ Panacea was beautifully themed, down to the game clock. It was an inviting space in which to solve puzzles.
➕ The stained glass windows were awesome.
➕ The story flowed through the puzzles. It became apparent early on how working through the puzzles would resolve the story. We had a good sense of our progression as we played.
➕Panacea offered many hands-on, challenging puzzles. It kept our entire team busy. There was a lot to do and most of it was pretty great.
➖ We encountered one ghost puzzle that led us far afield. This puzzle needed to be entirely refactored, rather than partially reskinned.
➕/➖ In Panacea we worked through a lot of puzzles in a relatively confined space. On the one hand, puzzle elements were well labeled so that we didn’t struggle to connect this astrology with that… astrology. The challenge was in the puzzle. On the other hand, it felt less organic to rely on labeling. Additionally, larger groups will likely struggle stepping around each other.
➖ Some of the tech-driven interactions were finicky. This added unnecessary frustration after we’d solved the puzzles.
➕ The hint system made sense with the story and the space. It added to the experience. (In fact, we recommend asking for a hint, even if you don’t need one.)
➖ In Panacea, we spread out, working on different puzzle tracks. Although we enjoyed the finale, we felt it lacked a culminating puzzle that brought the team back together for the conclusion.
➕ There was some really funny wordplay going on in Panacea.
➕ Room Escapers has upped their reveal game. In Panacea, the reveals worked wonderfully.
Tips For Visiting
- Panacea is at Room Escapers’ School Street location.
- It is easily accessible by subway. Get off at Park Street or Government Center.
- If you’re driving, the Pi Alley Parking Garage is right nearby.
Book your hour with Room Escapers’ Panacea, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Room Escapers comped our tickets for this game.
This site also had emergency exits in the rest of the facility, correct? I assume that when you say there is an exit you cover not just the escape room itself but the whole building.
Melanie, we aren’t fire inspectors, we have to assume that the City of Boston is responsible for building code.
All that we are commenting on is that the room itself does have an exit that any player can exercise at any time without external intervention.