Room Escape Artist

Assembling the naughty list.

Location:  San Francisco, California

Date Played: February 21, 2019

Team size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: from $89 for teams of 2 to $179 for teams of 6

Ticketing:  Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock 

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Escape from Blind Tiger Bar has been a regional favorite among San Francisco escape room players for a few years and we understand why. It had some really unusual and exciting elements. Had we played this game a couple of years ago, it absolutely would have wowed us… Today, we simply enjoyed it.

EscapeSF’s speakeasy-inspired escape room was solid. While its middle segment could have offered something a bit more interesting, it had an impressive opening scene and some wonderful concluding moments.

All in all, this was a good game as long as you control your expectations. While visiting San Francisco, we strongly recommend that you play EscapeSF’s Space Bus, a fantastic game that shows where this company is headed.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Players with at least some experience

Why play?

• An interesting start
• An explosive conclusion

Story

It was the height of Prohibition and we wanted to acquire a speakeasy. Instead of funding our own illegal business, we’d decided to sneak into an existing one with the goal of finding the names of its owners and stealing their ledger. After that, the police would take care of the owners and we’d have ourselves a new illicit drinking establishment.

Setting

Escape from Blind Tiger Bar began with us in an alleyway surrounded by doors for all sorts of businesses. Initially, we had to determine which door hid the speakeasy. From that point, we spent the duration of the game within the illegal bar surrounded by liquor bottles and the various props that one would expect to find in a bar.

This escape game had been around for quite a few years when we played it. It was showing its mileage.

Gameplay

EscapeSF’s Escape from Blind Tiger Bar was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ We enjoyed the structure of Escape from Blind Tiger Bar. EscapeSF sandwiched standard escape room gameplay between inventive opening and closing sequences.

➕ The themed set was charming. We especially loved one pivotal prop. It was a true antique and a ton of fun to engage with.

➖ Escape from Blind Tiger Bar was an older game and the set and props were a bit worn.

➖ There was a lot to uncover. We found the searching to be varying degrees of boring and fuzzy. These solves generally felt uninteresting and arbitrary.

➕ We enjoyed the more puzzley puzzles.

➖ One puzzle could be solved out of sequence with just a bit of common outside knowledge.

➕ The gameplay had consequences. Our choices through one sequence determined how our experienced resolved.

➖ In the moment, we made a conscious decision, but not a knowing one. It wasn’t clear as we played that there would be consequences.

➕/ ➖ As we played Escape from Blind Tiger Bar, we couldn’t help but feel like there were missed opportunities in this game. We believe this is a matter of timing and perspective. When Escape from Blind Tiger Bar was introduced, it pushed the envelope. Today it isn’t as surprising as it was a few years back. That doesn’t take away from the game EscapeSF built, but it does change the way it feels to a well-traveled escape room player.

Tips For Visiting

• There is a paid parking garage across the street.
• We enjoyed dim sum at the nearby Great Eastern Restaurant.
• There were steps down from the lobby to Escape from Blind Tiger Bar.

Book your hour with EscapeSF’s Escape from Blind Tiger Bar, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: EscapeSF provided media discounted tickets for this game.