Brave Sir Puzzles
Location: Denver, CO
Date Played: September 7, 2019
Team size: up to 8; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $28 per player
Ticketing: Public
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
Excalibur was an uneven experience. This was consistent throughout the game.
If you looked in one direction you might see gorgeous set design, but turn 90 degrees and you’d probably look at something that felt pretty dated. The same was true of the puzzles. While some were thoughtful and fun, others felt half-baked.
The net effect was that the game felt average.
Excalibur was a fine traditional escape room. If you’re in the area and have already played Epic Escape Game’s Wizard’s Academy (which was considerably more consistent), then it’s worth a play.
Who is this for?
- Families
- Aspiring royalty
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Solid gameplay
- Some fun interactions
- Pulling a sword from a stone is entertaining as hell
Story
With the death of the King, Merlin had traversed time and space seeking someone who might be worthy of the crown. He’d magicked us away to Camelot to see if we could pass the tests and pull the sword from the stone.
Setting
Excalibur was primarily staged within a throne room. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it felt uneven. Depending upon which direction we looked, the set was more or less convincing.
The last act had the most elegant staging, but this area was a bit cramped.
Gameplay
Epic Escape Game’s Excalibur was a standard escape room with a low level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ Excalibur got rolling with a fun clue.
➕ Epic Escape Game created standard escape room-style puzzles with satisfying solves. These worked well and the game flowed from solve to solve.
➖ One puzzle was purposely designed to tangle people up. Players could solve it correctly and still wind up at the wrong solution. There would be more interesting ways to add challenge to this puzzle.
➖ There were a few too many lengthy process puzzles that were more tedious than interesting.
➕ / ➖ We encountered one tangible puzzle that was a bit too easy to bypass. Epic Escape Game didn’t mind when we bypassed, which we appreciated… but why build the puzzle without some structure to necessitate it being solved?
➕ / ➖ We have mixed feelings on the final puzzle. It relied on a type of gating that we really enjoy when puzzling at home, but don’t usually enjoy in escape rooms. While it felt ok in the context of this game, is was the type of individual solve that tends to create a bottleneck. It probably slows momentum for most teams right where you want momentum to pick up.
➕ As one would expect from a game named Excalibur, the culminating interaction delivered a strong sense of victory.
Tips For Visiting
- There is a small parking lot behind the building.
- Enter through the front of the building even if you park in the back. It’s worth it.
Book your hour with Epic Escape Game’s Excalibur, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Epic Escape Game comped our tickets for this game.
Disclosure: Our trip to Denver was sponsored by the Denver escape room community. Contributions were anonymous.
