The U-Boat is one of the best games in Boston. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms in Boston.
Update 11/14/23: If you enjoyed this article, we hope you’ll check out our interview with Marie Huber and Nico César, owners of Red Fox Escapes, on The Reality Escape Pod.
Crushed it
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Date Played: December 13, 2019
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $32 per player
Ticketing: Public
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
Everything about U-Boat makes it abundantly clear that this escape game was made with love.
The set was meticulously designed with props chosen because they fit the environment, or modified so that they would feel like they belonged.
The story was carried throughout the game, and driven home with a brilliant effects sequence.
For us, the puzzles were a mixed bag. We loved a few, were fine with most of them, and felt like a couple of them were too sloggy and similar for our tastes.
Overall, this was a strong escape game that we think it will be a crowd-pleaser for a wide variety of players. We preferred Red Fox’s The Heist, but honestly believe that more players will want to dive into U-Boat. If you’re in Boston, you should check it out. This is a new and mighty company.
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
Why play?
- A strong set
- Fantastic and challenging puzzling
- One killer late-game event
Story
It was 1941, World War II was raging, and a linchpin in the war effort was cracking the German Enigma. British intelligence already had an Enigma Machine, but we needed a codebook… and that’s where we came in.
We had placed a spy on a German U-boat, but the boat was going down, so our spy had hidden the book, and abandoned his post along with the rest of the crew. We needed to sneak aboard the vessel and capture the codebook before it was crushed and consumed by the ocean’s depths.
Setting
Red Fox Escapes built a good-looking submarine. The walls were curved, the doors were ovals, the general aesthetic was steel, and everything felt like it belonged – even if it didn’t actually belong. The prime example of this was the directional lock that Red Fox Escapes had painstakingly modified to make appropriate for the space.
Above all, Red Fox Escapes used their environment to create an iconic and memorable moment in this game.
Gameplay
Red Fox Escapes’ The U-Boat was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ The set and props looked great. The curvature of the walls really sold the look and feel of the space. Red Fox Escapes went to great lengths to make the hardware and props look like they belonged.
➕ The story of the The U-Boat had depth.
➕ The puzzles solved cleanly. One flowed especially well. We also enjoyed the different interactive mechanisms and their solve-state indicators.
➕/➖ The puzzles were a mixed bag. Although we enjoyed many of the puzzles (we adored 2 of them), some of them were not especially exciting. In a couple of instances, they felt a bit repetitive.
➕ The U-Boat had an unforgettable moment of transformation. Red Fox Escapes choreographed this impeccably so that every team member was able to experience and appreciate this.
Tips For Visiting
- Red Fox Escapes is easily accessible by T. Take the Red Line to Central.
Book your hour with Red Fox Escapes’ The U-Boat, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Red Fox Escapes comped our tickets for this game.
