Room Escape Artist

Viking Raid is one of the best escape rooms in Eastern Pennsylvania. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in the Eastern Pennsylvania area.

Bjorn to escape.

Location:  West Reading, PA

Date Played: August 14, 2021

Team Size: 2-10; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $29.50 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: Brief moment of flashing lights

Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [B] Mechanical Release (just for one player)

REA Reaction

Usually it’s the little things that make me happy, but in the case of Viking Raid, wielding large fake swords while sitting on an even heftier wooden throne really did the trick.

Viking Raid was thoroughly Viking-themed in its set and props as well as the ways in which we interacted with them. The distinctively Norse mythological objective of collecting amulets representing the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil was solid structural framing for the game, though the amulets themselves — printed stickers on flat discs — could have been better crafted given their prominence in the story.

While this room didn’t have as much of the outwardly fancy tech or flashy reveals that characterized some of Encrypted Escape Room West Reading’s other rooms, it was still quite smooth in its own right, notably eschewing standard combination locks in favor of object placement.

If you’re visiting Encrypted Escape Room West Reading, Viking Raid is well worth a play, though I’d recommend playing it before The Last Vampire and Galactic War for the optimal progression of difficulty and immersion.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Any experience level

Story

Our small town in England had been pillaged by Vikings and we were taken captive. We had to gather the amulets of the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil in order to escape and warn the soldiers of York of the impending attack on their city.

Setting

Viking Raid took place in a rustic viking hangout, replete with an appropriate quantity of wooden and/ or pointy things.

Gameplay

Viking Raid was a standard escape room with puzzling, light searching, and skill-based challenges.

Analysis

➕ Viking Raid was deeply and consistently Norse-themed. The room approached its Norse cultural elements through a respectful and engaging lens.

➖ The risk of physically restraining a player at the start of the game wasn’t worth the reward. While this action loosely made sense for the theme, in practice it just left one player unable to fully participate in the initial few minutes of the game.

➕ All the tech worked reliably, and one type of mechanical interaction happened satisfyingly quicker than I’ve seen in most other escape rooms.

➕ Viking Raid had a solid variety of parallel puzzle content, smooth flow, and satisfying diegetic physical/ tactile interactions.

➖ Certain printed elements felt lower quality and out-of-place in the otherwise immersive set. Handwriting on burlap or weathered laser-cut wood could have better fit into the established vibe.

Tips For Visiting

• Parking: Street parking is available nearby.
• Food: Our team (including both vegetarians and non-vegetarians) enjoyed the lunch specials at Chen Vegetarian House, just a block away from Encrypted Escape Room West Reading.

Book your hour with Encrypted Escape Room West Reading’s Viking Raid, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Encrypted Escape Room West Reading comped our tickets for this game.