Room Escape Artist

Rain Corp. is one of the best escape rooms around Montreal, Canada. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in the Montreal area.

Update 11/1/22: If you enjoy Rain Corp. we hope you’ll check out our interview with creators Jonathan Driscoll and Sacha St.Denis on The Reality Escape Pod.

Terminator

Location:  Laval, QC, Canada

Date Played: October 9, 2021

Team size: 3-10; we recommend 4-5

Duration: 75 minutes

Price: $39.99 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: at least one player has to crawl

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Rain Corp. was an undeniably premium escape room. It was unique and included many impressive and unusual interactions… and all of it was contained within a massive and gorgeous set.

It’s difficult to convey just how large Rain Corp. was, so I’ll say: it included more than one full-size vehicle, and managed to make them feel small within the context of the world. Put another way, Rain Corp. on its own is probably larger than your typical escape room facility. It’s big.

On top of that, Escaparium was telling an ambitious story in Rain Corp. They went out of their way to pull players into the game world by giving us a strong character to interact with.

That said, we felt like the set came first, followed by the character and story, with the gameplay at times feeling small. The puzzles mostly worked, but they didn’t shine.

This was an impressive experience that felt like it wanted a little more cohesion, as well as refinements in interaction design.

All in all, Rain Corp. is a must play game in Montreal. Our critiques do not diminish how jaw-dropping so much of this experience is. Montreal is a top-tier escape room destination, and this is one of a number of jewels in its regional crown.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Sci-fi fans
• Best for players with at least some experience
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• It’s gigantic
• The character is so fun to engage with
• Ambitious design decisions

Story

Tech company Rain Corp. had created a revolutionary new artificial intelligence and then lost control of it.

Setting

Rain Corp. was physically massive, one of the largest escape rooms we’ve ever seen. Escaparium built an expansive post-apocalyptic cityscape with gigantic set pieces.

Gameplay

Escaparium’s Rain Corp. was an oversized escape room with standard gameplay and a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, solving puzzles, and interacting with a character.

Analysis

➕ In Rain Corp. the story began before we’d realized it.

➕ The Rain Corp. set was staggering. We’d stepped into a different place, where we were small and it was foreboding. The final set was especially intense, with an aesthetic we hadn’t seen before, and Escaparium maintained it from start to finish.

➕ The transition into this post-apocalyptic stage was dramatic.

➖ At eye level, Rain Corp. looked like a 3D-printed escape room. It would have benefited from post-production finesse.

➖ Additionally, the epic scenery was at odds with the small details that provided most of the gameplay. The scale of the space sometimes felt like it was too big for the game mechanics.

➕ We enjoyed a strong layered solve that flowed through a part of the set.

➖ Rain Corp. repeatedly lacked clue structure and feedback. We were playing with cool toys, but not making progress.

➕ This escape game lived and died by the main character. Escaparium was able to give it a lovable personality that we connected with. It was also mobile, responsive, and versatile. It provided clues and compensated for the reset failures we encountered.

➖ Because Rain Corp. excelled at creating an emotional connection, it missed the mark delivering a story beat that most escape rooms never get the opportunity to explore. We wanted more from this moment.

Tips For Visiting

• Note that Escaparium has multiple venues around Montreal. Rain Corp. is in Laval at the Boul. Rossignols location.
• There is a parking lot.
• Escaparium has a game cafe and restaurant off their lobby.
• This game is entirely bilingual (French and English).

Book your hour with Escaparium’s Rain Corp., and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escaparium comped our tickets for this game.