Lost Games – The Fortune Teller [Review]

The Fortune Teller is one of the best escape rooms in Las Vegas. Here are our recommendations for other great escape rooms in Las Vegas.

Luck of the draw

Location:  Las Vegas, Nevada

Date Played: November 28, 2021

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $45 per player for 2 players to $39 per player for 6 players

Ticketing: Private

Game Breakage: One puzzle was out of commission at the time of playing

Accessibility Consideration: All players must climb a flight of stairs to reach the room

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The Fortune Teller was an ambitious escape room + immersive theater hybrid, jam-packed with innovative gameplay and actor interactions.

We were enthralled by the novelty and cleverness of many individual elements in The Fortune Teller, yet the implementation of certain puzzles lacked the extra bit of polish that would have made the overall experience truly coalesce. While little was broken outright, multiple instances of glitchy tech and overly finicky puzzles compounded throughout our experience.

But we were not on our own! An in-room actor playing the fortune teller’s assistant fully committed to an enjoyably campy performance. The actor not only communicated key plot points but also allowed for a plethora of puzzle answer formats, more varied than what is possible in most escape rooms. While we enjoyed engaging with the actor’s energetic and funny character, there was room for additional polish — especially with regard to the actor’s timing — given the complexity of the role.

The Fortune Teller was far from a traditional escape room, both in puzzle style and gameplay structure. If you don’t enjoy actor interactions or are turned off by mystical tarot imagery, this probably isn’t the game for you. But if, like us, you appreciate escape rooms that take risks, and have some tolerance for a bit of jankiness, you too may be enchanted by what The Fortune Teller has to offer.

Who is this for?

• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
• Tarot fans

Story

We went to visit a local fortune teller, Grace Moreau. But she was nowhere to be found, and as her assistant did a tarot reading for us, we learned of an impending doom facing us all…

Setting

The Fortune Teller was set in a fortune teller’s studio.

The set was on the smaller side but full of puzzles and flowing fabrics. A wide range of textures, colors, mood lighting, and strange objects helped create a relaxing, mystical vibe.

Gameplay

Lost Games’ The Fortune Teller was a structurally innovative immersive theater/ escape room hybrid with a moderate level of difficulty.

Gameplay was largely driven by an in-room actor. We were physically separated from the actor at all points during the game, other than when we were led to the room.

Hanging shadow box frames containing tarot card-themed puzzles lined the walls of the room. In each round, the fortune teller’s assistant drew a new set of tarot cards, and the corresponding cards’ puzzles activated around the room. We had a fixed amount of time to complete those puzzles, though any we didn’t finish in time could be re-drawn in a later round.

The game was designed such that solving 100% of the available puzzles wasn’t requisite for overall success.

Puzzles ranged from paper-and-pencil puzzle styles to dexterity challenges to observational tasks to hybrid creative challenges.

Analysis

➕ The Fortune Teller included a wide range of interactions themed around the Major Arcana cards in a tarot deck. This theming was prominent, consistent, and creative. Some puzzles stayed within their frame; others made use of the themed environment in clever ways.

➕ While most of the game was spent with the fortune teller’s assistant, a second actor provided a really fun and unusual introduction to the experience.

➖ The explanation of the rules at the start of the game went on for too long. A more concise opening, showing rather than telling how the game worked, would have felt stronger and better paced.

➕ We loved the vibe of The Fortune Teller. It was colorful, intricate, and visibly handcrafted in a mostly endearing way.

➖ That said, the build quality wasn’t consistent and lacked polish. Certain puzzles felt too flimsily constructed, and handwritten instructions looked messy.

➕ Randomized, nonlinear gameplay made sense for the tarot theme. As we received a new handful of cards each round, we regularly had something new to work on without ever feeling overwhelmed.

➕ The process by which the primary actor presented new tarot cards to players each round used some tech that felt magical. As each card was dealt, a corresponding puzzle frame somewhere in the room lit up.

➖ While the puzzles turned on in magical ways, we wished solving the puzzles themselves felt a bit more magical.

➖ Additionally, there was room to tighten up puzzle design. The overly subtle cluing of a particular puzzle left a shadow of a doubt. Another weighed heavy on our minds, as the instructions lacked clarity.

➖ The puzzle rounds ended really abruptly. Some change to the lighting or sound in the room to indicate when a round was nearing its close and heighten intensity could have improved the overall pacing of the game, especially for more experienced teams.

➕ Game sub-mechanics impacted our experience in fun and meaningful ways. An in-game currency served both as a game mechanic and a plot device. We especially enjoyed the Wheel of Fortune. The game also chose one player for an unusual feel-good hero moment.

❓One puzzle in The Fortune Teller was inactive at the time of our visit, yet with the nonlinear way in which puzzles were presented to players, this inactive puzzle managed to avoid feeling like a ghost puzzle. This was an interesting example of how variable or dynamic puzzle content in escape rooms can allow for more leeway in fixing or changing puzzles without really disrupting the player experience.

➕/➖ The Fortune Teller had a clear but perhaps overly simplistic story. The puzzles and actor interactions felt narratively grounded, though with this experience’s structure, there were opportunities for more nuanced story beats, especially leading into the finale.

➕ The final puzzle was well designed to encourage puzzle solving and hilarious actor interaction simultaneously.

Tips For Visiting

• Review our tips for playing escape rooms with actors.
• There was a parking lot.
• A short drive away, Veggie House had some really delicious Chinese food.
• The Fortune Teller at Lost Games in Las Vegas, NV is an adaptation of a game by the same name at the now-closed Level Games in Los Angeles, CA.

Book your hour with Lost Games’ The Fortune Teller, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Lost Games comped our tickets for this game.