Revenge of the Cabin is one of the best games in the Chicago area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Chicago.
Quaint abandoned property. Sold.
If you enjoy Revenge of the Cabin, we hope you’ll check out our interview with creators Anne & Chris Lukeman on The Reality Escape Pod.
Location: Urbana, IL
Date Played: March 12, 2022
Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $25-35 per player depending on group size
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: At least one player will have to climb a few stairs and crawl a short distance.
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
CU Adventure in Time & Space’s Revenge of the Cabin was a joyful – albeit creepy – experience filled to the brim with character. The game was oozing intricate details. It offered excellent flow, consistent fun, and well-designed puzzles. Our team never had a lack of tasks to do or objects to examine, keeping the game flow consistent and the energy high.
Revenge of the Cabin was flooded with personal touches for each of the players, which added a bit of customized flair to both the gameplay and the puzzles. CU Adventures did a fantastic job leaning into the horror genre without being overly scary. Their use of spooky elements without the cheap scares brought a creative and particularly fun take on a fairly common escape room theme. With the exception of one section requiring more light than was provided, the game otherwise kept our five-player team busy for the full hour.
CU Adventures has seriously stepped up the game for Illinois, and across the board, their games were works of art. These are worth the road trip to check out if you’re ever in Chicago, no question.
Who is this for?
- Adventure seekers
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- Light horror fans
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Customized player interactions for each team, prompted by a new best friend
- A fun, unique take on a spooky classic
Story
Heading deep into the woods, we were sent to check out a cabin seemingly haunted by evil spirits. Our mission was to rid the cabin of the evil spirits before it was too late.
Setting
Revenge of the Cabin began in the deep, dark depths of the woods, outside of a small cabin housing spooky and flickering lights. As the game progressed, we found ourselves traversing an incredibly creative use of space, which made the cabin feel much larger than the floor plan let on.
Gameplay
CU Adventure in Time and Space’s Revenge of the Cabin was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, solving puzzles, making connections, and observing.
Analysis
➕ The game contained both an intermediate and an ending meta-sequence that were clearly foreshadowed, clued, and resolved to clean solves, gracefully wrapping up our experience.
➕ CU Adventures designed a home-made box, complete with a custom mechanism. This box felt rustic and fitting for the set, while being incredibly solid.
➖ While the set had spotlighting in the right places, the provided light sources were sometimes too dim, and we did not have enough lights for each player.
➕ With the use of clever space manipulation, Revenge of the Cabin felt more expansive and transformed in front of our eyes. The use of the set was enhanced the further we explored, and the accessibility considerations flourished beyond just a typical doorway. Layering aided in these constant space reveals, utilizing every inch of the available square footage.
➕/➖ One of the cool end-game interactions was functional and fashionable, yet was possible to bypass it with only half of the required information.
➕ Audio clues were handled beautifully by projecting what could have been solo interactions to the whole team. Between the voice acting and ambient soundtrack, the audio overall was incredibly well balanced.
❓ A symbol associated many elements in a room with a meta component, but didn’t provide much value in solving the puzzle, as it was attached to many distinct parallel puzzles. The meaning of these connected symbols was only discovered later on in the experience and felt redundant.
Tips For Visiting
- There is plenty of on-site parking .
- Be sure to take a photo with the Puzzlesaurus outside!
- We loved Crane Alley for some tasty bar food and local beers on tap.
Book your hour with CU Adventure in Time and Space’s Revenge of the Cabin, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: CU Adventure in Time and Space provided media discounted tickets for this game.
