Currency Exchange
Location: Anaheim, CA
Date Played: March 6, 2022
Team size: 2-10; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $120 for the team for teams of 2-3 players or $32 per player for teams of 4-10 players (Monday-Thursday); $135 for the team for teams of 2-3 players or $35 per player for teams of 4-10 players (Friday-Sunday)
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
We go way back with Mission Escape Games and The Ultimate Bank Heist is one of the few games that they have produced that has never been available in their New York City location. So while we were in Anaheim, we had to make a withdrawal.
The Ultimate Bank Heist felt like it was more focused on beginner players… which made a lot of sense for its location in the Anaheim GardenWalk mall. The set was elegant, the puzzles were well-executed, and there were a few memorable effects that functioned as short cut-scenes.
Overall, it felt like a sort of prototype for the style that Mission Escape Games is developing and realized more fully in their newest game Carbon: 3708 in NYC.
If you’re newer to escape rooms, The Ultimate Bank Heist is a fantastic choice of adventure. Mission Escape Games introduced us to many of our favorite early experiences, and this game feels like it’s part of that tradition. If it were closer to me, I’d take newbie friends there.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Bank heist fans
- Newbies
Why play?
- Solid, puzzle-focused gameplay
- Creative cut-scene interaction moments
Story
Mistakes were made, and we were in a lot of debt… debt that we couldn’t pay. We figured we might liberate some cash from the local bank.
Setting
The Ultimate Bank Heist was set in an old bank that had a simple elegance about it. Mission Escape Games elevated the experience with a few effect-based cut scenes that augmented the environment. The changes weren’t massive, but they were impactful.
Gameplay
Mission Escape Games’ The Ultimate Bank Heist was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and solving puzzles.
Analysis
➕ Mission Escape Games used lighting to direct our attention to newly available props and set pieces. This was always exciting, and kept our momentum.
➕ Mission Escape Games dedicated one wall to a collaborative process puzzle with a satisfying extraction. This puzzle would be perfect to engage newer players with meaningful contributions to a fun reveal that can be appreciated as a group.
➖ We encountered a lot of 4-digit padlocks. We frequently had at least two available to us. While they were generally well mapped, it would be even better to vary the digit structures.
➖ A number of the puzzles were variations on the same theme, leading to the same type of solution. While we enjoy this style, and we don’t think newer players will feel the similarities we did, we would have liked a bit more variety.
➕ Mission Escape Games inverted some common escape room tropes, adding their own direction or swimming upstream. It was fun to think we knew how something would play out and then experience a slight twist.
➕ We especially enjoyed The Ultimate Bank Heist’s most explosive sequences.
➖ The Ultimate Bank Heist would be enhanced by a more bombastic finale, and a bit more narrative arc and closure. In the end, the escaping felt born of our playing an escape game.
Tips For Visiting
- This game is located at Anaheim GardenWalk.
- Park on P4, Purple Level (Upper Level) near the North side.
- There are plenty of restaurants in the complex.
Book your hour with Mission Escape Games’ The Ultimate Bank Heist, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Mission Escape Games comped our tickets for this game.
