Wrongfully Convicted is one of the best games in Los Angeles. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms in Los Angeles.
You get at least 1 phone call.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date Played: March 8, 2022
Team size: 2-6; we recommend 3-4
Duration: 80 minutes
Price: $59 per player
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: All teammates need to be comfortable going up and down a flight of stairs and crawling a bit to fully experience the game.
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
The Escape Revolution is an interesting beast, and Wrongfully Convicted perfectly captures the essence of the company.
The prison set of Wrongfully Convicted was large and presented a surprisingly accurate aesthetic of a modern prison. Their use of two floors shined here, as it was an interesting and entertaining space to traverse.
However, as with Escobar (and I’m not going to rehash my thoughts from that review, because they are largely the same for Wrongfully Convicted), The Escape Revolution’s inconsistent design and desire to take edgy material, but only flirt with the darkness of the story and setting that they have built, made this game feel beautiful and a little hollow.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great build, and a cool game… but it is bogged down by its own premium expectation and the faux heaviness of its plot.
Similar to Escobar, a portion of the proceeds from this game go to the Innocence Project, which is a wonderfully selected organization. (Innocence Project on Charity Navigator).
I’m very open about my dislike for prison escape rooms. I’m tired of them… and I find the underlying politics of them distasteful. So believe me when I say that this is one of the better prison escape rooms I’ve seen. It’s a worthy game… it just feels like it wants to be and is striving for more.
Who is this for?
- Scenery snobs
- Prison break fans
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Cool two-story set
- Some unusual interactions
Story
We had been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Our appeals had been denied. We only had one option: escape.
Setting
We’ve been in many prison escape room sets, but never one that looked like Wrongfully Convicted. The Escape Revolution produced a clean, authentic-looking, modern prison setting that stood out among the many other escape rooms that explore this environment.
Additionally, the vertical space of Wrongfully Convicted allowed them the opportunity to explore an additional floor, which added another dimension to the space.
Gameplay
The Escape Revolution’s Wrongfully Convicted was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, solving puzzles, and interacting with the environment.
Analysis
➕ The Escape Revolution used the large gamespace to their advantage. As players, we went up, down, across, and around throughout the game. The verticality provided fun opportunities that The Escape Revolution leaned into. The set was energizing.
➕ /➖ Before entering Wrongfully Convicted, there was an intake interaction that was really a set up for later in the experience. We liked this unorthodox mechanic. That said, the implementation was not as streamlined as it could have been. Additionally, it could be triggering for some players. (Note, it is not scary.)
➕ The opening sequence required us to MacGyver within the constraints of our world. We enjoyed these ahas, and the interactions that ensued. The culmination of this sequence was great; The Escape Revolution smashed it.
➖ One prop was on casters, yet its placement was part of the game’s clue structure. We disregarded placement immediately, and subsequently veered off course.
➖ We encountered downright terrible UI decisions that made inputting simple information needlessly tedious.
➕ /➖ In one instance, we found ourselves struggling against a challenging spatial puzzle long after the (brilliant!) aha moment had come and gone.
➕ /➖ The in-world hint system was fun, and had potential to be a more prominent part of the experience. Unfortunately, The Escape Revolution relied heavily on the available “god-mic” rather than fully utilizing this in-world hint system.
❓ This was primarily an escape experience. Don’t think too much about the plot. Narratively, there were opportunities to up the drama and the stakes of this experience.
➕ Early subterfuge enabled an especially exciting escape.
➕ /➖ Destructibles are exhilarating… and added to this experience. That said, when used early on, this leads players to question the boundaries of the game. We were consistently asking ourselves these types of questions.
Tips For Visiting
- There is a parking lot.
- The Escape Revolution donates a portion of the proceeds to Innocence Project.
Book your hour with The Escape Revolution’s Wrongfully Convicted, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: The Escape Revolution comped our tickets for this game.
What are UI decisions? I want to know so much more about destructables. Could this topic be a part of a future post where you can talk about them (describe a few examples) without making it a spoiler in a specific review posting? Lastly, do you think these premium price games (with a portion going to some cause) are viable?
UI – user interface… sorry for the jargon. We try to avoid it.
I wouldn’t want to spoil the destructables in a post, but I will do some deeper dives on destructables in the future. It’s an interesting concept.
I do firmly believe that premium prices escape rooms can and should exist. Price stratification makes sense, especially when the cost of creating and operating these games is so variable with the low-end of the market spending so little, and the high-end investing so much. The key is that when a company promotes themselves as “premium,” they are increasing the risk of disappointment by elevating expectations.