Room Escape Artist

🧟❗

Location: Albuquerque, NM

Date Played: June 4, 2022

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $22 per player

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Albuquerque Escape Room builds approachable, puzzle-focused escape games. ZOMBIES!!! provided a lot of puzzle variety: single ahas and layered solves, puzzles best navigated as an individual and others made for group collaboration, one-of-a-kind creations and purchased puzzles. (We challenge them to eliminate the this last type.) Overall, the puzzles solved well and the gameplay never stalled.

Don’t let the capital letters and the three exclamation marks mislead you. The premise of this escape room was to escape from the zombie apocalypse, but zombies weren’t the driving force of this experience.

Albuquerque Escape Room is priced competitively. They don’t offer the same level of set design or narrative development as some of the other companies in the region. Play this game for the puzzles, especially if you’re looking for a solid experience for newer players in Albuquerque.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Newbies
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• Good puzzle flow
• You enjoy the zombie apocalypse premise

Story

We were seeking entrance into a secure compound where we would be safe from the outbreak currently infecting the world and turning humans into zombies. If we could pass these tests, we’d be safe and we’d be part of the future of the human race.

Setting

We entered a lab-like research facility with furniture along the edges of the room. It was sparsely decorated.

Gameplay

Albuquerque Escape Room’s ZOMBIES!!! was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ ZOMBIES!!! was a puzzle-focused game with good puzzle flow, despite some lack of lock-mapping. The puzzles solved cleanly and gave good feedback.

➕ Our favorite moments in ZOMBIES!!! impacted the game state. One looked us straight in the eye. Another revealed more information.

➖ We encountered some wear of the type that ends up hinting a puzzle solution.

➖ ZOMBIES!!! included a couple of purchased puzzles. While tangible, fun interactions, they didn’t make a ton of sense in this space, and didn’t add anything to the experience, considering they can be solved in any space.

➕ The puzzles were varied in style including a layered sequence enhanced by communication, and a solo way-finding challenge.

❓ The gameplay in ZOMBIES!!! was a collection of fun puzzles tied together by escape room logic. To be fair, the set up justified this game design. Know this going in; your mileage will vary.

➖ The lack of fire retardant on styrofoam in ZOMBIES!!! was a serious safety concern. Albuquerque Escape Room was aware of this problem and to the best of our knowledge, they were working to remedy this.

Tips For Visiting

• There is a parking lot.

Book your hour with Albuquerque Escape Room’s ZOMBIES!!!, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Albuquerque Escape Room comped our tickets for this game.