Room Escape Artist

Chaos in the Galleria is one of the best games in the San Jose area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms near San Jose.

Mall Star Player

Location:  Sunnyvale, CA

Date Played: October 12, 2022

Team Size: 6-10; we recommend 6-7

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: $45-50 per player, depending on team size

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: One player will need to crawl

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Chaos in The Galleria was a sprawling and chaotic escape game genuinely designed for large groups of enthusiasts and puzzle lovers. We loved how this game encouraged exploration, and Omescape Sunnyvale crafted a massive world full of countless details. Every nook and cranny was brimming with adventure, suspense, humor, and surprises. The experience was replete of cute reveals, fun space traversals, and unique interactions. All of the sets were vastly different from each other and absolutely gorgeous, really driving home the concept of exploring a mall.

Puzzles were multi-layered, tangible, fun, and fully interactive while fitting the theme and feel of the individual spaces. Each solve consisted of multiple steps with fantastic feedback along the way, which allowed for an even greater feeling of accomplishment. The cluing never felt overbearing.

Narratively, Chaos in The Galleria was easy to follow and humorous, never taking itself seriously. It was backed by story-advancing puzzles.

A small handful of puzzle sequences seemingly dragged on a bit too long. One in particular halted our team for a good few minutes while we figured out what we were doing wrong and included a rather frustrating (yet justified) delay to retry. Regardless, the interactions themselves were was always super fun and innovative.

Chaos in The Galleria kept our team of experienced folks busy for most of the time, aside from a small mid-game chunk. We adored how Omescape was pushing the bounds of narrative-driven gameplay with both high- and low-tech interactions. Knowing where to implement tech when necessary, and when to keep interactions low tech is a tough balance to strike as a designer, and they were able to pull it off smoothly.

Omescape’s Sunnyvale location is full of wonderfully unique and wacky experiences sure to please players of any experience level. If you have a larger team, check out Midnight in Hong Kong, and for smaller teams, don’t miss Undercooked!  

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Larger groups
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• Utter chaos masked behind fantastic puzzle design
• A game to easily keep 6+ enthusiasts busy for over an hour

Story

Two amateur thieves had stolen the world’s 5th largest diamond and accidentally dropped it in the local shopping mall during their escape. Our team had been sent to recover the diamond and get out unscathed.

Setting

Chaos in The Galleria was set entirely in and around the Galleria Mall, complete with multiple stores, park benches, city streets, packed store windows, and vending machines full of useful items. The set continued to unfold during the game.

Gameplay

Omescape’s Chaos in The Galleria was a standard escape room for larger-than-average teams with a high level of difficulty.

Gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, puzzling, communication, teamwork, observation, and organization.

Analysis

➕ A central gameplay mechanic and rather large prop kept the story moving and our team excited about our clear progression path. This mechanic had a high tolerance for error, creatively fixing our mistakes when they occurred. It was right at home in all of the chaos.

➕ Even with the game’s large floor plan, it was easy to follow what we were supposed to do. The story also made sense, and every interaction was thematic and fitting.

➕ Omescape implemented many hilarious moments in this goofy experience that never took itself seriously. Some interactions elicited giggles from our team because they required a certain way of thinking that we usually do not use in escape rooms. The story lent itself well to these goofy moments.

➖/❓ The starting areas felt unbalanced, with one room containing more puzzles than the other. While nothing was confining us to our starting rooms, Omescape encouraged us to split up at the onset. It was confusing to finish one area and try to join up, get caught up, and help solve the other, more plentiful, space.

➕ An unusual mid-game interaction had our team on our toes, sneaking around every corner. This moment progressed the story and gameplay swiftly without interruption, while still providing suspense and excitement in a potentially boring lull.

➕/➖ The tech was well integrated into the set, leading to magical moments. The end sequence added time pressure via a technical prop, yet this prop malfunctioned and the way in which it failed lacked grace. Our team had to wait around for a minute to figure out if we had actually finished, and spent time double-checking our solution to make sure it was correct due to the lack of feedback. This caused the game to end on a shaky note.

➕/➖ Much of the gameplay was nonlinear and spread across multiple spaces. Do not expect to see all of the puzzles. This was great for a larger team. However, as the game slowly evolved into a more linear format, it could not quite keep our large team busy in the middle. We wished there were a handful more non-linear puzzles in the second half of the game.

➕ We encountered a few incredibly fun interactive puzzle elements that had us playing with, flipping around, and shaking objects. These were unique and innovative, while still fitting with the gameplay and story.

❓ Chaos in The Galleria is potentially replayable. For large sections of the game, players will likely split up across multiple game spaces, only coming together for some pivotal story moments. If you return to play Chaos in The Galleria a second time, you’re bound to find countless new puzzles to work on for much of the game.

Tips For Visiting

• There is plenty of parking around back.
• We recommend Metro City Restaurant & Bar for food and drinks after your game.

Book your hour with Omescape’s Chaos in The Galleria, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Omescape provided media discounted tickets for this game.