Escape Room LA - Black Dragon [Review]

Black Dragon is one of the best games in Los Angeles. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms in Los Angeles.

Good fortune

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Date Played: October 18, 2023

Team size: 3-9; we recommend 4-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: from $35 per player to $44 per player, depending on day of the week and number of players on the team

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Black Dragon was a puzzley escape room. In many markets, that wouldn’t be remarkable, but in Los Angeles, it’s unusual. Escape Room LA has historically gone against the local trend, creating puzzle-focused escape games with non-linear gameplay that can support larger teams. With Black Dragon, they delivered on that vision yet again. But that isn’t to say that Black Dragon was simply more of the same from one of the earliest companies in this city.

The set was absolutely gorgeous. With multiple rooms, narrow hallways, and high ceilings, it felt expansive. Every scene was fully decorated. Escape Room LA brought this environment to life.

Escape Room LA also attempted to tell a story through this experience. With the speakeasy-esque staging of the first set and plot reveal, they set up a potential narrative arc. However, the gameplay didn’t entirely deliver on the promise of the characters or the plot. And when we played it (opening week!), it lacked a finale, which I believe will be coming. With a bit of editing early on and a finale, they may yet arrive at a more cohesive narrative.

We’d also suggest a few minor changes for cultural sensitivity around some wearable props and a Chinese mysticism angle that didn’t seem necessary and felt dated.

Black Dragon delivered on the puzzle-centric design that Escape Room LA is known for, with varied puzzles that were overall fun and satisfying to solve. This was all enhanced by an incredible set. If you’re looking for puzzles, or you have a larger group, or you are close to downtown LA, it’s worth investigating what’s going on behind Black Dragon.

A small, rundown chinese restaurant with 2 tables.

Who is this for?

Puzzle lovers
Scenery snobs
Any experience level

Why play?

Spacious and intricate set
Fun collaborative puzzles… a lot of them
Unusual introduction
Largely non-linear gameplay
Good mix of puzzle and challenge types

Story

We were back in 1960s Hong Kong in the notorious Kowloon Walled City, where we wanted to stop the Black Dragon triad gang from taking control of the city.

Setting

We started in a Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong at the end of our meal. It was minimal, but authentic. If we’d been served food, it would have made sense. From there, we explored the back alleys of the city. Each set felt unique, lived in, and compelling.

A back alley in Hong Kong, with posters pasted to the wall, and a metal garage door.

Gameplay

Escape Room LA’s Black Dragon was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and solving puzzles.

3 place settings with chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant.

Analysis

➕ We love speakeasies. The speakeasy-style introduction to this game, in a Chinese restaurant, worked well. It left room for surprises. We appreciated how we unlocked the story/ set-up video within this scene, while we were already invested in the game but before the main event.

➖ That said, the opening scene was a little awkward. The gamemaster remained in the room, in character, and we weren’t sure if we were meant to start exploring, as if we’d been left to our own devices, or wait for a scene to further the plot. We could have used a little more direction or expectation setting from this character.

➕ The set looked great. Escape Room LA used height to make an already spacious set feel bigger and more alive. As we played, we revealed more areas within the game. Some of these opens were pretty dynamic, and each new space was exciting.

➕ This was a puzzle-dense game with excellent puzzle variety. We enjoyed a new take on a dexterity puzzle, and some layered solves. There was generally a smooth puzzle flow, built on strong signposting.

➖ While most of the puzzle design worked smoothly, we encountered one unclued anagram, where it seemed an order was infer…able. In another instance, 2 puzzles funneled into the same prop, but individually they lacked feedback, leaving us to doubt our correct solution.

➕/➖ With a lot of puzzle content in the game, it’s possible to spend a lot of time on something before having all the information related to it. On the one hand, this can be frustrating. On the other hand, it can be rewarding to suddenly uncover what you need, and already know how to use it. Depending on your team size and your temperament as a player, your mileage may vary.

➖ The story referenced the magic of a triad… but that didn’t have any payoff in the game. There was an opportunity to simplify the story, or work the full story concept into the gameplay, so that players uncover these secrets through play.

➖ Black Dragon lacked a final boss battle. Multiple puzzle paths led to the conclusion, and in our case, we happened to solve a weaker one last. We would have liked to bring entire team together for a last challenge as these paths converge, to give everyone a more dramatic conclusion.

➕ The last scene was delightful…. but I won’t let the cat out of the bag.

🔊 Our team felt a lack of stakes. We were solving puzzles for the sake of puzzles, not because of bad guys on our heels. We didn’t feel threatened. It turned out that the audio track for this malfunctioned during our game. It was opening week when we played, so we are giving Escape Room LA the benefit of the doubt… that the stakes will be higher for most teams.