Room Escape Artist

Be the hazard

Location:  Brooklyn, NY

Date Played: April 2, 2024

Team size: up to 8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $41.99 per player

Ticketing: Public

Accessibility Consideration:  The Escape Game is located on the lower level of City Point Brooklyn, accessible by escalator or elevator.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

We’ve long been fans of The Escape Game. Although we haven’t played some of their newer games in Nashville, this was – by a wide margin – their best game that we’ve played.

This game nailed all the core components: puzzles, interactions, set, and justification.

We had a story within the game. Every interaction we took was to destroy. We loved this twist on the futuristic sci-fi theme, where we didn’t need knowledge (we invariably don’t have) to fix things. We got to think creatively to destroy them, which positioned us as ourselves in this game world. And The Escape Game pushed this further with hacking and MacGyver-type puzzles that made us feel especially brilliant.

The game left a lot of room for exploration and play.

In addition, the beautiful, polished set and props were fun to interact with.

As a teamwork-centric game, we recommend 3-4 players for the optimal experience. With fewer than 3, some puzzles will likely be frustrating, and you’ll only want more than 4 if some folks are planning to mostly hang back. Note that The Escape Game is public ticketing, so securing a playthrough with the optimal team size will likely be your biggest hurdle to having an amazing time in Cosmic Crisis.

Cosmic Crisis has jumped to the top of our recommendations for The Escape Game, and is now high on our recommendations list for any city where it’s offered. We hope that The Escape Game proliferates this game broadly, as its a significant leap ahead for them as a company.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Sci-fi fans
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• A gorgeous, tactile set
• Collaborative puzzles
• MacGyver moments.

Story

While aboard our spaceship, we encountered a blackhole. To avoid it swallowing us (and the rest of the solar system) we docked at a space station harboring antimatter that could destroy the black hole. In order to escape, we needed to destroy the space station and send it into the black hole.

Setting

Our ship was sleek and futuristic. It had brightly colored lights, assorted buttons and controls, and a beautiful screen. We docked at a space station that was just as compelling, with the same futuristic look, fully designed from floor to ceiling.

Gameplay

The Escape Game’s Cosmic Crisis was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

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

Analysis

➕ The set was gorgeous. It was thematic, and polished from floor to ceiling. The build quality was superb.

➕ Aboard a futuristic spaceship, controlled by an AI… the narrative steered clear of the cliché it seemed it would inevitably crash into.

➕ Our mission required dismantling… everything. We were there to destroy! We didn’t need to fully understand the systems and controls because we weren’t there to fix everything, which felt more natural, and was freeing.

➕ The onboarding was excellent, opening with a high energy puzzle that engaged the entire team, before presenting a more precision-based challenge.

➕ The high definition screen looked great, and was well integrated into the experience, presenting excellent video content.

➖ We wanted to set to shake whenever something slammed into our ship. Given how coherent and almost cartoonishly realistic the game was, this lack of physical feedback was metaphorically jarring.

➕ We had fun with every interaction, including puzzles, tasks, and challenges. These were varied, clearly clued, and tactile. The game flowed well.

➕ The “hacker-mentality” puzzles were our favorites. We had to think outside the box to make the connections that would ultimately destroy each space station system. These ahas were especially satisfying, making us feel clever, even though they were designed into the experience. (Although in one case, a teammate solved a puzzle the intended way, but not with the intended tool, which just felt brilliant.)

➖ In one instance we outsmarted ourselves with the space station’s color indicators because we’d internalized the narrative of destruction too well. We would have appreciated a scenario where inverting classic “good” and “bad” colors was equally correct, since we were there to dismantle things.

➕ Cosmic Crisis didn’t take itself too seriously. One charming puzzle poked fun at wiring.

➕  We enjoyed a challenging puzzle requiring excellent communication and coordination. This sequence was long, and we can appreciate how a team (especially a smaller team) might feel that it overstayed its welcome. For us, however, we felt our team gaining mastery over time, and moving more quickly with the mechanism, which was exhilarating.

➖ There were opportunities for a stronger ending. We would have loved a final boss battle, in the form on a puzzle. The final interaction in Cosmic Crisis felt anticlimactic.

➕/➖  We loved the late-game, surprising twist. Given how The Escape Game is known for family-friendly theming, we were shocked (but delighted!) by this mechanic. Our team of adults felt there was opportunity to push this even further. That said, we understand it can be a little jarring for younger children. Your mileage may vary.

➖ The Escape Game is public booking, meaning if you don’t book out the room, you might end up playing together with another party. They allow 8 people to book into Cosmic Crisis, which would be too crowded. Furthermore, this game requires a lot of communication, and would be challenging to play with randoms. Cosmic Crisis is absolutely worth the $41.99 per player price… if you can play with your own team. However, the only way to guarantee a private experience for your group of 4 (which is a perfect team size) is to book all the spots, and this experience, as well executed as it is, is not interesting or long enough to warrant $83.98 per player, which is what it would cost to lock down a private game for a team of 4. (We’ll note that on S4E8 of REPOD, Mark Flint, CEO of The Escape Game, told REPOD listeners to reach out for private bookings, but we’ve also heard even if you reach out, The Escape Game might not honor the request.)

Tips For Visiting

• The Escape Game is located on the lower level of City Point Brooklyn, accessible by escalator or elevator.
• By public transit, take the B/Q/R trains to DeKalb Avenue or take the 2/3 to Hoyt Street, or take the A/C/G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn.
• For nearby restaurants, Junior’s Restaurant & Bakery is a New York classic specializing in Cheesecake. We enjoyed an Italian dinner at Botte Brooklyn after the game.

Book your hour with The Escape Game’s Cosmic Crisis, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: The Escape Game comped our tickets for this game.