Will to Escape - Disappearance: Last Location [Review]

Awkward family vacation

Location: Orlando, FL

Date Played: May 2, 2024

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $39.95 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: This room is ADA compliant.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Disappearance: Last Location began with an engaging gamemaster interaction that set us up for our mission: find our old pal Greg, who had gone missing while visiting his family vacation spot in the woods. Since the story had us arriving at the cabin at dusk, the set was appropriately dark, with only the light of our flashlights and a few flickering porch lamps to help us explore the grounds around the structure. The low lighting added both atmosphere and cover – after all, we were sneaking around on someone else’s private property – but it was not so low that we couldn’t see around us. The wooden cabin had a small porch and there were various items around the yard; it looked lived in, but not exactly kept up.

Exterior of an old, rundown cabin, bathed in green light.

The puzzles were well-designed and fun to solve, but most were of the familiar escape-room variety that we’d encountered in many other rooms. We breezed through quite a few of them. But new players may struggle with the volume of puzzles and a few of the more tricky ones. Only one made us scratch our heads a few times, but even that one we solved relatively quickly. Still, there were a couple of memorable puzzles that we appreciated for their creative execution, and one really immersive moment that just felt right in the story. The hinting process deserves a nod; it was original and made us giggle.

Most cabin-themed escape rooms lean towards the darker side – either mystery or horror – and this one was no different. In fact, at one point we were faced with a task that made us stop and think twice; a moral dilemma of sorts, that just didn’t seem quite appropriate for the narrative. But there were also amusing touches of humor that at times made this game feel more campy than scary. If you are in Orlando and want to introduce your newbie friends to escape rooms, this one is worth checking out. This is the first game at Will to Escape that was developed in-house and I’m looking forward to what they create next.

Who is this for?

Any experience level
Campy horror fans

Why play?

Fun, dynamic intro
Subtle humor
Classic escape room puzzles
To find out what’s up with Uncle Frank

Story

Our best friend Greg had gone on a vacation to visit his Uncle Frank, who lived in a cabin in the woods. But Greg had stopped answering our texts recently, and now we were concerned. We decided to drive up to the cabin and take a look around.

Setting

The game began outside a small, rustic cabin. The yard was cluttered with tires and an old water pump; an outhouse sat a few feet away from the cabin under an old shade tree.

A old, rusty water pump outside of a cabin.

Gameplay

Will to Escape’s Disappearance: Last Location was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Gameplay revolved around searching, making connections and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ An entertaining introduction by the in-character gamemaster made us think on our feet and put us right in the center of the story before we’d even entered the gamespace.

➕ Most puzzles were solid and approachable with solutions that just clicked. Visual and audio effects added humor and lightened the game. Some were subtle, in a way that if we paid attention we were rewarded with a bit of an inside joke.

➖ Some puzzles were stretched to fit the theme, with one early puzzle providing content in a strange location, and another using the same household items repeatedly to draw out an answer.

➕ The method of getting hints was creatively implemented, and blended nicely with the mission. I wish I had asked for more hints!

➖ The story grew intense as we discovered what had really happened in that cabin in the woods, with the game culminating in an ending that seemed almost too extreme. It left us feeling conflicted even though we were successful.