Room Escape Artist

A sweet, strange trip.

Location:  Los Angeles, California

Date Played: May 5, 2024

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 4-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $45 per player for 2-3 players; with variable per person pricing based on quantity at 4+ people

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration:  The game is wheelchair accessible. Color sightedness is important for many puzzles.

Emergency Exit Rating: [F] No Emergency Release (1 player for a short amount of time)

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Players of all experience levels will have a brilliant time indulging in mounds of parallel-path experiences in this storied and whimsical land.

The star of The Mush Room was the vibe. This game was so incredibly cute. The aesthetic was backed up with some strong classic escape room puzzles.

There were a few moments where we found ourselves wishing for slightly clearer cluing… and in one instance it would have been nice if we could have helped a teammate a bit more during an early game solo moment.

Overall, The Mush Room was clearly crafted with care, and we felt the deliberate and whimsical design in each prop and decoration. There was a lot of sweetness to go around.

Escape Room 66 emerged on the Los Angeles escape room scene as a low-key gem with their cartoon inspired game, Inksidious. Their follow up game, The Mush Room has only added to their reputation as a venue to visit for quirky, thoughtful, and lovingly home-made puzzle-driven escape games. They don’t make the biggest or most impressive games, but they deliver consistently great gameplay and a healthy dose of originally that makes them incredibly easy to enjoy and recommend.

Who is this for?

• Players who love whimsy
• Puzzle lovers
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
• Any experience level

Why play?

• High energy teamwork
• Classic escape room puzzles
• An adorable environment

Story

We had to evade capture in a magical wonderland with mythical critters popping up puzzle snacks in our path.

Setting

The Mush Room was set in a dreamy world, complete with fantastical props and interactions. This was a lovingly handmade set, with a lot of detail and care. It was a sweet, humble build.

Gameplay

Escape Room 66’s The Mush Room was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Gameplay was set in many parallel paths, emphasizing visual connections and cluing.

Analysis

➕ The themed environment was delightful. It was detailed and deliberately crafted. It felt made with love.

➕ The ceiling was really special.

➕ Escape Room 66’s The Mush Room‘s crescendo really paid off, onboarding most players in an easy-to-approach manner and driving the intensity up as the experience went on.

➖ In the early game there was an interesting mechanic for one player. While this might go smoothly for other teams, our solo player found themselves deeply stymied by this sequence and our team didn’t have the ability to help in a meaningful way.

➕ That said, once we started moving, these puzzles flowed smoothly. Due to the puzzling opportunities available, solves led to more solves as the amount of visual noise diminished in the space.

➕ Visual connections were plentiful (and sometimes disorienting) but fairly set out for players to solve.

➖ In the second act, some puzzles were under-clued, which made it challenging to get our bearings and make progress. Others lacked signposting that we would have preferred.

➕ The ending was sweet.

Tips For Visiting

• Get there a bit early to find street parking in the neighborhood.

Book your hour with Escape Room 66’s The Mush Room, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escape Room 66 provided a complimentary game.