Room Escape Artist

We’re gonna need a bigger trap.

Location: Sarasota, FL

Date Played: February 15, 2026

Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: from $44.99 per player for teams of 2 to $37.99 per player for teams of 4 or more

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: At least one player needs to climb steps and everyone crawls.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

In all my years of escape rooms, I can’t recall visiting a junkyard. EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard delivered on the junkyard theming, with a floor-to-ceiling mountain of rubbish.

More unusual than the theme, however, was the character that inhabited it… the one we were there to vanquish. From the opening moments, we were intrigued by the elusive creature. Evasive Escape Rooms’s expertly staged onboarding slyly introduced this junkyard menace, and throughout the game, we got glimpses into its story.

EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard was scary, but approachable. We self selected into the scariest moments. More fearful players could keep their distance. There were strong puzzles that solved well with teamwork. We didn’t need to be on edge through the puzzle sections.

The experience culminated in a strong finale puzzle and a narrative climax… just, perhaps not the one we were hoping for. Despite this dissonance, we enjoyed EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard, and love how unusual it was, in so many ways. If you enjoy horror games, or even if you are just horror-curious, we recommend visiting. With this game, and The Family Fallout Shelter (review coming soon), Evasive Escape Rooms is contributing to Southwest Florida rapidly becoming an escape room destination.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Horror fans
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• Unusual theme and unusual creature
• Collaborative gameplay
• Scary, but not terrifying… perfect for the horror-curious

Story

We were top tier rodent exterminators, called to Spaulding’s Junkyard to eliminate the rodent terrorizing the junkyard. When we arrived, it seemed this wasn’t your average rodent, but we were up to the task.

Setting

We entered the rundown office junkyard, a small space with wood-paneled walls and basic furniture. Beyond the office, the junkyard itself contained quite the mountain of junk.

Gameplay

Evasive Escape Rooms’ EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

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

There was also a scare element of this game, so in some scenes the gameplay revolved around thwarting the evil.

Analysis

➕ The opening scene was outstanding. It directed our attention perfectly and slyly introduced a menace. It was great on its own, but Evasive Escape Rooms further paid off this scene later in the experience.

➕ The early set was mundane, but believable. And the set design escalated well in the second act. The most impressive part of the set was a mountain of junk, artistically piled. It looked great and had the right vibe.

➖ One transition scene bottlenecked. With a team any larger than two people, teammates have to wait with nothing to work on, and no way to see what’s happening.

➕ We loved a magical Mary Poppins moment with a prop.

➕/➖ The finale took a strong, layered puzzle sequence through to a narrative conclusion. This worked together well to deliver closure. That said, it wasn’t exactly what we wanted to be doing, based on what we’d come to understand about the character haunting this world. We’d wished for a choice in how the ending played out.

➕/❓ EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard delivered a scary, but approachable experience, akin to haunted houses. It had a menace with a strong presence, but a safe onboarding. As the game progressed, the sets became more haunted, but we understood more so the overall experience was less scary. It was never terrifying, which sort of defied the expectations it set for itself.

Tips For Visiting

• Plenty of parking at the location
• Food options are available in the strip mall and nearby

Book your hour with Evasive Escape Rooms’ EXTERMINATED: Terror at the Junkyard and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Evasive Escape Rooms provided a complimentary game.