Author: Matthew Stein

Mob mentality

Location:  Sunnyvale, CA

Date Played: November 12, 2021

Team Size: 6-12; we recommend 8-10

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: $50 per player for 6 players to $45 per player for 12 players

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Midnight in Hong Kong was an epic beast of an escape room.

With 90 minutes of head-to-head puzzle combat and a stunning, expansive set, Midnight in Hong Kong contained around 3 times as much content as a standard 60-minute escape room. With this level of complexity and depth, it was all the more impressive that the entire game felt polished, engaging, and balanced from start to finish.

Many escape room companies pack a dozen players into a room best designed for maybe 4. In sharp contrast, Midnight in Hong Kong was actually designed for large teams — and genuinely only playable by groups of 6 players or more. Innovative gameplay mechanics provided direction and purpose to each individual player, which in turn incentivized an almost constant flow of players throughout the space. There was so much to explore and discover, with many layers of reveals.

If you are looking for a large-group escape room in the Bay Area, Omescape Sunnyvale’s Midnight in Hong Kong and Chaos in the Galleria are both stupendous choices. Midnight in Hong Kong was edgy and competitive, while Chaos in the Galleria was lighthearted and whimsical. Having played both rooms with teams of 8-10 enthusiasts, I can attest that either option will keep even the most experienced teams engaged and delighted.

A cryptic café

Location:  Sunnyvale, CA

Date Played: November 12, 2021

Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 75 minutes

Price: $50 per player for 2 players to $40 per player for 6 players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: Crawling (for at least 1 player)

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Omescape Sunnyvale’s Undercooked served up a veritable feast of scrumptious puzzling. If I could award Michelin stars for escape rooms, Undercooked would earn three.

Undercooked was innovative in many areas. Set in a spacious restaurant kitchen, I was delighted by the commitment to this unconventional escape room theme. With just a few exceptions, everything felt like it belonged in a kitchen: a bounty of food items, culinary implements, and restaurant decor. Furthermore, the majority of puzzle interactions were cleverly based around how one would actually engage in a kitchen.

The gameplay was structured around earning points, not escaping. With a wide range of puzzle types and more content than most teams (including mine) could fully complete in the given time, this felt more like a live-action video game than a traditional escape room. This formula also made Undercooked adaptable to any team size or experience level.

Omescape Sunnyvale has firmly established themselves as a mega-destination for premium escape rooms. With Undercooked, they now have 6 rooms available, with more on their way soon. All but one of the rooms are over 60 minutes long, and the sets are especially large and of high production value for the Northern CA escape room scene. They also run the virtual-only Pursuit of the Assassin Artist out of this location!

A team could easily play a full day of consistently stellar escape experiences at Omescape Sunnyvale, and this venue should be on the list of any escape room enthusiasts visiting the Bay Area. It’s well worth the trek.