Ticketing: Private, with other teams playing concurrently
REA Reaction
Jewels of the White Tiger combined basic escape room puzzles with an outdoor treasure hunt for a novel game format that led us on foot through historic Chinatown, Los Angeles. It required a good amount of walking interspersed with puzzle solving, making it a fitting transition back to escape games after a year of lockdowns.
Because of Escape Room LA’s emphasis on racing to the finish line, Jewels of the White Tiger seemed designed for players with a competitive spirit. Even though we finished in time, my mellow team would’ve preferred a more leisurely pace so we could explore outside the boundaries of the game. (Fortunately, when the game ended, we were still in Chinatown and it was lunchtime.)
Photo credit: Kirk Damato
We enjoyed the mix of paper puzzles, navigation, and sightseeing, but we left feeling like we hadn’t learned much about the locations we visited. It seemed like a missed opportunity to incorporate local history and acknowledge the community where the game was taking place.
Jewels of the White Tiger has ended, but Escape Room LA is currently running another outdoor game in Long Beach. The format provides an entertaining experience if you’re going to be in the area and want to experience the neighborhood through a new lens.
Who is this for?
Competitive people
Tourists and local visitors
Any experience level
Why play?
Environmental puzzles
Extra-large game space
To increase your step count
Story
Inspired by the Chinese legend of the four celestial guardians, we needed to find the jewels corresponding with the Jade Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Only then could we release the White Tiger and return the constellations to the sky.
Jewels of the White Tiger used this narrative as a light frame, but focused much more on the puzzles.
The Haunted Theatre is a real-life escape room converted to digital play, created by Escape Room LA in Los Angeles, CA.
Format
Style of Play: real-life escape room converted to digital play without an avatar
Required Equipment: computer with internet connection
Recommended Team Size: 2-4
Play Time: 60 minutes
Price: $23.50 per person
Booking: book online for a specific time slot
Description
The Haunted Theatre is a real-life escape game translated fully into Telescape, without an avatar. It is hosted in Zoom with a live gamemaster who gives an introduction and is on standby for hints, if needed.
Players enter a view of a physical escape room and click to explore aspects of the room. Each player can independently interact with all game elements, but only one player can solve each item on behalf of the group. The format does not allow sharing of how puzzles are solved.
Price: $32 per ticket weekdays, $37 per ticket weekends
REA Reaction
The Pyramid was an imposing monolith of puzzles.
Escape Room LA stands out as a large-team, puzzle-focused company in a city that generally emphasizes storytelling. The Pyramid impressed us with elaborate sets, numerous reveals, and challenging, tangible puzzles… all without sacrificing adventure.
Who is this for?
Puzzle lovers
Best for players with a least some experience
Larger groups
Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Why play?
Many tangible puzzles
Dramatic reveals
Large scale
It’s a challenge
Story
We set off on a journey to find the mythical Mayan Mask of the Jade Warrior. Finding the artifact would ensure our survival.
Setting
The Pyramid was an Indiana Jonesy adventure through a Mayan temple. It had an aesthetic that hovered comfortably between realistic and cartoonish. I mean that as a compliment. It was a fun place to puzzle.
Gameplay
Escape Room LA built gameplay around large groups and collaborative challenges.
The Pyramid contained lots of puzzles (and skulls). There was enough for everyone to sink their teeth into.
Standouts
The Pyramid spanned multiple large and varied sets. These were detailed and they hid their secrets well.
At each set change junction, we confronted an impressive, interactive gate. The sets, combined with imposing gates, created grand reveals continually throughout the experience.
We enjoyed many of the puzzles in The Pyramid. They made use of the set pieces and props. We traversed the various sets with purpose.
The starting puzzle sequence introduced escape room gameplay and cooperation. It opened The Pyramid well.
We brought a large and talented team (plus one infant); everyone was busy throughout the experience.
Given the Mayan staging, we encountered a number of symbol systems. Escape Room LA incorporated these into the various puzzles. We also found them helpful for separating the different puzzles in play.
Shortcomings
While some of us enjoyed the symbols, others felt like they made many of the puzzles feel too similar. We were continuously matching or interpreting different symbol systems.
The Pyramid contained multiple puzzles in each game segment. Since many of these required teamwork, sometimes across large distances, the noise of other teammates working together became a frustrating obstacle. Additionally, because so much was happening at once, we were frequently confused as to which interaction had triggered which reveal.
Within The Pyramid we uncovered multiple notebooks containing important clue structure. While these fit the theming, they hindered gameplay, as only one person in the group could use them at any given time. To alleviate bottlenecking, we recommend separate written materials or incorporating these clues into the set.
One of the larger props was touchy. Our gamemaster had to continually reprimand us for attempting to manipulate it in unintended ways. If Escape Room LA does not want players to get creative with this prop, they need to improve the intended interaction.
One smaller space needed to be cleaned. Achoo.
Tips for Visiting
Bring a larger group. The Pyramid will be best if you parallel puzzle.
Escape Room LA is located in downtown LA. Plan for street parking.
Price: $32 per ticket on weekdays, $37 per ticket on weekends
Story & setting
Set in the 1940s in the office of a private detective, we had to solve an open case and escape before the bad folks arrived.
The set resembled an office from an era that was distinctly not contemporary, but not necessarily specific to the 1940s. The office space included a lot of stuff and with the exception of a few interesting props, wasn’t a particularly compelling space.
Image via Escape Room LA
There was an in-game gamemaster assuming the role of the detective’s secretary. With the exception of a few hints, we barely felt her presence.
Puzzles
The Detective was a puzzle-focused room escape game. It was designed for a large team and packed full of puzzles.
The puzzles were somewhat varied but primarily paper based, leaning heavily on indexing and making connections.
Standouts
The Detective had plenty of puzzles. Puzzle lovers will enjoy the volume of material to work through and the complexity of some of the connections. There were a lot of “ah-has!”
The room escape included one custom-built lock. It felt neither modern, nor like a period piece, but it was particularly fun.
Shortcomings
For all the puzzles in the game, most of them didn’t need to be solved in that particular detective’s office. They could have boxed up and shipped to anyone, anywhere, to be solved with pencils and paper.
Neither the setting nor the mystery were particularly compelling. We never felt like we were in the 1940s or on a clandestine adventure. As the clock wound down, we felt a sense of urgency from the clock, not from the mystery or story of our own mission.
Should I play Escape Room LA’s The Detective?
The Detective was one of Escape Room LA’s earlier designs and the style and production value are from an earlier era, if we can say that in an industry that has only been prominent in the United States for three years.
That isn’t to say that this was a bad game; rather this was a game crafted in a particular style. It’s packed with puzzles.
If you love puzzles and you can gather a large group of puzzle-loving friends, give this one a go. Ignore the environment and enjoy the puzzles; they are solid.
If you enjoy escape rooms for the opportunity to be a part of a narrative or for the creativity and fabrication of other worlds, try The Alchemist instead.
Is there a word for taking gold and transforming it back into lead?
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date played: October 16, 2016
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 6-8
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $32 per ticket on weekdays, $37 per ticket on weekends
Story & setting
The Alchemist was your standard wizards-and-magic setup: enter the library, work your way into the sanctum, and puzzle your way to the mystical maguffin.
It’s a time-tested setup that works well, so long as you create the right environment and build interesting interactions throughout; Escape Room LA did just that. The gamespace looked great and absolutely conveyed a slightly cartoonish, but generally compelling wizard’s lair.
Image via CNET.
Due to Escape Room LA’s adherence to standard wizarding tropes, they didn’t need to add a lot of story or exposition for the narrative to reveal itself through gameplay.
Puzzles
The Alchemist had a strong mix and large volume of puzzles. This was a big game that required a cooperative and attentive team.
The puzzles were a ton of fun to solve. They made great use of the room as well as the themes that the game played with. Escape Room LA was the most puzzley company that we encountered in Los Angeles. Unlike the other game we played on our visit, The Alchemist combined puzzle-centricity with a beautifully constructed set.
Standouts
The Alchemist’s puzzles and interactions were wonderfully embedded into the scenery and environment. This was the heart of the game.
The gameflow was interesting. Where some games will force a team to split by locking them up in different parts of the game, The Alchemist produced a natural split of the team and accomplished it without interference.
Shortcomings
The Alchemist was a game with a lot of rules and most of the unusual restrictions prohibited exploration. Violation of these rules resulted in additional condemnation.
Our gamemaster was in costume and in character as a silent monk. She provided hints, handled a finicky interaction, broken interactions, and chastisement while silently miming at us. The in-game gamemaster wasn’t inherently problematic, but the regular discipline was.
Most of the game took place within a large room, but there were sections that we weren’t even allowed to look at until we had “reached” them, even though they were in plain sight. With 10 players (about two too many) in the room, a couple of us would take a look at the future puzzles to get a sense of what we had to do down the line. Our gamemaster would mime her castigation at us for this, which somehow felt far worse than vocalized criticism. This soured the experience.
One of the set pieces and interactions within The Alchemist was so iffy as to require our gamemaster to step in and fully control it; another broke completely. There was a third utterly infuriating interaction that took us something in the realm of 10 minutes to complete after we started doing the right thing. The sensor’s tolerance was so tight that we couldn’t get the thing to trigger.
Should I play Escape Room LA’s The Alchemist?
We love puzzle-based games, especially when the puzzles are integrated into the props and make us solve our way through a narrative. After we won, we walked out feeling pretty bitter. The root cause of this was purely gamemastering and overall customer care.
Our first game with Escape Room LA began late, so our second game began late as well. During our walkthrough, Lisa took out her phone to text our friends whom I was meeting at the Basement to cancel our pre-game plans. She was yelled yet because phones were forbidden because heaven forbid that any photos of the game get out.
The grand irony here was that I had already seen video of every section of The Alchemist because Escape Room LA let CNET film the game. So, if you’re curious what The Alchemist looks like in intimate detail, please feel free to watch the video, but do so knowing that it shows the entire gamespace and spoils a few puzzles. You’ve been warned.
The Alchemist is a strong game, especially if you’re a puzzler, and I absolutely recommend it. However, go in knowing that metaphors involving rods and rectums may apply to your customer service experience. The tragedy of The Alchemist was that they put us into a great game and then spent an hour finding new ways to diminish an otherwise brilliant experience.
