Dallas Archives - Room Escape Artist

The Ultimate Escape Game – Fallout [Review]

21 May 202225 May 2022 by Sarah Mendez, posted in Dallas, Reviews, The Ultimate Escape Game

Fallout is one of the best games in the Dallas area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Dallas.

“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘nuclear wasteland'”

Location: Dallas, TX

Date Played: March 27, 2022

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 3-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $25.99 – $35.99, depending on the number of players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: One player must crawl

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Fallout offered a combination of classic lock-based puzzles and satisfying physical tasks that all fit within the apocalyptic realm of the Fallout video games. My Fallout-savvy teammate found references to the games everywhere and admired how thoroughly the experience blended those details into both the set and the puzzles. I, a Fallout newbie, could still appreciate the theme, which I processed more generally as a playful forecast of a post-nuclear world.

Aside from the careful theming, the other standout feature of this room was the set layout. A huge metal silo in the middle of a broad alleyway obscured half of the set from every viewpoint. This required us to form a mental model of the space and to refine our communication strategies as we lost track of each other. The space was also open enough to run through it at length, which we did often. This felt liberating and novel in an escape room set, but it also matched the urgency of the scenario.

A corrugated aluminum structure with a sign on it that reads, "Danger Radiation."

The only slight drawback to the scenario was when it obscured whether a prop was unreliable due to the realism of the apocalypse or due to present-day malfunctioning. This happened twice, but our gamemaster offered prompt clarity.

For its attention to detail and unusual game space, Fallout is worth checking out as you play through noteworthy rooms in Dallas.

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Red Door Escape Room – Fort Worth – Fair Game [Review]

14 May 202225 May 2022 by Sarah Mendez, posted in Dallas, Red Door Escape Room, Reviews

Fair Game is one of the best games in the Dallas area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Dallas.

The circus is in town!

Location: Fort Worth, TX

Date Played: March 29, 2022

Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $30.95 – $37.95, depending on the number of players

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Fair Game brilliantly captured the essence of circuses with its bright colors, caricatured set pieces, and realistic activities. The room focused on all the right details to bring a circus to life. The set begged us to frolic and play while delivering everything it promised; we got to play with every prop the way we hoped we would. Delight abounded from start to finish.

Even though the soul of this room was alive and well, there were a few aspects that felt well-worn from use. Red Door Escape Room had recently freshened some parts of the room; we hope this continues for more set pieces so that they can fully reflect the vivacity of the experience.

The combination of a moderately low difficulty level and a rewardingly interactive environment make this room especially appropriate for anyone visiting Dallas with family or as a mixed-experience group.

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The Secret Chambers – Fort Worth – The Mafia Adventure [Review]

7 May 202225 May 2022 by Sarah Mendez, posted in Dallas, Reviews, The Secret Chambers

The Mafia Adventure is one of the best games in the Dallas area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Dallas.

What happens at the jazz club stays at the jazz club.

Location: Fort Worth, TX

Date Played: March 29, 2022

Team Size: 4-12; we recommend 2-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $35 per player (you must pay for a minimum of 4 even if fewer play)

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: All players must climb a staircase. At least one player must crawl.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Playing The Mafia Adventure was like touring a historical model of the Prohibition era while getting to play with actual artifacts from the time period. All of the puzzles and activities were strongly thematic and often fully immersive, asking us to role-play actions that made complete sense in the environment. The set felt so authentic and well-researched that I wondered whether I could study it to learn about history. According to the company’s website, it seems that you can.

This escape room followed The Secret Chambers’s pattern of designing a rich scenario, filling it with delightful interactions and reveals, and then giving a path through those interactions using written notes that you discover along the way. Some of these notes were of the form “do this thing.” Others were more cryptic than usual, leaving room for more ahas on the part of the adventurer.

A pool table with red felt in a room with ornate gold ceiling tiles.

Our main critique of the experience was an occasional though significant benefit from outside knowledge that might be hard to grok from the materials meant to scaffold it in the moment. The knowledge was entirely thematic, and the room would have been drastically different without it. This design bought immersion at the expense of added difficulty for some players, but the room should still be doable either way.

The Secret Chambers is a regional must-visit company, and The Mafia Adventure stands out for its intricate attention to detail and impeccable ambiance.

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The Secret Chambers – Arlington – The Area 51 Adventure [Review]

22 April 202225 May 2022 by Sarah Mendez, posted in 2022 Golden Lock, Dallas, Reviews, The Secret Chambers

The Area 51 Adventure is one of the best games in the Dallas area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Dallas.

I’m not saying it was aliens, but…

Location: Arlington, TX

Date Played: March 29, 2022

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $35 per player (you must pay for a minimum of 4 even if fewer play)

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: All players must climb 2-3 stairs. One player must climb more extensively.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

2022 Golden Lock Award Ribbon — 2022 Golden Lock Award Winner

REA Reaction

As a company, The Secret Chambers consistently offers spectacular, immersive environments and dynamic set pieces. The Area 51 Adventure met these expectations and then kept going, with abundant sci-fi references, various surprises, and one jaw-dropping reveal that made me giddy.

A glowing, futuristic periodic table of the elements in a sci-fi room with a barrel leaking green material. A door reads, "Anti-matter bomb chamber."

Beyond the set, this room offered an impressive puzzle game. A handful of puzzles were familiar, but most were fresh and challenging, usually relying on fun and thematic props. Although many of these puzzles had an extended execution phase, we were generally excited every time we realized what we needed to do. These tasks ranged from lighthearted and joyful to precise and pressure-filled, leading to a wide range of emotions throughout the experience.

Several of these puzzles also relied on an array of dexterity skills that added novelty and intensity, though these might “alienate” players who prefer more mental exercises. These elements made the room feel more interactive than many while requiring participation from multiple team members. Indeed, communication and collaboration were hallmarks of this room, truly testing our teamwork capacity.

We consider The Secret Chambers to be a regional must-visit company, and The Area 51 Adventure is one of its stand-out experiences.

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Dallas, Texas: Escape Room Recommendations

13 March 202225 May 2022 by Sarah Mendez, posted in Dallas, Recommendations

Latest update: May 25, 2022

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metroplex has an expansive escape room market, offering several noteworthy local companies alongside many recognizable chains and franchises. Of the four largest Texas markets, this one is a standout, keeping us busy and entertained for multiple trips.