Spellbound secrets.
Location: Loveland, CO
Date Played: September 26, 2021
Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 4-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $35 per player for 2-3 players, $28 per player for 4+
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: At least 1 player needs to fit through a small opening
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
Time Emporium’s Wizard’s Tower took us back in time to the library/ workshop of a mystical wizard. With an aesthetic loosely reminiscent of the 1963 Sword in the Stone film, this room was full of wonder: magnificently twisty bookcases lined with colorful books, drawers, and vials; a hefty dose of wand-driven spell casting; and a sword embedded in a stone.
Our experience in Wizard’s Tower oscillated between wondrous and convoluted. This largely stemmed from Wizard’s Tower‘s approach to difficulty and signposting. The individual puzzles in Wizard’s Tower were excellent overall — varied, fun, challenging but fair, and on-theme — and many led to satisfying environmental ahas.
Yet much of the room’s difficulty also came from having a ton of puzzle elements visible from the start of the game. It was tricky to find where the threads for each of multiple parallel puzzle paths started, especially without any initial onboarding sequence to orient ourselves in the space. While we still enjoyed the challenge of many of the puzzles, the relative lack of a difficulty ramp-up or narrative progression somewhat undermined the game’s high ambitions.
Wizard’s Tower had a fantastic set and some standout gameplay mechanics. It was a really interesting game with some flaws which has the potential to be amazing with further refinement.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- Best for players with at least some experience
- Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
- Aspiring wizards
