Category: Las Vegas

Fit for a suicide king

Location:  Las Vegas, NV

Date Played: November 28, 2021

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $45 per player for 2 players to $39 per player for 6 players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: Crawling (at least 1 player), low lighting

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

A serial killer with a twist, “One Eyed Jack” surreptitiously presented his victims to-be with a jack playing card just prior to their murders. This iconic motif, combined with a thoughtful approach to puzzle design, helped ensure this was not just another serial killer game.

One Eyed Jack felt like a horror game without being too scary. Lighting choices and small details in the environment made for a compelling spooky atmosphere. As the game progressed, there were moments where our dependence on handheld lights became slightly burdensome, but this proved to be a nonissue overall.

One Eyed Jack was representative of what solid escape room design looked like a few years ago. This gameplay has aged fairly well, and it was full of creative elements.

If you’re in Las Vegas, Trapped! Escape Room’s One Eyed Jack is a great choice, especially for newer players. If you’re looking for a more modern escape room experience, Trapped’s Pandora’s Box kicks up the heat a few notches with some fancier tech. Whereas Pandora’s Box is a linear, small-team game, One Eyed Jack provides more parallel play for medium-sized teams.

Curiosity rewarded

Location:  Las Vegas, NV

Date Played: November 28, 2021

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $45 per player for 2 players to $39 per player for 6 players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: Crawling (at least 1 player)

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Pandora’s Box (quite literally) blew us away with a wide range of special effects and a showstopper central set piece. This was a fantastic experience — especially for smaller teams — and it was without a doubt a must-play within the local Las Vegas market.

Thematically, this room felt like a crossover between Greek mythology, Indiana Jones, and the large puzzle boxes from The Room (the video game, not the terrible film). While a tad jarring at first, this stylistic juxtaposition was consistently implemented and made for an exciting adventure.

Pandora’s Box took place in a fairly small space, but some clever game mechanics repeatedly transformed the atmosphere. With a beautifully designed and fabricated Pandora’s Box in the center of the room, our time was largely focused on interacting with the many details on this prop. Targeted spotlights directed our attention as needed on the box’s faces and around the room.

This game was fully linear and contained a few puzzle types that may mildly frustrate certain players. The narrative felt a bit fuzzy by the ending, and ultimately I found this to be more of an adventure-driven than story-driven experience, despite some strong story elements in certain moments of the game.

Pandora’s Box was one of the most immersive escape room offerings in Las Vegas, and it’s well worth a play if you’re in the area.

Presents of mind

Location:  Las Vegas, NV

Date Played: November 28, 2021

Team Size: 3-10; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $45 per player for 2 players to $35 per player for 10 players

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

How The Puzzlemaster Stole Christmas provided a bit of holiday cheer, delivered through a healthy dose of puzzling.

This game was a seasonal version of Trapped’s The Lair of The Puzzlemaster. It used the same set, dressed up with some Christmas decorations. A few puzzles were slightly modified from the original, though the two versions of the game were similar enough that you probably wouldn’t go back to play the both.

In How The Puzzlemaster Stole Christmas, our objective was to retrieve the pilfered presents from The Puzzlemaster, who’d stolen them from Santa. The transformation from the original story — a sort of art heist — to this Christmas present recovery mission was clever. With the addition of just a few low-budget Christmas decorations, the set felt reminiscent of a festive office holiday party (if everything at the office holiday party were blatantly a puzzle.)

If you’re visiting Vegas in November or December, How The Puzzlemaster Stole Christmas was a sweet Christmas-y puzzle party. During the rest of the year, The Lair of The Puzzlemaster seems like an equally fun low-tech, puzzle-forward experience.