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The Escape Game Orlando – Mission: Mars [Review]

24 January 201730 October 2018 by Lisa Spira, posted in Orlando, Reviews, The Escape Game

We have liftoff.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 11, 2016

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $35 per ticket

Note: we played Mission: Mars late in its beta-testing period.

Story & setting

While landing on Mars, our spacecraft sustained significant damage. In order to return home, we needed to repair the compromised spaceship and launch off martian soil.

Mission: Mars looked sharp. It was a sturdy, polished, futuristic spacecraft. It took us to a different world.

The game was essentially a mission to complete, but the Escape Game Orlando crafted a compelling backstory for the narrative.

Puzzles

This was a modular escape room: orderly repair of each section of the ship. The puzzles fit into this staged structure. Each repair offered a different set of challenges.

Mission: Mars’ puzzles relied on making connections between various tactile inputs. Nothing felt even remotely paper-based.

Standouts

The polished set made every interaction in Mission: Mars that much more enjoyable.

The technology delivered in a way that the interactions felt immensely satisfying.

The Escape Game Orlando created some particularly entertaining set pieces. These weren’t necessarily mission crucial, but added to the fun of the world.

They minded the details and there were more than a few.

Shortcomings

The spacecraft was lockless, but couldn’t always deliver the feedback of a physical lock. There were times when we took an action that unlocked something seemingly unrelated and had no real way of knowing that we had triggered a thing to happen.

Mission: Mars escalated nicely, but it didn’t deliver enough of an emotional roller coaster. There was room for the game to leave more of an impact on us than it did.

Should I play The Escape Game Orlando’s Mission: Mars?

We played Mission: Mars in late beta, before it opened to the public. Although this is not our preference, we don’t find ourselves in Orlando all that often, so we opted to experience the game. The Escape Game Orlando was still iterating on a few of the puzzles and accounting for some of the shortcomings described above. We don’t know precisely how Mission: Mars will change before it officially launches, but we know that it will.

Mission: Mars was a tactile, technological, mission-based sci-fi adventure. It successfully combined game flow with a thrilling environment.

Beginners will be pretty shocked by what Mission: Mars has to offer but should enjoy it nonetheless. Experienced players will likely find plenty to enjoy as well.

Book your hour with The Escape Game Orlando’s Mission: Mars, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: The Escape Game Orlando comped our tickets for this game.

Escapology – Arizona Shootout [Review]

19 January 201721 June 2017 by Lisa Spira, posted in Escapology, Orlando, Reviews

Not-quite-Westworld.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $29 per ticket

Story & setting

In the immediate aftermath of a shootout in front of a saloon in 1881, we found that some of the bad guys had been shot, but others were on the run. We needed to figure out which bad folk had gotten away and then escape from the saloon.

Arizona Shootout was sparsely themed as a saloon. The major setpieces all belonged, but they didn’t create an immersive environment. It was a cute set, but it didn’t feel like 1881.

Puzzles

The puzzles weren’t particularly challenging. Arizona Shootout relied on searching, matching, and light indexing. It played out in a standard escape room style.

Standouts

We loved the family-friendly portrayal of the dead outlaws. The adorable design brought what could have been a less accessible theme to a general audience.

Arizona Shootout flowed smoothly.

Shortcomings

The saloon feel was strongest up front. As the game progressed, it felt increasingly like we could be in any building, anywhere, in any time.

One puzzle in particular required heavy searching and anachronistic technology. It didn’t feel like it belonged at all.

The gamemaster sent hints on the screen that displayed the game timer. When a hint appeared on top of the game timer graphic, it was challenging to read.

Should I play Escapology’s Arizona Shootout?

Escapology builds approachable, family-friendly entertainment.

Arizona Shootout would be a good entry point into escape rooms for new players who are unsure about this type of entertainment. The facility was welcoming. The game was solid and accessible.

For experienced players, Arizona Shootout would be an unremarkable game. Neither the setting nor the puzzles delivered excitement, intrigue, or innovation when compared with the broader market

That said, this could be a good choice for an experienced player who wants to solo, speedrun, or bring their multi-generational family and friends. .

Book your hour with Escapology’s Arizona Shootout, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: Escapology provided media discounted tickets for this game.

Escapology – Cuban Crisis [Review]

12 January 201713 November 2018 by Lisa Spira, posted in Escapology, Orlando, Reviews

I thought it would be warmer in Cuba.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $29 per ticket

Story & setting

We found ourselves in Fidel Castro’s office in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis. We needed to discover who ordered the Cuban military to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane.

Cuban Crisis took place in a generic office setting, with light decor that nodded to the era. I don’t know what Castro’s office looked like, but this wasn’t what came to mind when I tried to imagine it. This was a lightly themed, approachable game space.

Puzzles

The puzzles were not particularly challenging or memorable. They relied on searching and observation, along with other typical escape room puzzle skills.

Standouts

Cuban Crisis was a solid, standard escape room. Everything worked as designed and flowed logically.

Shortcomings

Despite the intensity of the Cuban Crisis’ historical subject matter, the game never managed to build emotional intensity. Neither the space nor the information we uncovered were any more exciting than the office gamespace.

There was a larger setpiece that required a little bit of strength to interact with. We recognized what it was and were certain that this was going to trigger open via some kind of automagical mechanism. This isn’t to say that you should be forceful in this game. Rather, an additional clue might help those who approach game pieces respectfully.

Should I play Escapology’s Cuban Crisis?

Cuban Crisis was an approachable, family-friendly escape room. The game flowed logically and everything worked, but it never managed to build any drama or excitement.

For new players interested in dipping a toe in the room escape waters, Cuban Crisis could be a good place to start. Escapology was a professional, welcoming facility and the game wasn’t scary, intense, or too difficult.

For more experienced players, there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable or intriguing in Cuban Crisis. It would be a fun solve, but without some of the challenge, ambiance, or exhilaration that exist in the wider market.

That said, this could be a good choice for an experienced player who wants to try a solo or speedrun.

Book your hour with Escapology’s Cuban Crisis, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: Escapology provided media discounted tickets for this game.

The Escape Game Orlando – Gold Rush [Review]

11 January 201721 November 2018 by Lisa Spira, posted in Orlando, Reviews, The Escape Game

There’s gold in dem der hills.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 11, 2016

Team size: 2-7; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $32 per ticket

Story & setting

In this modern story of the California Gold Rush, a successful gold prospector has gone missing and we wanted to uncover his stashed gold before anyone else did. The backstory felt unnecessary, but it was charming. In short, this room escape was a mission to find gold.

Gold Rush started in the cheesiest presentation of northern California woods, but it became rapidly more compelling as the scenery changed.

Puzzles

As Gold Rush progressed, so did the puzzles. They started off easy and relatively uninteresting, but by the final section of the game, we were puzzling against a challenging and interesting opponent.

Throughout the game, the puzzles rewarded the observant player.

The best of the interactions defied our expectations.

Standouts

One exhilarating segment of Gold Rush would never fly in the NYC. It was thrilling to watch David crush this; I would have struggled enormously.

The Escape Game Orlando beautifully crafted the gamespace to allow for the fun and surprising moments. It was a thoughtful, perceptive design. Parts of this set were magnificent.

At its best, Gold Rush executed simple things brilliantly.

Shortcomings

Early on the set was pretty silly.

Not only were the early puzzles easy, some of them were simply annoying.

We experienced a technical failure on a crucial puzzle that really diminished our experience. Our gamemaster was quick to respond, but this failure deflated what otherwise would likely have been the Gold Rush‘s finest moment.

Should I play The Escape Game Orlando’s Gold Rush?

The Escape Game Orlando minds the details. While at times the set was cheesy, it was also deliberately designed and crafted for the experience the company intended. The rough edges were purposeful; the rest was polished.

The game flow of Gold Rush would be an excellent on-ramp for new players. It led us from easy to hard. Both the scenery and puzzling escalated as the game progressed. While we would have loved to see a stronger start, more often than not, escape rooms fizzle as they progress. We’d rather start low and build up than the reverse.

Gold Rush is great family-friendly fun. While it does require a fair bit of mobility and the handling of a heavier object, most of the game offers a less intense path for those who need it.

For escape room veterans, by mid-game, there will be delightful surprises that continue on until you find the gold. And if you’re not from a more left-leaning region, well, you’re in for a treat.

Book your hour with The Escape Game Orlando’s Gold Rush, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: The Escape Game Orlando comped our tickets for this game.

America’s Escape Game – Faceoff [Review]

10 January 201714 April 2019 by David Spira, posted in America's Escape Game, Competitive, Orlando, Reviews

LET’S GET READY TO PUZZLE!

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

Team size: up to 10; we recommend 4 or 6

Duration: 45 minutes

Price: $35 per ticket

Story & setting

Faceoff was a head-to-head competitive room escape game. America’s Escape Game elected to forgo any kind of story or pretense in favor of a red-team-versus-blue-team competition.

The room’s aesthetic had kind of a 1980s TV competition feel to it. Pretty much everything on the red side was painted a slightly washed out red, and nearly everything on the blue side was painted a washed out blue. In the middle there were a number of different ways to interact with the other team.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but we were moving too quickly to care.

Two head-to-head faces. The red one is on fire. The blue one is radiating electricity. — *Faceoff’s* exterior wall painting. There was nothing worth photographing inside of the game that didn’t spoil something.

Puzzles

There were a number of different pattern recognition puzzles as well as physically involved dexterity challenges.

America’s Escape Game also mixed in an element of negotiation, which was unusual and interesting.

We split into teams as women versus men: Lisa teamed up with Amanda Harris (to my knowledge, the most experienced escape room player in the English-speaking world). I teamed up with Amanda’s boyfriend Drew Nelson (probably the second most experienced player).

It was intense and we were neck and neck for most of the game… until we were outclassed by their pattern recognition skills. In the closing moments of the game, they pulled off a spectacular win with partial information.

Standouts

Leaving story out of Faceoff was a good decision. The game was us versus them. That was all the motivation that we needed.

The head-to-head competition was good fun. In our particular case, the evenly matched teams heightened the experience and made the stakes feel much larger than in most escape rooms.

The negotiation component added complexity to the competition.

The design of the space created some interesting opportunities for interplay between the two teams.

Shortcomings

One of the more physical challenges was awkwardly constructed and forced most involved to contort into strange positions. Lisa left with a large bruise on her arm from the environment.

That same physical challenge had almost no tolerance for error. This made it shockingly difficult and ultimately anticlimactic. That my team was able to do it at all meant that we won that challenge. It didn’t feel fair.

There were too many locks with the same digit structures. In a game where every second counted, it was annoying to repeatedly try the same combinations all over the room.

The puzzling was a little uneven and greatly favored some puzzling skills over others. Those with strong pattern recognition can power through the puzzles with limited information, which was exactly what Lisa and Amanda did. They didn’t need to negotiate with us because they were that damn good.

Faceoff lacked feedback for when the one team did something that affected the other.

Should I play America’s Escape Game’s Faceoff?

There aren’t a ton of competitive room escapes out there, and this is only the second one that we’ve encountered.

The added intensity of competition was a ton of fun for all involved, even those of us who lost.

I can’t recommend Faceoff for new players. Basic experience and an understanding of how room escapes flow will allow you to focus on the game itself rather than trip up over how to puzzle or how the locks work.

Bring some collaborative teammates and worthy opponents… and you might want to leave the sore winners and losers back home. This could get intense.

Book your session with America’s Escape Game’s Faceoff, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: America’s Escape Game comped our tickets for this game.

America’s Escape Game – Crisis at 1600 [Review]

4 January 201721 June 2017 by Lisa Spira, posted in America's Escape Game, Orlando, Reviews

Crash the White House.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

Team size: up to 10; we recommend 5-7

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $35 per ticket

Story & setting

A paramilitary group launched missiles at the White House and we needed to enter the Oval Office to disarm them.

For the most part, Crisis at 1600 was a standard office escape room with a style of furniture and props that suggested a governmental office. It was themed, but the set design didn’t elevate the drama of the mission.

A white wall with a portrait of Lincoln mounted to it. — Image via America’s Escape Game

Puzzles

Crisis at 1600 relied heavily on busywork puzzles. Once we had determined how to solve something, it took quite some time to execute the solution.

The puzzles were not distributed evenly throughout the game. This unevenness created bottlenecking, which would be magnified with large teams.

Standouts

The penultimate segment of Crisis at 1600 was unusually designed and a lot of fun.

Shortcomings

Everything before and after that aforementioned section lacked punch. We were completing tedious puzzles in a governmental office.

One particular portion of the game demanded accuracy while forcing us to use an inaccurate toy as a precision tool. The concept was exciting, but the execution was frustrating. Our gamemaster interrupted this segment to inform us that should we not succeed at the task, we’d have to burn a hint to move forward in the game.

Players with knowledge of American government and history will be able to steamroll portions of Crisis at 1600. We completed a section of the room escape out of order because we had the outside knowledge to both speed up and bypass puzzles.

There was one tedious newspaper-style puzzle.

Should I play America’s Escape Game’s Crisis at 1600?

Multiple people in Orlando have suggested to us that this is the greatest room escape they’ve ever played. We don’t know what to make of that. Did they seeing something we didn’t? Or is it that everyone loves their first time?

This is America’s Escape Game’s flagship game. While Crisis at 1600 may have given the company its start, at the end of 2016, it felt dated. If they want to lean on this experience as a flagship, it needs to be updated. It’s a great concept and there is opportunity to create a dramatic space, an emotional roller coaster, and more interesting puzzles. They could make this game that into that special something.

That said, as we played it, Crisis at 1600 was a very average room escape. New players will enjoy it; experienced players could certainly have fun puzzling for America, but won’t find much to write their representative about.

America’s Escape Game seems a well-managed and disciplined company, but we don’t understand the Crisis at 1600 hype. We hope they can build more drama and intrigue into their White House.

Book your hour with America’s Escape Game’s Crisis at 1600, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: America’s Escape Game provided media discounted tickets for this game.

America’s Escape Game – Pandemic [Review]

28 December 201621 June 2017 by Lisa Spira, posted in America's Escape Game, Orlando, Reviews

Curing Ebola in an hour or so.

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

Team size: up to 8; we recommend 4-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $35 per ticket

Story & setting

In Pandemic, we needed to stop an infectious disease from destroying the planet. We took over where the scientists investigating it had left off (or died off).

The overall game had a stark medical feel. It felt a bit like a slightly industrial, poorly lit doctor’s office. It didn’t look bad but wasn’t much to look at either.

Puzzles

Pandemic’s puzzles relied heavily on busy work. Once we’d figured out how to solve something, we had many minutes to go before completing the solution. At least five separate puzzles all required this type of repetitious execution.

Pandemic included one dated newspaper-style puzzle that played more like an elementary school reading comprehension exam than an adventure puzzle game.

Standouts

Pandemic included one particularly exciting interaction that we hadn’t seen until we visited Orlando.

The game flowed logically and smoothly.

Shortcomings

Many of the puzzles involved busywork rather than progressive discovery.

One prop was badly jammed and the hint to reinvestigate it was delivered with unnecessary condescension.

Close-up of a wall with gas masks hanging from it. — Image via America’s Escape Game

Asking for one hint resulted in heavy-handed followup hinting. We found this frustrating because we were already back on the right track and it was simply taking time to execute on something that was tedious by design.

Should I play America’s Escape Game’s Pandemic?

Pandemic was a competently designed escape room; the puzzles flowed logically from start to finish.

The set wasn’t particularly exciting, but the gritty environment added a little urgency to our mission.

In late 2016, the game felt dated. Much of the puzzle difficulty was in the execution, not the solution.

Pandemic was perfectly passable. There’s plenty here for new players to enjoy. However, more experienced players shouldn’t expect to be wowed.

That was the thing with Pandemic. There wasn’t a lot wrong with it, but there also wasn’t anything special.

Book your hour with America’s Escape Game’s Pandemic, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: America’s Escape Game provided media discounted tickets for this game.

It’s a Trap! – A Pirate Tale: The Legend of the Cea Sisters [Review]

20 December 201613 March 2018 by David Spira, posted in Closed Company, Orlando, Reviews

Yo! Ho! Yo! Ho! A puzzler’s life for me.

Location: Winter Park, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

Team size: up to 8; we recommend 4-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $25 per ticket

Note: The folks from It’s A Trap are sadly closing shop after at the end of the year. Get tickets to this game if you can. We wish them well, and while we played both of their games, we are electing to run only this review.

Story & setting

Set in a pirate’s grotto headquarters, we had to sift through booty and nautical trinkets to learn a dark truth.

The atmosphere was dark with plenty of light for puzzling. It was a little creepy but not scary; it felt cavernous by design.

The attention to detail in A Pirate Tale: The Legendary Cea Sisters was spotty. In many places it looked superb, in others the modern hardware stood out a little bit too much to really nail the aesthetic.

We had a marvelous actress improvising with our team. The method by which she interacted with the team was a delightful surprise.

Puzzles

The puzzles in A Pirate Tale: The Legendary Cea Sisters were numerous and challenging. The game relied heavily on searching and there was a lot of loot to scour.

A Pirate Tale: The Legendary Cea Sisters was an involved experience composed of layers of puzzling. We had to really work through the puzzles and they were fun puzzles to explore.

Standouts

The actress! She was great. She truly improvised with our team when we spoke with her. She was witty and punny. And, she was never in the way.

The way we interacted with the actress was brilliant. I will say no more on the subject.

The story was far better than most escape rooms. It had well-established characters, motivations, and a narrative arc that remained consistent from start to finish.

The layered puzzling, and the way in which many puzzles played with the set and props, was superb.

It’s a Trap! seamlessly mixed in additional bonus challenges for enthusiasts that were otherwise invisible to regular teams. They also included a personalized touch such as they would offer for a special occasion (i.e birthday party, bachelor party); it fit neatly into the experience and gave us a good laugh.

The set and incorporated tech, at its best, elevated the experience quite a bit.

Shortcomings

There were places where the set felt a little rushed. Those spots stood out when juxtaposed against brilliance of the sections that were more carefully crafted.

A few of the puzzles suffered from problems of ambiguous cluing. The puzzles were sound, but the props involved could have been less haphazardly constructed to clear up unnecessary confusion.

It’s a Trap! is only open Friday through Sunday (and holidays), making it more of a challenge to book with them.

Should I play It’s a Trap!’s A Pirate Tale: The Legend of the Cea Sisters?

We interviewed the owners of It’s a Trap! over the summer in preparation for our PAX West panel. In speaking with them it became clear that they were attempting something different from the norm. They put an emphasis on actors and storytelling and designed reversible room escapes:

We played A Pirate Tale: The Legend of the Cea Sisters, but every month or so they flip the room and it becomes a different game in the same space titled A Pirate Tale: The Gold of Gangplank Grotto. I can’t speak to that room escape, but I would love to see just how profoundly they change the gameplay.

The addition of otherwise hidden puzzles that were only available to teams who were fast enough to find them was also a brilliant twist. It added challenge and complexity to the game without putting too much pressure on slower solving teams.

From newbie to enthusiast, I wholeheartedly recommend A Pirate Tale: The Legend of the Cea Sisters. It’s fun. It’s challenging. It’s innovative on so many fronts. It has a few warts and scars, but what pirate doesn’t?

Make sure that you brush up on how to best play a room escape with actors.

Book your hour with It’s a Trap!’s Pirate Tale: The Legend of the Cea Sisters, before the end of December and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: It’s a Trap! comped our tickets for this game.

MindQuest Escape Games – The Haunting [Review]

11 December 201625 December 2018 by Lisa Spira, posted in Closed Game, Orlando, Reviews

[At the time of this review, MindQuest Escape Games was called MindQuest Live.]

“I have exorcised the demons! This house is clear.” – Ace Ventura

Location: Orlando, FL

Date played: November 14, 2016

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

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $26 per ticket to an open ticketed game, $28 per ticket to a private game

Story & setting

In MindQuest Live’s The Haunting we entered the Worthington Mansion. We had to prove that the site was, in fact, haunted (Surprise! It was.), and then cleanse the building of the paranormal activity.

The Worthington Mansion wasn’t an inherently exciting set; it was a living space. However, it was well constructed, polished, and set the tone for the game. It was rather dark, a foreboding indication of the haunted mystery to unravel.

Haunting game teaser shows a framed photo of a pretty women. The glass of the frame is shattered and it looks like something is hiding in the gap between the glass shards. — Image via MindQuest Live.

Puzzles

The puzzles ranged in quality.

The Haunting included some innovative puzzles and interactions that yielded exciting feedback from the set.

At times, weak cluing led us far astray. What seemed most interesting wasn’t always important and seemingly related items didn’t necessarily connect.

Far too many of the puzzles lacked connective tissue, demanding some large leaps of logic.

Standouts

The Haunting packed plenty of exciting moments. These were interactive and generally technologically triggered.

At its best, The Haunting married both ambiance and interesting puzzling.

The Haunting conveyed a story, through audio, visuals, technology, and the occasional puzzle. The story elevated the experience.

Shortcomings

More often, the puzzles were themed, but didn’t carry the story. The Haunting relied heavily on exposition. Without a continually interactive story, some of the team lost that thread, which was important to the full experience.

This room escape was a series of cool moments that weren’t always fully linked together in cluing or story. Had the connections been stronger, there wouldn’t have been enough content for the hour.

One particular puzzle was initially intriguing, but then greatly overstayed its welcome.

Should I play MindQuest Live’s The Haunting?

The Haunting combined ambiance, story, puzzling, and technology. It had all the components of a home run, but it didn’t quite bring them all together. It felt like it was still in beta.

There’s a lot of fun to be had, for both newer and more experienced players. Everyone will puzzle and everyone will be surprised. MindQuest Live made a home into a fun set to experience.

While The Haunting is a bit spooky – it’s in the name of the game – it’s certainly not horror. It’s approachable, except for most young children.

We hope that MindQuest Live will continue to refine this game, adding content, and building the connections that will keep the entire team engaged in the journey through until the end.

Book your hour with MindQuest Live’s The Haunting, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: MindQuest Live provided media discounted tickets for this game.