Latest update: February 23, 2022
Williamsburg, Virginia, is a popular tourist destination… but it’s known for colonial history, not escape rooms.
This guide will help you decide which of the 3 local escape room companies to visit:
On our short visit to Williamsburg, we didn’t have time to play every game at every venue, but we asked each company to direct us to their standout experience. Each game excels in a different way.
We all live in a steampunk submarine
Location: Ashland, VA
Date Played: October 2, 2021
Team Size: 4-8; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $25 per player, with a 4-player minimum
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: Uneven ground to get into the game.
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
RED VEIN’s Escape from 20,000 Leagues was a beautifully designed submarine game with fun interactions and flawless tech. With their background in haunt design, RED VEIN took the fabrication of their set to the next level, creating a remarkable stage for Escape from 20,000 Leagues. The room was bursting its seams with character, including weathering on every inch of the ceiling tiles.
While the puzzles were well integrated with the set and made sense on a submarine, the game could have used a few more puzzles and interactions to truly be a 60-minute experience. Our team of three left the room in a record time of 19 minutes, surprised to be greeted by our gamemaster instead of another area of the submarine. Although short, we still truly enjoyed the time we spent exploring the depths and meeting some of our deep-sea neighbors.
RED VEIN was able to pull off what felt like a much larger set by using interesting spatial mapping to their advantage. The game was fairly non-linear to begin, lacking any on-ramping or obvious starting puzzle.
If you’re driving through Ashland and looking for a fun room to share with new players, RED VEIN’s Escape from 20,000 Leagues is a great choice!
Continue reading “RED VEIN Escape – Escape from 20,000 Leagues [Review]”Organic artisanal good time
Location: Richmond, VA
Date Played: October 2, 2021
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $25 per player, 4 player minimum
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
Wizard’s Castle was witty and engaging. The interactions were well designed to sing to Harry Potter fans, and fans of fantasy in general… which really worked for me.
In the scheme of Gnome & Raven, Wizard’s Castle was a little smaller, and slightly less epic than their other offerings. While I strongly recommend it for fans of wand- and potion-based fiction… I’d suggest that everyone else check out Magic Lamp or Shipwrecked first. This is a very worthy wizard game.
The renowned Wizbin the Wonderful, wizard to kings and queens, was searching for an apprentice. To prove our worth, we needed to craft the Midas Potion, which would turn anything to gold.
Maritime Mutiny is one of the best games in the Metro DC area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Washington DC.
A bounty
Location: Herndon, VA
Date Played: October 2, 2021
Team size: 2-10; we recommend 4-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: scaled pricing from $39 per player for teams of 2 to $28 per player for teams of 5+
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
No matter how many times it happens, I am still surprised when I walk into an escape room in a strip mall, enter a game, and find myself in another world. Walking through the doors of Maritime Mutiny took us onto a pirate ship. A picture is worth a thousand words:
In Maritime Mutiny, Escape Room Herndon nailed the classic thematic escape room style. The story was present, but this game was all about solving puzzles in a compelling environment. It was a ton of fun. This game is a regional standout, and if you’re nearby, absolutely go play it.
My word of caution is to consider whether you want to tackle the bonus puzzles. They were a serious leap in difficulty and brought a change in tone that, for us, didn’t do the game any favors. They were certainly solvable, but we would have been happier walking out of the game with the vibe of the base game’s conclusion instead of the studious tone of the bonus puzzles.
Our crew had realized that Captain Ravensbeard had been cheating us out of our fair share of the plunder. He’d barricaded himself in his quarters, but we were committed to finding our way in and enforcing a change of management.
Continue reading “Escape Room Herndon – Maritime Mutiny [Review]”Time Siege – The Battle of Yorktown is one of the best escape rooms in Williamsburg, VA. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in Williamsburg.
Time turned upside down
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Date Played: October 1, 2021
Team size: 2-8; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $27.50 per player
Ticketing: Public
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
We have a huge soft spot for locally-themed escape games, and Time Siege – The Battle of Yorktown was just that. Williamsburg is a tourist town built on history, and Room Escape Williamsburg set their story in an especially intriguing – and the most influential – moment of the region’s history.
This time travel game focused heavily on its story, creating a sort of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego narrative. A time heist occurred that would spell disaster for the American Revolution. We had to use our time machine to traverse time, find the stolen items, and return them to their rightful time and place.
Aesthetically, Time Siege – The Battle of Yorktown vacillated between deliberate and haphazard craftsmanship, with lots of exposed wires and loose components. It was always clear that things were there for a reason; it wasn’t clear that they had been built with intention.
From a gameplay standpoint, the puzzles were pretty straight forward. Experienced players will likely move through this game pretty quickly. This is one you enjoy for the local flavor rather than the challenge. If engaging with that local history sounds like your type of adventure, and you’re in the area, then this one is worth checking out.
As agents of the Bureau of Time Justice, we had been dispatched to traverse time in pursuit of Valerie VonBuren, codename Magpie. Magpie had stolen key items from General George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown.
We needed to find the items, correct the timeline, and if possible, apprehend Magpie.
Continue reading “Room Escape Williamsburg – Time Siege – The Battle of Yorktown [Review]”