Category: Reviews

Once upon a puzzle…

Location:  Boston, MA

Date Played: December 14, 2019

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

Duration: 75 minutes

Price: $40-47 per player

Ticketing:  Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Intimate, mellow, and heartwarming. This combination is one of the least explored territories in the escape game world. Boxaroo set off on an adventure to chart this mysterious land and struck gold.

The set was elegant, compact, and truly impressive, especially when you realize just how small it actually was.

Boxaroo’s engineering was top-notch.

Then there’s the gameplay. A friend said to me that The Storyteller’s Secret felt kind of like playing a really good point and click adventure game; I can confirm that. The way this experience unfolded honestly felt like playing a tangible Lucas Arts game. If you have ever played one, I think you’ll realize how high a compliment that is.

We loved this game. It’s as great a game for first time players as it is for seasoned escape room fanatics. If you’re anywhere near Boston, The Storyteller’s Secret is a must-play escape game.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Families
• Any experience level

Why play?

• The game was beautifully executed on every level
• Playful and heartwarming story
• An incredible feat of engineering
• It almost feels like playing an old Lucas Arts game in real life

Story

We paid a visit to the cabin of best-selling adventure novelist Emily Carter to learn the secret origins of her incredible stories.

Setting

We entered a quaint and elegant writer’s nook. On one side was an adorable desk; on the other side were massive, larger-than-life books. From there, our adventure was entirely up to the storytelling of Emily Carter.

The set was beautiful and playful, filled with vivid details. The technology underpinning The Storyteller’s Secret was ingenious and ever-present, but never showy.

Gameplay

Boxaroo’s The Storyteller’s Secret was a narrative-focused escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, puzzling, and making connections.

Analysis

➕ The Storyteller’s Secret told a complete story. It was beautiful and intimate. It didn’t put a lot of pressure on us. This was a mellow experience, but not without exciting moments.

➕ This was a game about a writer. It managed to pull that off with fewer than 2 lines of written text.

➖ The opening moments of The Storyteller’s Secret had a potentially cool interaction that went nowhere. It felt like opportunity was knocking and no one answered.

➕ Boxaroo created a wonderful difficulty curve. They focused player attention on relevant content through use of light and sound. They’d designed the game such that as it progressed, we felt like we had grown our skills and achieved mastery over the game’s challenges.

➕ This game represented our view of what escape room technology ought to be. The engineering was incredible, but most would rarely even notice it. It was just magic.

➕ The hint system was an integrated part of the experience. We never touched it, but we imagine it blending into the story.

➖/➕ The physical construction of the final puzzle was noticeably lackluster. The puzzle itself was quite clever in context, but I’m completely confident that Boxaroo could implement it better because they did so everywhere else in this game.

➕ The Storyteller’s Secret had smart backtracking and reuse.

➕ Boxaroo only allows appropriately sized teams into this game. What a bizarre and novel concept?

Tips For Visiting

• Boxaroo is easily accessible by subway. Get off at Park Street or Government Center.
• If you’re driving, the Pi Alley Parking Garage is right nearby.
• At least 1 teammate needs to be able to duck into a small space.

Book your hour with Boxaroo’s The Storyteller’s Secret, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Boxaroo provided media discounted tickets for this game.

Out of the frying pan & into the fryer.

Location:  Long Island City, Queens, NY

Date Played: November 25, 2019

Team size: 2-6; we recommend 4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: starting at $30 per player

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The Real Kitchen Nightmare was set within a commercial kitchen with a horror twist… and it felt right because the creators of this game own a couple of actual restaurants nearby. The environment delivered with an authenticity that greatly exceeded the norm.

Esscape Room’s gameplay was brutally hard. It felt like 2014-level difficulty, which was jarring after half a decade of the industry at large shifting to more approachable gameplay. But it was fair. Our team of 5 very experienced players finished the game with 5 minutes to spare and used 0 hints. It was winnable, but we were only the second team to do so. This was a shame because the best part of the game was, without a doubt, the cleverness of the ending… which most players never see.

Our biggest knock against The Real Kitchen Nightmare was a rule about “not making a mess of the kitchen” which ultimately ran contrary to the search-heavy nature of the game. Beyond this, there were a lot of smaller issues, which is common for a company’s first game.

The Real Kitchen Nightmare was an impressive first outing from a brand new company. The game was memorable. The New York City escape room scene has really aged and it’s exciting to welcome a newcomer. This is one of the stronger games that the market has. If you like horror, we recommend it. Bring a mighty team, or it will smoke you.

Who is this for?

• Horror fans
• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Players with at least some experience
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• A realistic set
• Tons of puzzle content
• A fantastic ending – if you can get to it

Story

After mysteriously closing, 3 Michelin star celebrity chef Francois ‘Le Boucher’ (the butcher) Hellerstein had finally reopened his flagship restaurant. Hellerstein was world famous for his incredible food and intense rage. We were investigating him because the entire staff of his last restaurant had disappeared without a trace.

Setting

The Real Kitchen Nightmare was set in an old, run down restaurant kitchen. It felt real. Essentially all of the props were originally from a restaurant kitchen, and the owners/ creators of this game also own a pair or nearby bars/ restaurants… so they have a pretty good idea of what a restaurant kitchen is supposed to look like.

Gameplay

Esscape Room’s The Real Kitchen Nightmare was a standard escape room with a very high level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ The Real Kitchen Nightmare felt real and raw. The set was a restaurant kitchen.

➕ Esscape Room used sounds and practical effects to amp the intensity.

➕/➖ The gameplay was solid, yet dated. The Real Kitchen Nightmare was a search-heavy, lock-heavy game, where much of the gameplay was in uncovering what props connected to which puzzle and which lock. Many of the puzzles were only there to give players a hint for another puzzle. The puzzles were thematic, but grounded primarily in escape room logic. Despite feeling dated, the gameplay worked. Connections became clear and each solve marched us forward.

➖ At times instructions and cluing felt at odds with the gameplay. For example, because of in-game cluing, we thought we’d encountered an order preservation puzzle. Everyone knew how to solve it, but nobody touched it for far too long because of misleading cluing. We’d also been instructed “not to make a mess of the kitchen,” but in a search-heavy room, those explicit instructions misguided us to gameplay errors that we wouldn’t have made otherwise.

➖ This kitchen didn’t have a timer. In easier escape rooms, we’d rather not have gameclock present because clocks don’t usually make sense, and we’d rather play for the experience than for our time. In The Real Kitchen Nightmare, however, the absence of gameclock was problematic. It was a difficult game where hints and time were a resource to manage. We knew we could easily lose, and without a clock, we had no way to gauge whether we should ask for a hint. Having seen this game through to the end and won, we think teams would have a better experience if they were armed with a kitchen timer.

❓ The Real Kitchen Nightmare was really hard. We won with 5 minutes to spare, having taken zero hints. We like challenging puzzle games, but they present a structural challenge. Since the linchpin of this escape room is near the end, if players don’t get to that moment, they miss out on a lot. At the time we played, less than a handful of teams had reached this moment, regardless of win or lose. Since Esscape Room doesn’t show players the rest of the game when they fail, losing teams can walk a way with a substantially lesser experience.

➕/➖ The Real Kitchen Nightmare had a stellar introductory scene. It set up the experience. From a tonal standpoint, it delivered. From an experiential standpoint, it enabled the game to come full circle. That said, it primed players for a different type of escape room gameplay than they would experience in the next hour.

➖ The Real Kitchen Nightmare needed onboarding. It had an intense introduction, in character with a horror game. That said, players will be able to enjoy the game more if they are presented with a fair onboarding that explains things such as where to find the the bathrooms, hint system instructions, and in case of emergency safety instructions.

➕ Esscape Rooms had a really interesting design aesthetic that is shared with their real restaurant. It was cool.

➖ There were legitimately dangerous, movable props in this escape room. I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but Esscape Room should strongly consider further dulling down these items. This was a horror experience and people will be jumpy.

➕ The Real Kitchen Nightmare had a cool transition.

➖ While Esscape Rooms set up a story, they didn’t deliver it through play. There was opportunity to make the story resonate as we solved the puzzles within the main sets of this experience.

➕ The Real Kitchen Nightmare built up in intensity. Horror escape rooms typically struggle with players becoming comfortable as they get to know the space. Esscape Room didn’t fall into this trap. They were able to keep us on edge.

➕ The Real Kitchen Nightmare delivered quite the mind%&*#. Cheers to Esscape Room for pulling this off.

Tips For Visiting

• Esscape Rooms is located in Long Island City, just off the Queensboro Plaza Stop – N,W & 7 train – and a few blocks from Queens Plaza & 21st Street Stops – E & F train.
• The folks behind Esscape Room also own the The Huntress, a restaurant and bar on the same block. We recommend stopping by after your game.

Book your hour with Esscape Room’s The Real Kitchen Nightmare, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Esscape Room comped our tickets for this game.