Very cool looking set but the puzzles were random and made little sense with the setting. The story was also basically non existent once you got in. Essentially just some really random puzzles inside a cool looking train. Also a few really repetitive memory games and a few faulty tech pieces.
The difficulty is not because puzzles were fun and challenging but because they make no sense. The game is full of red herrings and "trick" puzzles think the puzzle box toys that are usually in the lobby, these are required puzzles in the room. The "actor" (a kid in a costume standing in the corner) was not helpful and the game is 100% designed for players to lose. They have (according to their own manager) never had a team beat any of their games without multiple hints, the fastest time ever was over 50 minutes with NINE hints. This is a venue designed for people to lose and then pay to play over and over until they finally win (they won't show you whats left). It is a shame they did not put the same attention to puzzles as they did set as it was a beautiful game but some of the all time worst puzzles you will ever encounter.
This room could have scored much higher if it wasn't for a few big flaws. One they have unreliable tech props that they have no control over. We had a puzzle solved correctly and were told to "keep jiggling it" we literally stood and jiggled masks on a wall for several minutes until a lock eventually opened. We were told this is pretty normal and even though they can see we have them right, they have no ability to control the puzzle outside of yelling at the players to "jiggle it" which is a very game-breaking moment. Even worse is the hint system. All locks/puzzles are marked with a 4 digit code on a sticker attached to it. On the wall is a keypad and a monitor, if you want help you type in the code and a predetermined hint pops up that may or may not be useful. This totally breaks any chance of immersion and just feels lazy. It can also compound the tech issue as often they do not have anyone watching the players so people won't even be told to "jiggle it" and will get a hint only to realize they are right and the puzzle is just broke. They had a lot of clever puzzles and the potentially for a pretty fun game if they just fix these issues.
This was truly one of a kind experience. A blend of VR, escape rooms, and immersive theater maybe? It is really hard to describe, just know it is something that should not be missed.
A 1 is honestly too high of a score for this one. To start they offer you a $10 gift card to leave them a review. That alone gets you a 1/100 for me. The game also happened to be terrible though. There are very few puzzles really mostly just a series of guess and test. Pick out a word or number from stuff in the room and everyone grabs a lock and tries until one opens, then repeat. Most of the locks are digital and can be both letters and numbers and have built-in lockout mechanics, there are little to no clues that would lead you to deduce why something might be the answer, just guessing random stuff. The game is also almost entirely linear, in a very small space, and they sell only public tickets for up to (i think 13 players) this is a 2 - 4 player max game. They have loose wiring literally taped to the walls with signs written next to it saying not to touch them along with an exposed fog machine that could burn someone. So now we have them breaking the law with buying reviews, having terrible puzzles, overcrowding a linear room, and an unsafe environment. But wait! There is more. The game had a clear story and goal, we were there voluntarily (ie not trapped somewhere) to try to create a cure for a virus. We won by punching a code in and opening a door and were told we escaped! But we didnt make a cure? They said yeah but you escaped! But we were never trapped? In the story we wanted to be here in order to make a cure and we never accomplished that. There was only one single redeeming qualty here, both staff members we interacted with were fantastic. It is a shame the owners don't care even a little bit.
The facility appears to be run by people who don't know about or care about escape rooms. One of the all-time worst game masters we have ever encountered. The game is beautiful but not at all maintained. The game gives you a book at the very start that essentially just tells you what to do step by step. One player reads the other player does the thing, repeat until you win. The rooms are all very small and there is really nothing for more than 2 people to do outside of one very obnoxious puzzle designed to waste your time. There were a few really cool reveals, and a couple of fun puzzles but overall the design felt incredibly lazy and poorly executed. Using a book to just tell people step by step what to do really ruins the exploration and puzzle solving experience and a few puzzles were clearly there just to waste time as the game itself did not have enough content to properly fill an hour long game. It is a shame it is an absolutely fantastic set and a lot of work went into make it look good, just not enough into maintaining it or making the puzzles fun.
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