Month: December 2015

ESCAPE ROOMS – The Bunker Experience – California

The Bunker Experience

This is not a typical escape game. It really is an experience a bit more along the lines of a “haunt” or an interactive play.

Positives:
They are on top of their social media.
They are nice people and the actors are good.
The experience starts when they open the door to let you in.
The location is good.
The story is ok, I’m still not 100% clear on what was going on but everyone that worked there seemed to have a clear understanding of it.
The room is set up to be realistic and not “game” like (no laminated papers, plastic game pieces).
It is immersive.
It looks, sounds and smells pretty authentic to the story.

Negatives:
There’s no lobby, you wait outside on the sidewalk.
Not enough puzzles.
Solutions to puzzles are too simple.
Not being able to tell what’s a prop and what’s not…I think I opened an actual floor drain.
There is a huge waste of space at the end.
There appeared to be a waste of manpower at the end.
It was too easy.
There wasn’t enough for everyone to do and we only had 5 people.

My husband and I were teamed up with a group of three. We got out with time to spare. I went in with really high expectations and honestly I was let down. We got a deal on it through Goldstar and we still feel it didn’t live up to the price.

Tips:
Don’t worry about breaking things. They don’t give the typical no more than two fingers force rule for a reason.

Use the bathroom before you wait outside.

ESCAPE ROOMS – Roomescape LA Prison – California

Roomescape LA Prison

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I recently played the new Prison escape game with my parents and husband and it is fun. It was my parents first escape game. It is a lot like other prison escape games I’ve played. (It’s a pretty common theme among escape games.) They have one really unique puzzle that I had never seen before and it made me checkle when I realized that it was the puzzle. We found ourselves finding work arounds on most of the locks to complete the solutions. We actually got ourselves a little confused because we solved one lock way before we should have and then spent time on puzzles we had already solved but didn’t know it. I’ve seen a lot of puzzles and my experience in this room will not likely be the same for someone new to escape games. I do recommend that guests play the prison before playing the bank, especially if they are new to escape rooms.

This company has expanded quite a bit since we played the bank and to be honest I really liked the game masters better before. They were personable and passionate about the business last time, but now the staff is much bigger and they come across a bit cold and mechanical. They just don’t have the same passion or personal touch that I enjoyed in the staff previously.