Category: arizona

HAUNTS – 13th Floor – AZ

13TH FLOOR 

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13th Floor Phoenix is a large stand alone professional haunted attraction. 13th Floor is a large company in the Haunt community, often acquiring haunted attractions in cities around the United States and bringing them into the 13th Floor family. They also own Fear Farm not too far from this location. However, 13th Floor Phoenix appears to be an original haunt. The original 13th Floor Haunted Attractions are high quality and similar in style, however they are not always similar to the attractions they’ve acquired.

This haunted attraction is a high quality professional haunt. The makeup, props, sets, etc are all very well done. They have made some interesting choices playing with space and balance. The actors are good. Overall it’s a really great haunted attraction. I also enjoyed the line entertainment while you wait.

Thank you 13th Floor for having me as your guest this season. I had a scary fun time!

ESCAPE ROOMS – PanIQ Room: Wild West – Arizona

PanIQ Room: Wild West

I had a rootin’ tootin’ grand ole time in this fully immersive Wild West escape game. I felt like a real old fashioned cowgirl trying to break out of jail with the physical puzzles that required me to use not only my brain power but other skills as well. One of the most impressive things was the set decor. You could easily forget that you were in a building in the year 2016 because of the impressive set design. The props were made to stand up to the roughest of cowboys. The puzzles were a good mix of physical and mental challenges. It isn’t the most difficult room and the gamemaster is willing to give assistance, so it’s great for beginners. I had a lot of fun playing it as an experienced player, but if you have a large team of experienced players I might suggest playing a more difficult game at this location. The staff here was outstanding, which made the whole experience even better. I actually came back later that day with a friend to play Kidnapped based on how much fun I had in Wild West by myself earlier that day.

ESCAPE ROOM – Epic Escape Game: Blood Thirst – Arizona

EPIC ESCAPE GAME: BLOOD THIRST

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As a woman that grew up reading Interview with a Vampire and fantasizing about handsome pale skinned figures that could exist for eternity, I know that nothing is more exhilarating than being hunted by a vampire, except hunting one yourself.

At Epic Escape Game’s Blood Thirst, you become part of an elite vampire hunting team. You must enter the room with your team and solve the puzzles leading up to finding and eliminating the most famous of all, Dracula.

The story is strong and the room is well themed. The puzzles are all tied to the theme and not just your standard boxes with locks. I especially liked the use of both physical and mental challenges combining for a uniquely fun and challenging game. Note that this room’s difficulty level is Challenging so it may require some out of the box thinking. It is nice to see a company that can take a “scary” theme and make it appropriate for all audiences, yet still find creative ways to add in the fear and excitement without any sort of bloody special effects or gross decor. This room has one of the most creative puzzles I’ve seen that totally and completely ties together puzzles and story as you approach your objective. That really helps this room stand out among the standard escape games.

I recommend making a whole event out of it and having your friends over to get in the mood by eating some garlic flavored popcorn while watching a few popular vampire movies ahead of time. Maybe even dress the part. Am I the only one that thinks it’s cool to show up dressed like Blade in my black leather trench coat? Okay, admittedly it gets a bit warm and confining to try to play in my trench coat, so maybe just dress comfortably.

 

ESCAPE ROOM – Epic Escape Game: The Fortune Teller – Arizona

EPIC ESCAPE GAME: THE FORTUNE TELLER

How long will your future last if you don’t escape The Fortune Teller in time?

Epic Escape Game has created an incredibly innovative and fun escape room that not only can be done with your team competing against the clock, but you could actually compete against another team as well. The Fortune Teller is the first room you see upon entering the building on your right and your left. There are identical rooms across from one another.

The room has a curiously captivating story about Madame Zarra and her secret. The reveal is a fun surprise. The puzzles are clever and the room is beautifully decorated. I really felt as though I had entered the room to wait for a genuine psychic complete with “woowoo” decor and traditionally recognized “reading” tools. The puzzles incorporate the themed props. They are logical. Be sure to keep your eyes open and communicate with your team in this game. Hopefully you will be in the top quarter of players to discover the secret and escape in time.

ESCAPE ROOM – Epic Escape Game: Whimsical Library – Arizona

EPIC ESCAPE GAME: WHIMSICAL LIBRARY

The Book of Fun is missing!?!?! Oh NO!!! Grab you friends and your kids and head over to the Whimsical Library to save it from being closed…forever.

This family friendly escape room in Phoenix Arizona is a wonderful beginners room and especially good for kids. The story is excitingly magical. It feels as though you’ve walked into a cartoon upon entering the brightly colored library. The energy in the room is quite spirited and fun. The puzzles do not require difficult problem solving, but rely more on observational skills, focus and patience. There is plenty to do for all ages and everyone can contribute in a useful manner.

ESCAPE ROOM – Epic Escape Game: Blood Thirst – Arizona

Epic Escape Game: Blood Thirst
I was reading and daydreaming about vampires way before the Twilight series was created, so vampire themed escape rooms are always on my to do list. This one is a creative and fun take on the Dracula story. Your team is locked in a room and has 60 minutes to defeat Dracula. The puzzles throughout the room are fun, but defeating Dracula was by far my favorite part. Blood Thirst is incredibly innovative. Moments during the game can get intense and even a bit frightening depending on certain factors. There was one puzzle that was slightly outside of our team’s way of thinking, which leads me to note that you have hints available. If you are really stuck, you should use them. Although I have played several games alone, I highly recommend a team for Blood Thirst. Also invite your favorite vampire expert to join your team. It is certainly a challenging room with around a 20% escape rate. I recommend beginners play one of the other rooms at Epic prior to attacking Blood Thirst, but the first time players in our group had fun too.

 

 

ESCAPE ROOM – Epic Escape Game: Top Dog – Arizona


Epic Escape Game: Top Dog

I’ll admit I was skeptical at first, but when we rejoiced having rescued Sydney in time for her dog show in a group that consisted of random newbies and kids, I was completely sold on this incredibly well designed escape room.

Epic Escape Game’s Top Dog is by far a Top Game in my book. I’ll admit it, I usually dislike playing with random people. However, I wouldn’t trade my experience with our team of strangers. It ended up being one of my favorite experiences of my weekend in the Phoenix area (where I played 14 games in three days). I don’t have children, so getting to experience the Top Dog room with kids was unique. It’s been a while since I’ve played a room with anyone that was so amazed and excited by the adventure. I’m sure we would’ve had a blast without the kids, as well, but it was just such a cool experience. It was also fun to see their excitement when we beat the room’s record escape time.

The story is really cute. You are trying to find and save Sydney the show dog and get her to her show on time. There are no live animals in the game, only adorable stuffed ones. The design and decor is top notch. The theme is well integrated into the puzzles. The puzzles are a combination of clever and fun physical tasks as well as observation, searching, logic and teamwork. Top Dog really has something for everyone. This is not a room I would recommend trying solo. I would highly recommend it for both beginners and experts of all ages. It’s a lot of fun and the difficulty level is easy to moderate with around a 60% escape rate.

 

ESCAPE ROOM – Escape Zone AZ – Arizona

ESCAPE ZONE AZ

  Escape Zone AZ located in Tempe (just outside of Phoenix) is a wonderful Escape Room company in a great location. I played The Inheritance and Jail Break. Both games are innovative and clever. It takes something special for a fairly low tech game to really impress me and this company did. I found the storytelling in The Inheritance superb. I love how the puzzles and even the hint system were completely integrated into the story. The jail did a wonderful job storytelling as well, but it’s hint system and use of space were most noteworthy.

Overall, the puzzles in both games were incredibly creative. I found myself literally squealing with delight a few times when solving these unique puzzles that I hadn’t seen before. I mean, come on…they had multiple unique puzzles that I hadn’t seen before…that in itself is impressive. I enjoyed the use of both physical and mental tasks.

The space and decor  was impressive, as well. I would never had known the space used to be a yoga studio if they hadn’t told me. The professionally decorated rooms are completely immersive down to the angle of the ceiling in the attic. They are absolutely beautiful.

The owners are passionate about their games and very skilled at customer service. I was only able to fit The Inheritance in my schedule to play during a weekday and it just so happened I would be alone. The owner called me ahead of time and discussed options with me, when it turned out I was willing to play alone he allowed me to do so. I escaped just in the nick of time. My husband and I played Jail Break the following night and we weren’t so lucky. I was however able to see the entire game and the end is fun and not what I expected, very well done.

I highly recommend this company. I am looking forward to their upcoming game, Lunar Lab.

ARIZONA ESCAPE ROOM LIST

Below is a list of the Escape Rooms I’ve played organized in order of MY favorite to least favorite in each city. Note: I especially enjoy horror, paranormal & magic themed escape rooms, so my preferences may be different than yours. Feel free to tweet me questions. 

ARIZONA ESCAPE ROOM LIST:

PHOENIX

Eludesions – Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

TEMPE

The Great Room Escape – Spell Bound

Escape Zone AZ: Rush Hour

SCOTTSDALE

Escape the Room AZ: The Submarine

R.I.P. the following games are no longer around

Epic Escape Game: Top Dog

Epic Escape Game: Blood Thirst

Epic Escape Game: Fortune Teller

PanIQ Room: Wild West

PanIQ Room: Kidnapped

Epic Escape Game: The Whimsical Library

Escape Westgate – Bill & Ted’s Excellent Escape Room

Phoenix Puzzle Room: Competition Room

Phoenix Puzzle Room: The Curse of Madame Lumina

Escape Zone AZ: The Inheritance

Escape Zone AZ: Jail Break

The Sleuth Box: The Study

Escape This Live: Queen Anne’s Revenge

Escape Adventure: Escape the Dead

Dare to Escape AZ: X-Child

Escape the Room AZ: Rec Room

Baffled Escape Rooms: The Trap