LOCATION: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Photo above is property of BreakOUT Escapes - Niagara Falls
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: Whodunnit "The Lounge"
📅 DATE PLAYED: March 17, 2023
🎬 GENRE: Mystery
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 Players): 4.5/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-10 PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: CAD $27.50-$39.99/PP pending on group size
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: YES
📖 THE STORY
Mama Napoli, the genius behind the famous Italian restaurant franchise Napoli, was found murdered last night in her estate. Can you find the killer and the murder weapon in time?
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🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
For puzzle lovers, this game had a ton of puzzles and locks. The game was also non-linear so you could work on different puzzles separately and piece the evidence together later.
The checklist was a nice tool for the progression of the game.
As we solved puzzles, clues and information on the killer were revealed bit by bit. It was satisfying when we discovered the final note when the motive and culprit were revealed to us.
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
The reading materials were way too long. Some were also difficult to read due to the scripted writing and faded paper.
There were a couple of puzzles that consumed a lot of our time. They felt like puzzles from puzzle books. Good thing there was a couch in the room as I felt like I was doing crossword puzzles at home for half of the game.
Unscramble was used a lot in the puzzles but there were no indications on why we had to do so.
Since this is an estate, we felt that a multi-room experience would be more enjoyable (especially if there were hidden secrets).
The props need renovation.
The ceiling of the rooms in this venue is open on the top and there’s no communication device to receive hints. So throughout the gameplay, we can hear people chatting outside and we have to shout in order to receive a response to our hint request.
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
This location has a lot of space but for some reason, they are unable to soundproof the rooms. This is definitely going to be an issue as we didn’t feel that immersion of being transported to a story world and out of reality. The hint system issue could also be easily resolved by giving players a walkie-talkie. Although there were a lot of puzzles in this room, a lot of them were really generic. We did enjoy the storyline so if the set design and puzzles could be revamped, there could be future potential in Whodunit 2.0.
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ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO
Huge lobby with entertainment such as a board game cafe (free to play while waiting for escape room games), arcade, and pool table
Street parking with HONK mobile app or a pay parking lot on Park Street
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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank BreakOUT Escapes - Niagara Falls for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
