Escape Games Canada - "Haunting of Noriko"

Updated: Apr 22

LOCATION:  North York, Ontario, Canada

Photo above is property of Escape Games Canada

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Haunting of Noriko
📅 DATE PLAYED: October 21, 2023
🎬 GENRE: Horror
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 Players): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 4-8 PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: CAD $38/PP
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: No

📖 THE STORY

You’ve arrived at Osaka, Japan to visit the infamous abandoned home with a horrific past. Young and beautiful Noriko was killed and with the violence of her death came a spirit of vengeance bent on consuming all. Her family is missing and a curse is laid upon ANY who enter the home. You now must follow the clues behind this tragedy and restore Noriko’s spirit to peace before she takes you…sounds anything but easy when every creak of the step and dark shadow holds a dark secret…

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

The set design is phenomenal with a beautiful Japanese door entry to the creaky stairs and well-timed lighting in the rooms.
The jump-scares felt so real!
The puzzles had a good mix of decoding, pattern identification, and searching. I especially loved when it forced us to search around the room as the two floors really upped the spook factor.
There are so many aha moments as puzzles were layered into each other - one solution leading to the next clue.
The light is used here very well to draw you to where you need to go next…but also scare you in the darkness so be prepared!

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

The is an auditory puzzle that I feel will be a hit or miss with groups.
There was a bottle puzzle where we ended up solving through guessing as we weren’t 100% sure on what the clue was trying to get at

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

"Haunting of Noriko" offers players an ominous and engaging escape room experience that you won’t forget. Escape Games has shown time and time again their talent in creating such immersive set designs and this game benefitted and was enhanced by those efforts. The puzzles were a mix of styles that forced players to confront their fears in the room and provided rewarding solutions for those efforts. I also struggle with auditory puzzles and hope that assistance by GMs can be made to address these. If you are looking for a truly haunting experience that will give you all the tension and adrenaline the moment you walk in, this room is sure to deliver!

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

Discount for playing back-to-back rooms
Free Parking (Limited parking in front but you may have to park around the building)
Lobby with no seating but tables to hangout with your group if you are early
Chocolate and Pop available for purchase
Adorable movie ticket style receipts