LOCATION: Natick, Massachusetts, USA
Photos above are property of Level99
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: A World of Challenges
📅 DATE PLAYED: October 2, 2021
🎬 GENRE: Adventure, Questing
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 ppl): 7/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-6 PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: Varies by Room
💰 PRICE: $29.99-$49.99/PP (pending on time)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes (Some rooms)
👀 THE EXPERIENCE
Level99 isn’t an Escape room, it is a play-land of physical, mental, and skillful games for the whole family to enjoy. If you have ever played a video game with mini games, this is the closest I can compare this venue to. There are ~43 different rooms, arena competitions, and local artworks with hidden messages all packed in 48,000 sq ft. With all that space and things to see and do, how does one navigate this playground?
When you first enter, you will be given a wrist band. This wristband is your key to unlocking each room and opening all 40+ of them. You move over to a kiosk where you will make an account and get assigned a “code name” that the game will call you by. You also receive 50 DIAMONDS. Diamonds are your key to unlocking the multitude of rooms in Level99, as you play the games you will spend your diamonds to open rooms that appeal to your group. The more you play the more diamonds it will take to open up new rooms. “But how are you supposed to unlock all rooms” you might ask; well, in every room there is a status bar that shows how well you have completed the room and is rated on a scale of three Diamonds, these rooms are meant to be played over and over again to be mastered by each group! If you run out of diamonds, you can of course purchase more.
It is now up to you and your friends to make your choices and cater the experience for what interests you. There are 10+ themes from temples, modern art, jungle, candy, pirates, nuclear reactor, and Sci-Fi. The list just keeps going.
In front of each room is a screen where you will receive almost all of the information needed for the experience you will pick. It gives the title of the game and shows a couple attributes on what to expect (ex. Physical, mental, logical, skill). When all of your group has “signed in” press the start button and enter the room. You are NOT told what to do in each room, sometimes the title names help give hints and other times you walk in and sit around wondering how to get to the flashing button on the other side without instantly failing. Some rooms are easier to figure out than others but the good news is that once you unlock a room, that room will be unlocked forever in your account. You can replay it as many times as you like but no diamonds will be added if you succeed. Instead, coins will be given when succeeded. You can accumulate coins on your account to spend on hints or diamonds. The hints can nudge you or give you the solution to successfully complete the room. Of course more coins will be needed for cleared hints or the solution.
There are other things to do as well when you need to take a break from the cooperative challenges. You can walk around and look at all sorts of different artwork (all made by local artists) and in each piece is a hidden symbol. Kiosks are placed throughout Level99 where the more symbols you find the more diamonds you will get. So essentially a scavenger hunt. Be careful though, if you input the wrong symbol into the kiosk, it will take away some of your hard earned progress. The other option to fill your time while participating in their arena games. All of the arena games are visible to the public and they split your team into two groups to “fight” head to head and only one team will emerge with victory. They have games such as rock climbing pong, lightning reflexes, and dodgeball.
Eventually you'll definitely get hungry. Level 99 partnered up with Night Shift Brewing and you'll find a range of yummy foods and drinks.
Check out our YouTube video for a sneak peek of the location, the room(s) (no puzzle spoilers) and more:
Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
The variety of the rooms is tons of fun, walking through each door for the first time, you are never quite sure what the challenge is going to be. The mystery is what is so addictive in playing each room. There is no better feeling than mastering the room and getting the three diamonds.
The facades, and the art around the area is unique to look at and is visually appealing. There is an awesome light sculpture that welcomes everyone into Level99 and each piece is vibrant, colorful, and sometimes even punny. Every room as well is faced with an exterior to put your group in the mood for what is to come
Each room adjusts difficulty based on the number of players who entered their wrist bands into the starting screen. Having each room adaptive, creates a nice balance and makes sure each group has to work equally hard to earn their three diamonds!
The accessibility information before each room was very considerate and such a great feature. Some of these rooms are physically demanding, others have tight corridors, and others just have flashing lights that could potentially trigger photosensitive individuals. Knowing this beforehand may seem minor to some people, but to those who need it, it will make sure they have a good time!
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
With the public nature of this venue and having each room open to all groups it can be possible to wait to get into a room you have been eagerly trying to unlock. To make up for this, the screen will let you know about how long you have to wait (no longer than 5 mins). When you are on a 2hr time limit 5 mins could be a long time so make sure to go during weekdays or when the venue just open in the morning.
Some of the rooms are VERY physically demanding. If you don’t have that skill set (climbing monkey bars, swinging on ropes) stay away from the rooms that are marked as physical. For some of our teammates it would be impossible even with the physique as certain props are build only for tall people or people with longer leg length.
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
Level99 is pure, simple nonstop fun! Our group of four spent about three hours there and it literally felt like one as time just flew by. The physical games take it out of you, the mental games, while easier for our group, due to the sheer amount of rooms, beat us down by the time we needed to leave. Did we still have fun? OF COURSE! I personally could have stayed for an entire day but there were other escape rooms to visit on that trip. Each room requires at least two people to participate and with our group it was fun trying different combinations of each person and who best paired up with who and learning who was/wasn’t able to muscle through the physical challenges. One of my favorite rooms was completed with my best friend and was “space twister,” we entered and got three diamonds on our very first attempt! Other rooms are not quite the same, Brandon, Cici, and I all went into a blueprint maze and after four attempts we still could not figure out the solution. The multitude of games and things to do can make this a whole day event for the family and friends. If you are in the Boston area, go to LEVEL99!
Additional Info
Located in the Natick Mall
Parking available in garage
Located on the 2nd Floor
Food court available
Brewery in lobby
Party Rooms available
Accessibility guide on each room's display
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
(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 Level99 for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
