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Photos provided by Swamp Motel Company: Swamp Motel Game: Isklander: Plymouth Point Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game W/GM 💻 Genre: Thriller, Mystery Date Played: 6/5/2021 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players (Ages 18+) Time: 90 Minutes Price: Prices vary base on 2-6 players/games from £25+ ($35+) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 This is the first episode of the Isklander trilogy. You are a new member to the Plymouth Point Resident. It seems like one of your neighbors, Ivy has gone missing. The Residents Watch is holding an emergency meeting and you've been called in to help out with the search. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Our team met in the lobby of Zoom. The game pulled us in right away with a video from one of our neighbors at Plymouth Point. Throughout the game, a GM accompanied us for the experience. He/she would only participate through the chat box. This is where he/she will drop in clues and hints. It was helpful to elect a teammate to share their screen so everyone on the team could catch up and proceed with the same speed. There were many websites, images, documents and videos we had to go through so it's imperative to use the "divide and conquer" strategy. Since there were a good amount of video components during the game, our advice is for everyone to wear headphones for this experience. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This was not your typical escape room type of puzzles but more like a detective adventure. The puzzles were more like sleuthing through the internet for clues and connecting the appropriate characters and the information that they've provided in order to find the truth behind the case. If you have a dual monitor or bigger computer screen, it'll make the game play much easier. As we pieced together the evidences, the computer screen felt like it turned into a big whiteboard with many opened window tabs. One thing that was hard to decide was which ones to keep open and which ones to close as they all felt like they could be relevant. If you've played one of The Detective Society's tabletop games before, it literally felt like Swamp Hotel turned it into an online RPG experience. It definitely helped having a group of smart detectives with us that day as we completed the game with 28 minutes and 43 seconds left. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Although sleuthing through the internet might not be everyone's cup of tea, I, for one loved it. As we gathered information from various characters and discovered hidden website portals, we found an unexpected turn of event in the storyline that send chills down our spines. Swamp Motel definitely knows how hook their audiences with their storyline because that cliffhanger is killing me. This was just the beginning and I'm sure Ep 2 and 3 will be even more "haunting"! P.S. Swamp Motel was also the creator behind the "PANIC" experience for the premier of the PANIC series on Amazon Prime video. Although the experience is no longer available, we still wanted to give a shoutout to the creators as it was an amazing, chilling, and realistic experience that we thoroughly enjoyed. The game made us want to watch the series and of course we binged the entire season. (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 Swamp Motel for comping our tickets for this experience. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #SwampMotel #PlymouthPoint #OnlineEscapeRoom#DigitalEscapeGame #GMLed #Thriller #Detective #FindIvy #InteractiveThriller #Mystery #ImmersiveTheatre

Videos/ Photos were provided by Leenook Company: Leenook Game: The Equation Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English/French Type of Game: Digital Escape Game W/ GM 💻 Genre: Mystery Date Played: 4/27/2021 Difficulty (based on 6 players): 5.5/10 Size of Team: 2-8 Players (available also for corporate booking) Time: Max 2 hours Price: CA $23.99/pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There's something strange about Max Borne's death that has never been discovered. As new recruits in the secret organization, you and your team decided to investigate Max's office once more. Perhaps this time you'll be able to find something that will unravel this mystery? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You and your team will be meeting on a video conferencing platform called "Veertly". Your GM will meet you in the lobby and assign your team to a breakout room after the initial debrief. Make sure you are playing this on a computer with a fairly large screen (if possible) as certain buttons/screen space might be cut off if you don't expand the screen to full capacity (one of our players experienced this and had to call our GM in to repair the issue). This is a point-n-click game with build-in video components. The game is not synced so each teammate will need to enter the passwords in their own device in order proceed. There's a progress bar on the top of the screen so if you feel like you're moving too fast, you should slow down and wait for your teammates. Once you game starts, your GM will not longer be in the room. If you need their assistance, you'll need to message them to come back in. The game provided us with 360 views of various rooms. You can Zoom in and out of the screens to get a closer look at certain items. There are also items with hotspots that will provide you with a video so you can see the prerecorded actions done by the GM as he/she searches the room and inputs codes in the game. Do not refresh your browser during the game as if you rejoin the game, you'll need to input the passwords from the beginning all over again. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This is a linear game. While the players can explore and find clues for the puzzles, you'll eventually come together to solve the same puzzle. In this case, this design also helps the team to progress at the same time. Most of the triggers were done by choose the right video, input the right keycode or using the right tool. It took a bit of getting use to as most of the point-n-click games we've played didn't incorporate so many videos that were merely for examining items. At the beginning, we were not sure if they were all relevant info that we needed for the puzzles or not. At times, I would forget if I've already pressed on a certain video or not so that wasted a good amount of time. If you want to keep up with the team, you can also skip the video by dragging it to the end. The puzzles mostly stuck with the theme of the game and we had a good amount of calculations that we had to do as a team. Some clues were more pertaining to the storyline but at the time felt like red herrings. At the end, the GM did inform us how those were all connected and it did help to get an overall picture for a more conclusive ending. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Paired with classical music and an office décor that's full of formulas, I felt like I was transported to a famous scientist's secret workspace. If you're impatient, you might feel like the game had too many videos to go through but you do have 2 hours to complete the mission. We finished in 1 hr and 5 minutes with a team of 6 but you can certainly enjoy and play it in a more leisure way. For this game, we felt the same as some of the other digital games we've played in terms of the value of having a GM. The price per person is similar to some of the remote games with avatar. If the GM cannot provide a dedicated support like entertaining the players with an audio escape type of attention then this game could just be played as a pure digital game that we should be able to purchase anytime to play on our own. I can understand this being great for corporate events since they can be moderated in different breakout rooms but as enthusiasts the price felt quite steep. It would be great if both options could be provided so players can choose which better suit their needs. *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Leenook for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #Leenook #TheEquation #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #detective #solve #cases #mystery #science

Above Photo was provided by Kingston Escape Rooms Company: Kingdom Escape Rooms Game: Angie's Flower Shop Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Game w/ Live Host 💁 Genre: Heist Date Played: 4/28/2021 Difficulty (based on players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: 1 - 10 Players (Recommended 4-6 Players) Time: 60 Mins Price: £35.00/Team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Seymour has details on the family Gold and it's hidden inside a flower shop. He can't be seen in public right now so he send Angie and you to retrieve the plans for him. You only have an hour to put a team together and rob the bank before the police arrives... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Our GM Frank greeted us over Jitsi (a video conferencing platform). This is the first time we saw this program being used inside Telescape. This is a nice added feature by Telescape since communication and game play can now be done through a single window. "Angie's Flower Shop" is a point-n-click game monitored by a GM. The game started with a nice video intro from Angie giving us the backstory. The GM would only interrupt the game if the players needed a hint or if there's a clue that had to be given from the progression of the game. There's a few things that differentiates Kingdom Escape Rooms from other games that we've played of the similar style: The hint is given by Angie (who's the character in the storyline) versus by the GM. This made the game more immersive At one point we had to make a call during the game (props to the game designer for building a phone inside the game rather than having us call an international number) and it was really cool to be able to connect to a live person (GM) rather than a recorded message. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We were surprised (in a good way) by how much there was to be discovered in this little flower shop. Even though this is a point-n-click game, a lot of thoughts have gone into where to place hotspots, what kind of reaction we would get from closing or opening a certain item, manual triggers etc... Although there was a lot of puzzles to go through, our team manage to complete the game with 21 minutes and 17 seconds left. The best part about this game was that we all felt like we contributed to the game play in different ways. One of our team member was really good at sudoku and another was amazing at deduction. All the puzzles were really creative and tied in with the storyline. It really felt like we bought the right team for this heist job. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game felt like a hybrid between a digital point-n-click and an audio escape room. The GM not only gave us subtle nudges when we needed them but also was attentive to his other character roles that made the game felt like a story in development. The price is pretty similar to purchasing a digital game but instead you get a GM as an added bonus. We highly recommend giving this game a try with your team (4 would be an ideal number)! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟❜𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Melvin L. Angie's Flower shop gave me a mixed bag of feelings. When we are all logged into zoom, a game master will welcome us and brief us on what we need to do. This 'escape room' is played mostly on Telescape. While I am a fan of Telescape, I feel Telescape is meant to be for solo or couples in this format. The reason is that there are TONS of stuff to find and sift through. Whenever you find something, it will appear in the inventory or whenever you use something, it will disappear from the inventory. Now, can you imagine 4 cursors flying around the different areas and clicking on anything and everything they can find? It became super confusing and we need to constantly tell everyone ' I found this from clicking this', so that nobody will be confused and search the same place again. For a normal escape game, it might still be okay, but as mentioned, this game has ALOT of documents that will jump out suddenly and you need to read them all. It would be much more fun to do this in person. Moving on to the puzzles themselves, that was the highlight. The puzzles are creative, interactive and not too difficult. But then, which brings me back to the original system - there wasn't really a need for a Game Master to be present. He was there just to provide some real life humor, hints and story background. Of course, he was funny and nice, but in the game sense, he did not really need to be there. Overall, I understand that escape games are meant to show teamwork, which means each person doing their own searching and solving it on their own. But I prefer such elements to be in person. So it is purely my opinion that I am not a fan of such parallel games on Telescape. I just personally prefer Telescape to be used for linear rooms if it was a remote escape game, or meant for smaller groups if a parallel format is used. It will be much less confusing to ask around 'hey, what did you do? How you solved it', especially in a remote online setting. Kobi R. This was an intense and fun packed escape experience. Even though audio is involved and you're accompanied by a GM, I would say this is more a digital escape room than an audio/actor led one. This is a fairly nonlinear room, with a lot of moving parts. We were a team of 4 and it felt like for the most part, all of us were involved in different bits and pieces. This made it very enjoyable. The only small con is that due to this, I'm not sure about all the puzzles and how they were solved. Overall, this is a highly recommended room. *** We regret to inform this game is no longer available for booking but check out other in-person escape rooms on their website*** Disclosure: We thank Kingdom Escape Rooms for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #KingdomEscapeRooms #AngiesFlowerShop #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #GMLed #Gamemaster #heist #gold #adventure

Videos/Photos provided by Secret Library Company: Secret Library Game: The Secret Library: Origins Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Online Immersive Experience 🎭 Genre: Mystery Date Played: 11/28/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: 90 Minutes Price: $35.00 per web cam 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The secret library holds the answer to everything. With the current crisis situation around the world, we need to open the portal to the secret library once again and hopefully find a cure. As the new oracles, we must work together to unearth the truth. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After booking the experience, you'll receive a link and a short survey. The survey will give you an idea on which library best suits your personality but we didn't find that information being useful in the actual event. It kind of felt like the hat in Harry Potter. I was assigned to the house of Bibliotheque Marzarine. The digital portal used to host this event is called Delfex Virtual. When you first enter the portal, a 2D map will appear before you. There are 13 rooms which essentially felt like breakout rooms in Zoom. Each room can hold a max of 8 people. Some rooms will have a live actor acting like a host and those people will have a star next to their icon. You'll get 10 minutes to warm up to the portal before the event officially starts. Once the time is up, everyone will be automatically gathered to join in with the live actors to watch the intro and some back story. During those "performance" times, you'll not be able to interact with anyone or area. The event was broken into 2 parts with a 5 minute intermission. The first part required us to work collaboratively on puzzles and information in order to present the 7 totems to the 7 libraries for us to get one step closer to the secret library. After intermission, the show became more like of a detective/investigative type of vibe. The experience required us to interact with the live actors, take note of details that's been said and discuss findings with fellow players. Since there are many rooms to explore, it was difficult to capture everything. When we hopped from room to room, we always ended up either just missed the solution or not understanding what they're saying since we entered in the middle of a conversation. My suggestion for a first time player would be to not hop around too much and try to stay in one room until the puzzle is solved. You're not going to be able to solve every room. Good news is that whenever another player solves a puzzle, that counts as a team win. The characters are really great at their roles. If you wanted to hear some lovely tunes, head over to the bar. If you want to hear about juicy gossips, the reporter is your girl. Maybe you are more interested in conspiracy theories? Then you should definitely go find the agent. There are rooms purposely left empty without hosts so if you wanted to chitchat with friends or other players, you can utilize those. At times, I just wanted to relax and enjoy the show and let the other players do the hard work. 😜 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you are look for a puzzle heavy game then this experience might disappoint you. Most of the information we found was through conversations/interrogations with the live actors. There was a very light section that needed to be decoded. If the creator wants to capture more puzzle fans, they'll need to put more work in this department. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 There's a lot to do in the "Origins" and you can easily get lost. Depending on the type of player, you can either sit back and enjoy the show or be the A student that needs to solve every single puzzle out there. It's great to be able to have a choice and enjoy it whichever way you like. Since the ticket is per web cam, we've also seen families play together as a team. If you like RPG and light puzzle experience, you'll definitely feel something very special at the Secret Library! (If you do decide to try this experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Secret Library for comping our tickets for this experience. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #SecretLibrary #TheSecretLibraryOrigins #OnlineImmersiveEntertainment #Fantasy #Scifi #Mystery #Whodunit #Clue #Detective #ImmersiveTheatre

Photos/ Videos provided by Secret Library Company: Secret Library Game: Escape Atlantis Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game w/ GM 💻 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: 3/20/2020 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 4-8 Players Time: 60 Minutes Price: $25/pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A historian triggered something in the deep sea during his expedition and now he's trapped! Can you solve all the puzzles, defeat the sentinel's curse, retrieve the key and set the professor free? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This digital game is hosted on their own online interface called Delfex Virtual. A game host will be with you the entire time to prompt nudges/hints and any assistance with interface issues. You and your team will be "roaming" around on the blueprint of the lost underwater temple. The graphics were quite beautiful. Each teammate will be visible to others in terms of where they are by their little avatar icon. you can roam freely to various rooms to solve puzzles in a "divide and conquer way" or just stay together for the entire game and solve them one at a time. You can chose to have your camera on or off during the game but microphone should definitely stay on. This is your way to communicate with your team whenever you are in a room together. We found that a little inconvenient to convey message back and forth as we have to click in and out of rooms (if you decided to play the game in the divide and conquer way). You can also use the text chat function but that's going to be time consuming during a timed game, It was much quicker to use the verbal communications. You're able to click on various hotspots for puzzle images or information to pop up. We felt that the hotspot icons were way too small and sometimes it was difficult to find or pinpoint where they were. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Since there were 4 locations that we had to visit to gather a password in each, it felt essential to take on the puzzles separately. The puzzles were non linear so we were able to solve them individually. Some simple decoding was required but we were confused on the objective as even if a puzzle was solved, there was no clarity on what we "received" from it and how that was going to be utilized in the storyline. Every time when one of our team members would solve a puzzle, an alert would pop up on the screen letting the other teammates know that that section had been completed. While this gave each of us something to do, it also took away from the teamwork aspect of the game. We felt like we're working on our own and only played the puzzle we were working on for the entire game. A Zoom or some other audio conferencing device may be needed so teams in different rooms could still communicate with each other so that at least all the members are inform on the progress. Since this digital game is a private game versus "Origins" being a public game, it would be great if a different conferencing interface can be added to Delfex so that the teams could be heard from anywhere during the game session. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We really enjoyed "Origins" as it had a more clear statement on the type of game. It was more immersive theater rather than puzzles. This game felt like it's stuck between a good digital game and a half done immersive theater (as it did have video components). Since we've played a ton of digital games by now, we feel like being able to know and see what each teammate is doing even if you're separated on the platform is quite important. From an immersive theater aspect, because Secret Library came from that background, we thought the game would have more of those components. I don't think it should be lost even if it is in a digital game. More character play or storyline could be added to make this more unique to the Secret Library brand. 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Michelle B. In Escape Atlantis, the Secret Library changes their experience structure from more immersive theatre to puzzle centric escape room. I went in having heard wonderful things about their original offering and was eager to see what they had created. Pros - I loved Oswald, the explorer character we met at the beginning - we was engaging and fun - The video at the beginning pumped up players to start the game - The illustrations were beautiful and wonderfully detailed - Our game master was attentive as was ready for clues and small nudges -The structure of the game allowed for small break out rooms where you could divide and conquer on puzzles (and only hear the members in a room - which is very nice) - A white board is provided for sharing information that is found My Nitpicky Parts - I wanted more story - some of the puzzles didn't clearly fit into the narrative provided at the beginning - The game is for 4-8 connections - if you have very strong puzzlers, it could go quickly because of the non-linear format. On the flip side, if you don't have strong puzzlers, you can have quite a few players and they can break out in groups without the chaos of many linear avatar games. - In a timed game, I'm generally a fan of faster puzzles - Escape Atlantis offers fewer, more meaty puzzles - this will come down to your personal preference ______________________________________________________________ Krista J. & Dave B. Pros: The innovation in online escape rooms over the last year has been incredible, and Secret Library definitely capitalized on a brand-new system (so far as we've seen) to hosted digital escape games with Escape Atlantis. We loved their interface! It allows you to play as a team with others on different connections, but you can move around the space independently. Much like in real life, any time you are in the same place, you can see and hear each other (through mic and video), but those connections are lost when you separate. This feature has the double benefit of being both immersive and often practical! You can talk freely about the puzzle you're working on with someone in the same space, without worrying about confusing or annoying folks working on other tasks elsewhere. The puzzles were enjoyable, and some of them had interactive interfaces, which was a nice touch. The artwork is fantastic, and the production value with the videos and just overall was truly impressive. You have an in-game host, Droney, available to assist you with hints (and quips) as needed. Cons: Secret Library does a great job of setting the scene in their introductory video, but there could be a more coherent underlying storyline and rationale for the various puzzles and stages of the game as you progress. When (unsolicited?) hints were provided, they popped up for all players, not just the ones working in that particular area, which was a bit distracting. Who should play: The theme of the archaeologist trapped in the lost city of Atlantis is totally family-friendly, and the interactive elements would be fun for participating children (10+ ?), though they are likely to need some adult help with some of the puzzles. If you are looking for a refreshing new interface for a digital escape game with high production value and gorgeous art, your help is needed to Escape Atlantis! I would recommend 2-4 players for this 60-minute game. (If you want more of an immersive theater experience, check out Secret Library's other game - Origins.) We will definitely be keeping our eyes out for any future games from them with this fabulous system! (If you do decide to try this experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Secret Library for comping our tickets for this experience. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #SecretLibrary #TheSecretLibraryEscapeAtlantis #EscapeAtlantis #DigitalEscapeGame #Gamemaster #GM #Fantasy #Scifi #Adventure #Survival

Photos provided by Lockdown SG Company: Lockdown SG Games: Lost Treasure of Sarang Rimau Country: Singapore 🇸🇬 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Puzzle Hunt with GM 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 2/11/2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: Min 4 Devices Time: 60 Minutes Price: $20 per device 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It's a strange discovery but just before you're about to be evacuated with the rest of your troop, you saw an old box buried near a cannon. It looked like it could be a pirate's treasure left behind from 1885! You only have one hour to retrieve the treasure before your comrades leave you behind... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Our game master greeted us over Zoom. He informed us that we'll need to take a tutorial of the game's platform before we could start the game and that's going to take about 20 minutes. Initially I thought I heard wrong but there was a lot of information to go through. You'll be provided with a virtual tour of a popular tourist site in Singapore. This virtual tour was used for the game but also used as a 3D tour for another puzzle hunt if you were to visit the location in person. We found that to be quite confusing as there were elements on there that would still be clickable from the tourist game. There was also an interactive whiteboard that we had to use together as a team. This was the first time we've used this program. It's similar to the "annotate" on Zoom but you're able to do much more with certain interactive components of the puzzles (like click and drag and overlay). Pay close attention to the tutorial as you'll need to know how to use these options as part of the puzzle solving tools for the game play later. Once we were in the game space, the communication was through the whiteboard's chat function. The GM merely served as hint giver and solution checker. If you want to check your answer, make sure to either text it to him or write it on the whiteboard so he can confirm. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This game was more like a virtual treasure hunt rather than an escape game. Your first objective is to find the necessary information in the virtual tour. Once you have the information, see how you'll be able to incorporate that into the puzzles on the whiteboard. It was helpful for the entire team to be able to see what each other's progress was since if one player finished their puzzle, they could help the others. There were essentially 4 puzzles with a meta puzzle at the end in this entire game. Since a lot of the puzzles involved drawing in some aspects, you'll need to be very comfortable with the whiteboard tools. Moreover, it would help if you have a strong sense of direction and could remember maps well. I was all over the place in the virtual park while Brandon seemed to be able to find everything quite easily. The final puzzle also needed you to be very observant. Good thing one of our players was able to assist with that. One other puzzle confused as we needed something information from a certain component in the tutorial of the game but I closed that window when we started the game after asking the GM. You wouldn't be able to get it back so make sure you leave everything open. It was definitely a team effort to be able to finish the game with just 1 minute and 5 seconds left. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I have mixed feelings about this game. I love seeing historical sites so having incorporated a virtual tour was a nice touch to add to the storyline. I'm not a fan of the whiteboard interface. I also did not enjoy the fact that we had to use so much of "search and find" elements in the virtual 360. You'll definitely need to use the GM for hints at least once in this game. If you're unable to find certain items and time was running out, then you're out of luck. Some elements of the game doesn't really depend on if you can solve puzzles or not. I would much rather enjoy this game in person like a puzzle hunt. The one thing that I did like was the teamwork element of the game. Seeing how the teammates were able to draw and add on to each other's work on the whiteboard was quite amazing, Especially that final puzzle that somehow connected everything together! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 CharLee B. This multi-platform adventure took virtual escape games to a new level. With puzzles on a “whiteboard” site, and clues on a virtual tour through a real-life exhibit, this innovative journey kept me intrigued with every click. Half of the challenge is figuring out the puzzles and how to solve them, the other half is navigating your way through a “street view” version of Fort Siloso. It was so interesting that I even forgot I was learning a little bit of history! The game is a little longer than shown because of the tutorial on the two sites that lasted about 20 minutes. The puzzles were definitely challenging and the hints from the host were definitely helpful. It was clear that this game took a lot of effort in the making of it and it paid off well. Pros: - Innovative digital platform - Felt like a real adventure - Poses a good challenge - Great host Cons: - Will put your computer and computer skills to the test - Extremely difficult if you’re bad with directions ______________________________________________________________ Evan P. This is a tough one! I usually go for more whimsical games that have a magical or sci fi element. Sarang Rimau is a real historic site in Singapore, and this is very much a realist storyline. Gameplay requires two windows open in addition to Zoom: one is a digital white board on which teams can write notes and solve some of the puzzles. The other is a virtual, self-guided tour of the Sarang Rimau military base. Both of these gameplay windows are nifty, but it’s time consuming and a bit clunky to keep switching back and forth. I found the virtual tour difficult to navigate. It’s not as intuitive or precise as I would like, and I found myself spending a lot of time just trying to get from here to there. The puzzles themselves are clever, and my team did win just in time, but I felt pretty useless for most of the time. I think with some bugs worked out, this could be a very fun game for those who enjoy history and realism. It wasn’t for me. *** We regret to inform this game is no longer available for booking but check out other games on their website*** Disclosure: We thank Lockdown SG for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #LockdownEscape #LostTreasureofSarangRimau #Adventure #Treasure #DigitalEscapeGame #LiveStreamEscapeGame #Sentosa #History #TouristSite

Videos/ Photos provided by Lockbox Escape Room Company: Lockbox Escape Room Games: Order of Illusionists Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game (W/ GM) 💻 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: 2/10/2021 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: 60 Minutes Price: $54.99 (2 Players or less), $79.99 (3-4 Players, $99.99 (5-10 Players), $199.99 (11-15 Players), $349.99 (16-25 Players), $499.99 (26-50 Players), $999.99 (51-100 Players) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You've finally been contacted by the secret society for master magicians. You've been waiting for this moment for your entire life! Now you just need to pass these tests in order to become a member of the Order of Illusionists. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a digital point-n-click game accompanied by a game host. Prior to starting the game, one of the members of the team is asked to share their screen. The purpose for this is because the game is not synced. Each player will need to open their own locks in order to proceed onwards. This type of play will allow all the players to be able to proceed at their own pace and be able to solve every puzzle on their own. It's important that you select a strong team leader to share their screen since they essentially become the "walkthrough" person. If a team member is lost or is a bit behind other members, the team leader will have to guide them to "meet up" with the rest of the team. If you get stuck, the game host will be able to assist with hints. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The game is designed with the Unity platform. If you're an Apple user, make sure you have Chrome and Safari on your computer in case one of the browsers is not compatible for some reason. This did happen to one of our players at the beginning of the game but the issue was eventually resolved when he switched a browser. The game has a few functions that we had to get use to as it had a "gamer" vibe. Make sure you go over the "drag" and "hover" function with your game host before starting the game and choose the function your team is most comfortable with. The puzzles are on the easier side for enthusiasts. With a 4 person team, we were able to finish with 24 minutes left on the clock. We did enjoy the interactive components of the puzzles and how we were able to divide and conquer throughout the game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game is designed more geared towards larger groups and for team building purposes. For enthusiasts, it's quite expensive and I would rather play it as a digital version without the game host. Because the puzzles are also on the easier side, you'll probably get less play time out of it comparing to a player with less experience. Lockbox did inform us that they'll be coming out with various themes of digital games in the near future. We can't wait to see what they come up with as we quite enjoy the Unity platform. 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Yoni Y. Awesome experience! Great graphics, full 360 degrees view, feels very realistic, almost like being in a physical room. You need to look all around to see everything. Just like in a real life escape room, you are presented with many clues and need to figure out where and how to start. The puzzles are good. Some are quite easy so you can get to business right away, and some require more investigation. The decor and the riddles are all strongly connected to the theme and form a reliable story. There are a lot of parallel challenges to solve, and since we played as a team, the first one solving a puzzle shared the answer with everyone else. As players who like to solve every last riddle, it (over) motivated us to work fast and try to reveal all the secrets ourselves (actually, at the end of the game while everybody was discussing it, we re-started the room and solved those puzzles we have missed…). A cool feature that may have been nice to add is a navigation map with named sectors, helping communication between players. Such a map can include (ie. for different difficulty levels) points of interest and even show what puzzles have already been solved and by whom. Conclusion: recommended for riddlers, ties well with the theme and feels close to a physical room. ______________________________________________________________ Rick T. The feel of the room was amazing. I loved the use of the magicians theme for this one. Even though I was only there digitally, I felt immersed in the experience. The puzzles were well done and all fit well with the theme. Liked the action of choosing things to explore by clicking on the symbols throughout the room. Control of the movement in the room was a little tricky with a touchpad. It would have been helpful to have an alternate way to control movement. I had a little difficulty exiting some of the puzzle screens, but the developers stated this was being corrected in future releases. All in all I found this room to be really well done and fun to experience. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is 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 Lockbox Escape Room for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #LockboxEscapeRoom #OrderofIllusionists #Fantasy #Magic #spells #DigitalEscapeGame #LiveStreamEscapeGame #magician

Videos/ Photos provided by Great Scott Escapes Company: Great Scott Escapes Game: Who Killed Bugsy Marlowe? Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Game w/ Live Host 💁 Genre: Detective Date Played: 2/5/2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10 Size of Team: 2-10 Players Time: 90 Minutes Price: $21/pp (upto 4pp, add't $15 pp) (without GM $30) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Bugsy Marlowe was murdered in the lobby of Dunwich Tower Hotel. The police has uncovered evidence that points to 5 suspects. Would you be able to figure out who's the killer before time runs out? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 We played the online version of this game with a live host (the game is also available for in person play if you are in the area). This is a digital point-n-click game designed in the Telescape platform. The host will assist with any tech issues or hints that you'll need during game play. The game started with a dramatic intro video to the back story. It felt quite cinematic and took us back in time. The Telescape platform was really easy to use. Each teammate can roam around freely to look at clues on their own. Once a puzzle was solved, the lock will unlock for everyone. If one player collected a piece of evidence, it'll go into the evidence bag where your entire team would be able to view it at anytime. The production quality of the videos and audio clips were amazing in this game. You won't be seeing your typical "open locks by hand" type of videos. Each time we received an audio clue it was recorded with the character's voice and came through really clearly over Telescape. We hope they'll be able to add more video components to the game to make it into a mini movie experience to enhance the immersion. One really cool thing that we really enjoyed was how seamlessly the upstairs and downstairs "travel" was implemented in Telescape. It was really easy to get from one place to another and it's essential in this game as there were a lot of areas that we had to explore. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you're a puzzle lover, you'll really enjoy this game. When we first logged into Telescape, we didn't know what to expect until very quickly we realized we definitely had to divide and conquer. There were a lot of items and areas to cover for the 4 of us. Since there were 5 suspects, each had their own sets of puzzles that we had to figure out. I really liked how the clues were not just out in the open. The items collected were all puzzles that we had to piece together. It was like layers of an onion. You won't be able to get to the truth until you actually peel open the entire thing. Once we had all the evidence, it was time to put on our detective's hats on and deduce who's the murderer. We finished the game with seconds left to the hour. The good news is that you'll have 90 minutes to complete this game and if you're not experienced puzzlers, you're going to need that extra half an hour. Remember that the game master will be able to assist if you need a clue. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This is one of our favorite digital games translated from a physical escape room. The puzzles worked really well with the interface. It's one of those games that I actually felt like worked better as an online game (although I'm sure the set design would be amazing to see in person). The company now has a fully digitized game with build-in hint system and no game mastering. Regardless of which option you decide to go with, if you're a fan of murder mystery and love detective type of games, you'll definitely want to crack this case! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Julene R. Murder! Mystery! Intrigue! What’s not to like about these type of plot lines? This room combined a lot of elements that I really enjoy within escape room. The ability to break into groups and work through puzzle separately is sometimes difficult to do during online escape rooms, but this room facilitates it rather seamlessly. Their integration of video and audio clips provides additional character to the room. Overall, “Who Killed Bugsy?”, gives you the feeling of an actual in-person escape room in the safety of your own home. It has numerous puzzles – with a variety of difficulty and structure, so there is something for every type of escape room player. I could see this room being a little overwhelming for a bunch of beginner escape artists, due to the sheer number of puzzles and the need for constant communication. For escape room enthusiasts, I would say the room is ideal for 4 or 5 people. Great Scott - this was room was Great Fun! Thanks to being an awesome team to work with - Cici, Brandon, and my fellow Reginan, Mitch! ______________________________________________________________ Mitch E. "Who Killed Bugsy Marlowe" was my second official point-and-click style game that I have played with more than just, well, me. I do enjoy playing point-and-clicks by myself, as I am the kind of person who wants to be involved in as much as possible in a physical room experience. I have come out of several in-person rooms, feeling like I didn't contribute enough, or that I was too overbearing. I feel that "Bugsy" did a fantastic job in finding a balance for our team and ensured everyone was involved an equal amount. The game had several puzzles that could be solved at once, and truly allowed for us to divide and conquer. We were able to work together and split up as much as we wanted too, which I was very pleased (and impressed) with. The game flow was smooth and I felt that all of the puzzles I was involved with made logical sense, with no leaps in logic. There is a solid story that is present, and there are videos and audio clips that really add and build into it. I always thoroughly enjoy when developers take the time to create a story and weave it through the experience. Additionally, all of the puzzles fit the theme and did a wonderful job of supplementing the story. The only areas of the game that I feel could be improved would be a dedicated hint system (which the owner indicated is already in the works), and some background music to add to the ambience (mind you, I could have done this myself too). My only recommendation for playing, is to gather a few friends/family and take on the game as a team; you'll definitely want the extra support. *** This game can no longer be booked as a remote game but can still be booked as an in-person experience *** (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Great Scott Escapes for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOmers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #GreatScottEscapes #WhoKilledBugsyMarlowe #digitalgamewithhost #Detective #Murder #Searching #Mystery #Escape #escapegame #crimesolving

Videos/ Photos provided by Castle Crusaders Company: Castle Crusaders Game: Jacobe Castle Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Audio/GM led Escape Game 👂 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 1/30/2021 Difficulty (based on 6 players): 4/10 Size of Team: 4-8 Players Time: 60-80 Minutes (Approximately) Price: Midweek price: £40/ 1-4 players, £70/ 5-8 players Weekend Price: £55/ 1-4 players, £80/ 5-8 players 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You're trapped in Jacobe Castle. The only way to freedom is to solve the puzzles with your teammates in an hours time (or a bit more depending on how nice you treat your host). Are you ready for the challenges? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 A live host greeted us at the gate of Jacobe Castle (virtual background). The entire game is played by images and audio clues presented by the host. This is not your typical remote escape room and you're not in an actual escape room setting. You'll be "traveling" through 4 locations in the castle: Dungeon, Armory, The Bedrooms and Great Hall. Each location will have 4 puzzle categories: Active, Brain, Agility, and Secret. Your team will select a team leader at the beginning of the game. His/her job is to assign members to the challenges (they can also play of course). Some challenges are individual challenges where the teammates cannot assist the player. There were a few occasions where the team was allowed to assist the player. I would recommend signing in on different devices so each player can feel like they are playing on their own when it comes to individual challenges. However if you have only one device, two people can share a screen as well. The challenges are timed to be around 1:30-2 minutes each. Once you've completed a challenge, you'll be rewarded with a letter. Once your team collects all 16 letters, you can all head to the draw bridge. This is where you will solve the last puzzle together. And if you got the right phrase, the castle door will magically open and everyone will regain their freedom. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles are not your typical escape room puzzles. Most of them will lean more towards trivia (whip out your karaoke skills!), riddles and memory type of games. You may encounter a bit of Math and word play as well. The puzzles were not designed to trap you as the goal of the game is to have fun. Our favorite "puzzle" was in the "Active" category where we cheered on one of teammates as he danced through various types of dances from different countries. Who knew a 6 feet guy had a little ballerina in him? 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I was a bit nervous going into this game. I know the game design was inspired by "The Crystal Maze" show and I wasn't sure what to expect as the challenges were quite difficult in the actual show. It was awesome to be selected as team leader so I can kind of designate the "harder" categories (which I consider to be Brain or Agility) to the others. It's actually not the case though as in the "secret" category you will never know what you're going to get. Our host Joe did an amazing job entertaining us. We felt like we're on a TV show. Although we failed at 3 challenges initially, Joe was able to provide us with 3 riddles at the end so we were able to collect all the letters and finally escape the draw bridge. In this game, everyone will end up as winners! We love the concept and it's great to try something new and different from our normal escape route. Currently all the 16 puzzles are the same so it's not something you can rebook but they are in development of a new game and we can't wait to return back to the castle! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Jess A. & Matt L. We really liked: - The chap playing Jackson Jacobe was a funny and welcoming host - The transitions between live and video content were well done - Great atmosphere from the moment we entered the call with the sound, graphics and the interaction from our host in the chat - Cohesive narrative which we knew we were moving forward through – we know we had 16 puzzles to solve, we knew the aim is to get all of the letters and to get out of the castle – it’s nice to have clear objectives! Things to consider: - The tone erred towards being a family game but then some of the tasks would be much harder for young people - Could tell the graphics were of a high quality, but that didn’t always come through in the streaming. This was particularly noticeable when the task involved differentiating between colours - Already knowing the categories in each room took away a bit of anticipation. Even if there were 6 categories in total but you got a different combination of four in each room it would add enough of a change to keep us wondering “What’s going to happen next?”, and you also would have different people doing different kind of tasks (rather than having a Brain person, an Agility person, etc). Yoni Y. This experience can be considered more as a team building exercise rather than an escape experience. The challenge consists of several tasks and riddles, loosely tied to the overarching theme. For each, a team player is chosen to face the physical or mental challenge. The main focus was not the riddles, but the fun and "nonsense" spirit of things, therefore, choose your team to have the right mix of fun people. We, for example, are less open to those kinds of tasks, but it was fun to watch the other teammates enjoying the challenges. Luckily, we were chosen for challenges we are more comfortable with 😄. The riddles are not difficult and are fitting for families and inexperienced players. Most challenges are for a single player to complete, while the others watch (and, while not supposed to, try to hint the answers).On one hand, there is the pressure to succeed and not disappoint the rest of the group, but on the other hand, we expected the challenges to require greater cooperation between the team members. The host was very cool and did his best for the experience to be fun for all players. Conclusion: Fun team building experience. Not very intellectually challenging. *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Castle Crusaders for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOmers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #CastleCrusaders #WelcomeToJacobeCastle #audioledescaperoom #Avatar #Adventure #Castle #Searching #Medieval #Mystery #Escape #escapegame

Videos/ Photos provided by Castle Crusaders Company: Castle Crusaders Game: Carderby Keep Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Audio/GM led Escape Game 👂 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 3/31/2021 Difficulty (based on 7 players): 5.5/10 Size of Team: 2-8 Players Time: 60-80 Minutes (Approximately) Price: Midweek price: £40/ 1-4 players, £65/ 5-8 players Weekend Price: £55/ 1-4 players, £75/ 5-8 players 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Our adventure continues from "Jacobe Castle" to Craderby Keep. This time our mission is to save Jackson as he's trapped by an evil forces! Time starts now! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you read our review on Jacobe Castle or have played that game. then this game uses the same format as the last. We're greeted by a live host over Zoom and there's a total of 4 locations (each with 4 missions) that we'll have to complete with our team. The challenges were timed to be around 1:30-2:30 minutes each and you'll be awarded a letter upon winning each game. If you failed the mission, you'll have a chance to reclaim the letters at the end of the 16 rounds with riddles. Once you've solve the final puzzle, Jackson will be set free! 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The 16 missions in this game definitely upped it's difficulty level especially in the logic rounds. One thing I would suggest for the logic puzzles would be to add an interactive interface if possible as it's quite difficult to be solving these just by looking. Some physical challenges were easier to complete but were essential to the game as they were the "laughter makers". My favorite moment when we first met on Zoom before the game started and questioned everyone with, "does everyone have pants on? You'll need it for those physical challenges!" There were also a few new types of challenges that we haven't seen in the first game like Charades (my favorite!) and video puzzles that really tested our eye speed, There were definitely some nailing biting moments for even a team of veteran players. We failed 4 missions and had to claim the letters back at the end. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I've been a fan of Castle Crusaders since we played their last game. This one was equally entertaining. We bought on some new friends and they quickly fell in love this format of entertainment as well. Some quickly recognized the inspiration from Crystal Maze as they are big fans of the show. Some just responded with "this was so much fun!" One final thing I like to mention about this game is the storyline. I really did not expect a twist so it was a lovely surprise and ended our game on a even higher note than anticipated! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟❜𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Helen B. Castle Crusaders is hosted on Zoom and felt similar to some other live adventures I had done - where the host guides you through the story or setup, with you and the rest of your team on camera in various locations taking part. The premise is a castle escape where our host Jacobe is trapped, and we have to help him leave by solving the puzzles. It has been likened to The Crystal Maze and I can see why - a choice of 4 categories of game in 4 areas of a castle. A team captain needs to be nominated to allocate the puzzles to players, but discussion can be had as to what games you prefer. Time limits are enforced on most games of around 2-3 minutes each. The 4 game types are the same in each area (Active, agility, brain and secret), but the puzzles are different each time. I was given 3 of the games and had a nice variety of things to do. They call upon your memory, Math ability, acting ability and more! Some of them seemed super easy and some really quite hard (Math ones specially), considering the time available! Each correct/passed puzzle gives you a letter. If you miss any you get a chance to win them back at the end with a series of riddles which is a nice touch. I love riddles so that really made me happy :) The interface is controlled by the host, with video footage, interactive map and animated puzzles he controls. You can just go along with the ride, but you can be required to move, partake and help your teammates. It's very much advisable to make notes throughout! The character of the host is completely loony, camp and hilarious. We spent a lot of time laughing at him, each other and ourselves, and the game was fast-paced, light and fun throughout. Can thoroughly recommend this adventure for a team of workmates, friends or a family with older children who are looking for something funny and mad to do, as long as you are willing to jump into the spirit of it and go along with what is asked, you will thoroughly enjoy it! Melvin L. Reading the synopsis as well as reviews for this game on their website, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It was similar to a Television Show that I loved watching during my younger days - Crystal Maze and I wasn't exactly sure how would it be implemented in a virtual setting. When we joined the zoom link, the theatrics was already present. There was background music and a large castle looms in front of us, signaling the adventures within. After our amazing host welcomed us, we were brought into the castle and the game had begin. Basically, my childhood dream was fulfilled as this was nearly a replica of Crystal Maze that I finally got to participate! A team leader will be elected and his/her job will be to allocate tasks to different members, just like the show. For those who wish to elect on the spot, you might want to skip this next line: For those who wish to plan ahead and find members that complement each other, here are the categories - Agility, Secret (meaning Random), Active and Brain. All sorts of games were present, there were like charades, puzzles, riddles, party, teamwork and memory. There will surely be games that suits all players. You will play 16 games before you attempt the final game. When that time comes, I honestly wished that there will be more games as once you get the hang of it, you wouldn't want the fun to stop! It was definitely a fun activity to do, especially if you have friends/families in other countries. Instead of a normal zoom call, why not gather everyone and have a virtual party together! With that being said, this is definitely not a puzzle game and you will need to have the right group, just like if you were playing a party game in real life. You need to have members that are willing to look foolish on screen and willing to participate. Players who prefer to stay in the background and just do their own stuff might not find this as enjoyable. Also, be wary of the time zone differences. I played this game at 1am in my local time, and I definitely had a handicap as I wasn't able to participate in those games that require you to shout or run around the house. Do plan this in the day or night to ensure you have the full experience! Some things that I would love to see in future is more games and options! There could be tons of other things being conducted virtually, such as a drawing game, a trivia game, a Math game etc. It might also encourage players to rebook it, knowing they will have a different experience each time. All in all, with the right mindset that this isn't focusing on puzzles, if you are willing to let yourself loose and just have fun along with the crowd, this is definitely an activity not to be missed! It was a refreshing experience once in a while compared to the countless online escape games in the market. A unique activity such as this will really bond people together, especially during these pandemic times. *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Castle Crusaders for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOmers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #CastleCrusaders #CarderbyKeep #audioledescaperoom #Avatar #Adventure #Castle #Searching #Medieval #Mystery #Escape #escapegame

Photos provided by Escape Room Melbourne [ERM] Company: Escape Room Melbourne [ERM] Game: Isolation Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Live Stream Escape Game 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery Date Played: 11/19/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players Time: 120 Minutes Price: $120 - $160/Team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Our Zoom call has been interrupted by an unknown caller. It seems like the caller is semi-delusional and really in need of assistance. Hopefully we'll be able to help him solve his own mystery... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 As we logged into Zoom, an intro video started our experience with a background story. After the video ended, we're introduced to Logan, a live avatar that's currently stuck at his current location. The entire game was played with him sitting in front of the computer screen so it's not exactly a remote experience where you'll be able to explore the room. As he's trying to piece together his memory, we're giving bits and pieces of clues through links that were send to us over the Zoom chat. These links would open up websites, videos, PDF files, jpgs, etc...It would've been great if these clues were build into an inventory portal since it was hard to keep track of all the tabs that we had open. The avatar was really into his role and we had a great time interacting with his character. Through solving puzzles we're able to stitch together what was happening to him. We recommended writing things down as you'll be able to pick up a lot of subtle hints from your conversations. He was great at giving his clues without having to expose the solution. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a good amount of puzzles throughout the game. Some were quite easy as they required some sleuthing outside of the game. Some were pretty difficult and reminded me of my biology and chemistry classes back in high school. The solutions usually would open up another gateway for you to gain another piece of the mystery. The way the creators interloop the puzzles within the story and slowly revealed the plots in bits and pieces offered a nice build up for the players. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Isolation" is a 2 hour experience that integrated immersive theater and puzzle solving. If you are solely there for the puzzles, you might feel that the story part could feel somewhat prolonged at times. There's really no need to rush through the game as you'll miss out on the story side of this experience. However, do leave some time at the end as you'll need to make a life and death decision. Hopefully you'll be able to save Logan so he can continue to provide his service for the next show! *** We regret to inform this game is no longer available for booking but check out other in-person escape rooms on their website*** Disclosure: We thank Escape Room Melbourne [ERM] for providing us with a media discount our tickets for this game. Although a discounted experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOmers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #EscapeRoomMelbourne #ERM #Isolation #NewZealand #Melbourne #RemoteEscapeRoom #SciFi #Mystery #Quarantine #Australia #AU

Photos provided by Wild Hare Escapes Company: Wild Hare Escapes Game: The Comedy of Terrors Country: USA 🇺🇸. Language: English Type of Game: Audio Escape Room 👂 Genre: Horror, Comedy Date Played: 10/28/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): Size of Team: Up to 10 Players (Recommended 4-8 Players) Time: 75 Minutes Price: $25.00/ per person 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As we are getting ready to rehearse for a play, one of our cast-mates had to uttered a word that angered a spirit in the Lincoln Theatre. Now we're all locked in and the spirit vowed to bring the building down on our heads. We have 75 minutes to escape this nightmare... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game was played over Zoom with a game master. The game master started the game by narrating the back story. Once that's done, the game turned into a "point-n-click" adventure. The game master will still stay on the Zoom call to provide hints as needed. Each player will be able to explore the game on their own. Communication was definitely the key to success here as when I opened a locked device, I had to inform Brandon the password so he could open his in his portal. We were confused by the navigation at times because there were no arrows on the screen on how to "enter" or "exit" an area. Most of the time it's situational at the right bottom of the screen but it still felt like a memory guessing game. This wasted a good amount of time for us since we needed to remember how to click in order to get to certain locations. At times, you'll also have to use "drag" as an action. We did enjoy the interactive aspect of the game where a lot of the objects were able to be moved, turned on/off, pieced together etc... 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were many puzzle pieces to be found in various areas of the theater. This was when team work came in handy. It was definitely a tough game for a team of 2 as we finished with seconds to spare. So if you are less experienced with puzzles, do gather a larger group to join you on this adventure. There were a few non-linear moments at the beginning of the game but eventually you'll have to work together in order to complete the puzzles towards the end. Since there's no inventory portal, the game definitely put our memory to the test. You'll need to remember where you saw certain paintings or locked doors or clues and then stitch them together to formulate a solution. As a tip, I was taking screen shots as we're navigating through the game so I didn't have to go back to that area again. I hope that didn't count as cheating! 😝 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The graphics of this game made us feel like we're stuck in an old haunted theater. The "jump scares" really made me think for a second before opening any doors. We spoke to the game developers about our concerns on making the navigation buttons more user friendly for future players. If this gets fixed, this game would be a lot of fun to play together as a team. It will give you opportunity to work on individual puzzles but also come together at the end to finish the game as a team effort. This was a cool concept that we haven't seen in many digital games yet. The puzzles were not too difficult but I can definitely see some enthusiasts overthinking a couple of them. If you feel like this theme might be a bit too spooky for you, they have another game called "Serf's Quest" so give that one a try! *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Wild Hare Escapes for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #WildHareEscapes #TheComedyofTerrors #OnlineEscapeRoom #AudioEscapeRoom #horror #comedy

Photos provided by Escape Room L.A. Company: Escape Room L.A. Game: The Haunted Theatre Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game (W/ GM Host) 💻 Genre: Horror Date Played: 10/10/2020 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 7/10 Size of Team: 4-10 Players Time: 60 Minutes Price: $23.50/ pp Please note: "The Haunted Theatre" is adapted from Escape Room LA’s physical game, "The Theatre". If you’ve already played that game, you will find many similarities. There are some spirits that have been trapped in an old haunted theater for too long. Now we're trapped in here as well and the only way to free ourselves is to free the spirits! There's no time to waste... This game is played over Zoom. The game uses Telescape to operate all the puzzle and video elements. Zoom is merely used for communication and hints (provided by an off-screen live host). We were provided with photos of 360 views of the rooms and the entire game was experienced as a point-n-click format. As we "entered" the backstage of the theater, we were overwhelmed by the amount of props and puzzles that presented itself. It was great to have our friends Bluefish Games on this journey with us as there were definitely a lot to discover and it would be nearly impossible to finish in time with just the two of us. The design of the game made us felt like we're playing in an actual escape room. As one player picked up a clue, it was added to the main inventory system to be seen by everyone. Once one player opened a lock, it would stay open for the rest of the team to look over. There were many puzzles where collaboration was required. For instance, one teammate would read out information to another teammate and together they were able to solve a puzzle in that format. If you are an experienced player, we recommend 4 to be an ideal number as it could get confusing as more players join into the conversations. If you are less experienced at escape rooms and puzzles, definitely get as much help as possible. Some puzzles were interactive and you're able to move them around and maneuver them in Telescape. It was a great way to transfer some of these physical puzzles that we normally could only experience in real life to online. The video components of the game also added to the story line which we very much enjoyed throughout the adventure. Although there were no jump scares, we could definitely feel the eerie vibe through the set design and props. If you love puzzles, you'll feel fully satisfied after playing this game. Halloween is coming up and this is a great game to gather a few friends to spend a "spooky" evening together. (If you do decide to try this experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Escape Room L.A. for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #EscapeRoomLA #TheHauntedTheatre #DigitalEscapeGames #Mystery #Horror #Theatre #Ghost #Haunted #Shakespeare

Photos provided by Escape Room L.A. Company: Escape Room L.A. Game: The Four Elements Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game (W/ GM Host) 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi Date Played: 2/7/2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 3-7 Players Time: 60 Minutes Price: $23.50/ pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You and your team have to travel back in time to stop an evil alchemist. Only when you unite the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Earth) will your powers be strong enough to stop him. Do you have what it takes? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a point-n-click game designed on the Telescape platform. At the beginning of the game, you'll be given a detailed explanation of how the game works. This was great as we've seen telescape games that just start right away and players who haven't used this platform would have no clue on how to operate certain elements during the game. You'll be able to roam around with your teammates in a 360 view. There are items you'll be able to collect and ones you'll be able to interact with. There will be an inventory section that will be shared with all players so everyone will have the same information. It's organized in 4 sectors which represents the 4 sections of the room. Every time one player opens something or collects something, it'll update for the rest of the team. You'll be accompanied by a game master incase you need any assistance with navigation or hints. We play the game as a team of four and it seems to be the ideal number. There are four sections of the room and each section represents an element. You can actually play this game three ways. If you decide to play the game as a team, the advantage is that you won't miss any puzzles and will get to see everything but you might run short on time and there might be too many people in one area. Since some puzzles are interactive, you probably don't want too many mouse pointers on the same puzzle. You can also divide and conquer which will probably lead to finishing the game much quicker but some players may not be able to see some of the puzzles solved by the other players. We played it the third way which felt like a competition of 2 vs 2. We divided into a team of two and each team was able to solve two corners of the room and we finished the game in 41 minutes. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Some puzzles were pretty straight forward but there were some that had us thinking for a bit. We really liked how the puzzles were revolved around the 4 elements and each had a very nice "reveal" moment once that section was solved. The room was not all "locks and keys" either and the interactive puzzles were a lot of fun to implement. Once we activated something, the platform also showed us a nice reveal of the after effect. This made us felt closer to an in person escape room game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you've played Escape Room La's "The Alchemist" room in person before then you might want to skip this game as this digital game is the online adaptation of that room. We've never played a telescape game where versus mode could be implemented so that was interesting to see. Of course you can play it anyway you like. We don't really think the GM is really necessary in these types of point-n-click games as we can work through the hint system ourselves if its automated. But it could really help if you are not familiar with this type of play. The price might seem a bit higher in comparison to some of the other telecape games we've seen but the quality is definitely higher as well. It would be great if the game masters could do some role playing with the storyline. This would make the game seem more like an audio escape room and digital game hybrid. It will also make the price more justifiable. We looking forward to sabotaging more evil plans with Escape Room LA soon! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Stacey M. This is one of the better fully online adaptations that I've played. You got the sense that you were in the room and you were each able to interact with whatever you wanted to rather than having to all work on the same thing. Our team split into two and were able to quite quickly tackle the room. One thing that is harder with an online room is that when you split up, you are still communicating through the same medium, so communication and being mindful that the other team needed to speak was important. In the end, though, each team did have the room, and really both pairs had no idea what the other side had done. We could have easily switched sides and played again. That is both a good and bad thing. Good in that we could play it again and have fun. Bad in that I feel like I missed out on puzzles. I thought the theme was a good take on the "stop the mad scientist" trope. The way the room was set up made me quite sad that I wasn't in the actual room, because it looked very well built and styled. The puzzles were clever. Certainly, a few that I don't recall seeing in other games. (Again, some of the puzzles, really made me wish that we were in the live room!) I would definitely look forward to playing one of their rooms again. ______________________________________________________________ Kelley W. Pros: The puzzles are solvable and nothing is too difficult. The puzzles make sense and there is a linear progression to the game. You find an item, which leads you to another item, or a way to solve a code or unlock a box or case. You can also see what others are clicking on, making it cooperative. There are some nice graphics and videos too which pull things together. The room is set up with plenty of items to explore. Cons: As a four player game we split up the duties and exploration, and two of us worked on two elements while the other two worked on other 2 elements. It is cooperative and everyone can hear each other. This can make it a little difficult to communicate when working in pairs. One other negative is that because it is a point and click with an inventory system, you do have to go back and forth a bit between the room and the inventory. Thoughts: I enjoyed the game. I don’t think it was quite as “immersive” to its' theme (evil alchemist) while playing as I would have liked. It was more task oriented, versus playful, or entertaining, which is probably an aspect of the Point and Click and inventory system. It was very linear. I would recommend it as more of an entry game into remote escape rooms because the tasks are clearly defined, and with time and effort can be solved. (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Escape Room L.A. for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames#EscapeRooms #EscapeRoomLA #TheFourElements #DigitalEscapeGames #Scifi #Adventure #Fantasy #Mystical #Magical

Photos provided by Off The Record Immersive Entertainment Company: Off The Record Immersive Entertainment Game: GODPOD Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Games: Live Stream Escape 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi Date Played: 10/8/2020 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: 4-8 Players (ages 12+), need to book 6 slots for a private game Time: 90 Minutes Price: $17.00/ pp We should have protected our planet when we had the chance. Now the Gods are mad at us for the destruction we've caused to this beautiful planet. They are planning to replace us with AI replicas and have already began downloading our personalities into them. We are the only ones left with a fighting chance to save the human race... It's time to challenge the GODPOD. This game was played over Zoom and there's a host that monitors the entire game. Once we figured out an answer, we would type it to him/her over Zoom chat. If we got the right answer, we would be allowed to head to the next chapter. You may also chat with the host to ask for hints but use them wisely as you'll only get three. We loved the comedic portions of the script and were laughing throughout the entire game! The AI characters were well translated through the twist and turns in the writing. The puzzles were not too difficult at the beginning and we went through all of the levels quite quickly. Just when we thought we were going to beat the record, a surprisingly difficult Math puzzle stumped us. Remember to use the "annotate" option on Zoom for this part as it will definitely help! We probably spent half of our game time just on this one puzzle. There were multiple steps and connections that you'll have to make in order to solve this one. Thank God that was the last puzzle and we passed the test! Even though that last puzzle was quite difficult, our team still made it to the 4th spot on the leader board! It was definitely challenging but also very satisfying. Since the creators of "Off the Record" have a theater background, we hope to see more immersive cinematic components added to their future games as the script was so well written it really needs to be showcased! *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Off The Record Immersive Entertainment for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #OffTheRecordImmersiveEntertainment #GODPOD #DigitalEscapeGame #SciFi #Futuristic #Androids #Robots #ImmersiveTheatre