Location: Wake Forest, NC
Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4)
Price: $26 per person
Time to Escape: 60 minutes
This room will self-destruct in 60 minutes.
Theme:
Your CIA safehouse has been compromised, and you have one hour to collect the sensitive information and shut down the secondary security protocols before they set off the self-destruct sequence!
First Impressions:
The room itself has some original set pieces and decorations that make the office room much more eye-catching. It was clear that there were many puzzles to solve based on the decorations around, and during our briefing, we were already looking around wondering what could be important. The story was fairly simple, and the room felt like more of a puzzle room than a storyline heavy experience, but that’s not always a bad thing.
High Points:
There are some really neat interactions that would seem out of place elsewhere, but make perfect sense when applying escape room logic to the problem. I enjoyed these, as they were fairly surprising and added a hint of mystery to the experience. The room itself was non-linear but each puzzles flowed directly into the next. Custom made props helped make puzzles fit more immersively, and added to the overall theme. A nice blend of traditional locks and technological interactions was appreciated, as some otherwise banal props became extraordinary, fitting the spy theme well.
Low Points:
The initial room is just big enough for eight players, but I feel like it’d be a fairly cramped experience at maximum. Two puzzles required outside knowledge, though when commented on, the owner expressed that he was considering adding in clues to eliminate that issue. One interaction was fairly simple to determine, but the prop itself was finicky and required a staff member to enter the room and fix the problem, which was appreciated as it was fixed quickly, but it stalled the immersion. Some puzzles felt very out of place, as they did not fit the spy theme at all, and some clues in the room were unclear. One interaction was physical and we weren’t sure if we were supposed to open it in this way, but it turns out we weren’t cheating and that was truly the solution.
Verdict:
Exit Protocol is a good first room for the Wake Forest area, and while some experience with escape rooms will help, it feels very approachable for beginners as well. A few adjustments could take it from good to great, but it is a solid and competently built experience overall. Wake Escape itself is a fairly large business, so I’m looking forward to seeing more rooms from them. Book your exit here!
7/10 (Good)
Escape Room Adventurer 