Location: Charlotte, NC
Players: 2-10 (We recommend 4-8)
Price: $25 per person
Time to Escape: 60 Minutes
Den of Thieves
Theme:
Your crack team of thieves has found a weakness in the security of the Queen City Bank, one of the most secure banks in the United States. Housed inside is an enormous diamond, worth millions! If you can get your hands on it without getting caught, you’ll be set for life, but your infiltration will only buy you an hour, so get in and get out with the prize before the cops put you away for life!
First Impressions:
Our team was the group posing as janitors in order to gain entry to the bank, and once we were ushered into the room, I was actually fairly underwhelmed for the first time in an Exit Strategy room. The opener was very sparse, but as I’ve enjoyed most of their other rooms, I was willing to give it a shot!
High Points:
Puzzles, for the most part, made good sense and flowed well into each other in a puzzle room type sense. There were a few surprises that kept us on our toes, and a usual standby was implemented in a fun way that encouraged teamwork. This was one of the larger rooms at Exit Strategy, and it felt like the recommended players for the room was reasonable. The climax was a great capstone to the room and kept our hearts pumping while we captured our treasure and booked it out of there!
Low Points:
Some weird points during the game felt very off theme. Random blood splatters and references to vampires felt very out of left field and made little sense, story-wise. The splitting of the teams had the same issue as most split team games, namely that one room had way more to do than the other, and the communication method between teams felt unnecessarily awkward. A few points of the early game were a slog because we had to wait for the other team to work through or find something while we were generally spinning our wheels waiting for something to do. One bummer was that we also had a downer GM for this game, which is very out of the ordinary for Exit Strategy. After 10 previous games at this company with great customer service, regardless of our opinions on the room, this was quite the shock. The set design of the room was also very strange, as it didn’t feel as much like a proper bank, however this is an older room, and Exit Strategy has made great strides in that department.
Verdict:
Another of Exit Strategy’s older rooms, it hasn’t aged poorly, but it definitely shows in comparison to their newer rooms. It’s a reasonably challenging and fun room, however, but I definitely recommend doing it before any newer offerings, as it definitely comes from a different generation of escape rooms. Gather your team and plan your heist here!
6.5/10 (Alright)
Escape Room Adventurer 