Location: Durham, NC
Players: 2-8 (We recommend 3-5)
Price: $25 per person
Time to Escape: 60 minutes
You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!
Theme:
You’re stuck in the candy factory and the Gingerbread Man has run off with the key! You’ll have to chase him through the magical Candy-land around you to find the exit and escape before you’re locked in for the night! Not that that really sounds like such a bad thing, really…
First Impressions:
Two of Mission X’s other rooms, Vampire Manor and Butcher Shop, are horror themed, and their other, Mirage, is sort of a surreal, spooky experience, so the theme of Candy-land is a massive tonal shift! I was interested to see how this new, family-friendly room would come across, but definitely had high hopes due to how much I had enjoyed their other top-notch, tech-focused rooms!
High Points:
One immediate positive I noticed was that Mission X had reduced their per ticket price to $25 and upped their room times to 60 minutes, adding puzzles in order to lengthen the experience and give customers more bang for their buck! Within the room, we very much enjoyed the bright and colorful nature of our surroundings, which fit the theme perfectly. There was a focus on puzzles that were solved using the scenery and props, allowing us to interact with the factory and immerse us in the theme. Game flow worked great for the most part, and there was plenty of non linear puzzling to do, allowing our group of 4 to stay involved in the experience.
Low Points:
There were much fewer do not touch stickers than usual, which was a good step, but they were still about and were fairly immersion breaking when they did appear. Hints are still delivered via the Game Master entering the room, which still brings immersion to a grinding halt. One particular puzzle uses a less common answer type, but doesn’t give a clue that it should be done this way, so it isn’t very intuitive, and the puzzle itself feels very out of place itself. The room lacks a story beyond the basic theme, so it is more of a puzzle room than a full escape experience.
Verdict:
Candy-land is a great beginners and family focused room and is a great one to introduce new players to the hobby! Enthusiasts may still find a few new puzzles here and there, but would definitely find more of a challenge in Mission X’s horror themed experiences. All in all, though, I recommend giving it a shot for some light-hearted puzzling fun! Book your escape from the candy factory here!
7/10 (Good)
Full Disclosure: Mission X provided discounted tickets for our group.
Escape Room Adventurer 