Mind Games of Mebane – Tarot Card Mystery (Review)

Location: Mebane, NC

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4-5)

Price: $26.69 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Stare into the Crystal Ball!

Theme:

From Mind Games of Mebane’s website:

Poor Melinda Lee, her death at the hands of Roger T. Morgan left the local fortune telling community in shock and sorrow… Ms. Lee owned 2 ruby necklaces, called Tarot’s Queen and Death’s Heart. The enormous rubies gave Ms. Lee’s predictions their amazing accuracy and are worth millions. She left everything, including the rubies, to her niece, Amber, and nephew, Victor. Whoever found the rubies, inherited Ms. Lee’s entire fortune. Each was given just one hour to find it. Both failed. The Will directs that you now be given a chance. Can you find the rubies? 

First Impressions:

When we entered Mind Games’ lobby, we found a small locked puzzle box on the main table, which we were informed could be opened by finding specific clues hidden all around the entry area! This is a great way to make sure customers weren’t just sitting around, and also makes sure that new players will understand how basic locks work throughout the games. This excellent touch had us optimistic for what the full experience would be like!

High Points:

Tarot is a finely laid out room, and while it’s set design is fairly basic, it uses space and décor excellently. The room very much feels like a home in which Ms. Lee could practice her fortune telling without décor being too over the top. Puzzles were hidden well and led from point to point intuitively. There is never any ambiguity within the room, as when each technical puzzle is successfully solved, a sound played to alert us, which we appreciated. The space within the rooms was very large, allowing for a lot of room to move around without feeling empty, a feat I’ve rarely seen duplicated. Game flow works fantastically, and the non linear nature of the room prevents groups from standing around while they wait for their teammates to complete each step.

Low Points:

Some puzzles are a bit too plain, adding unnecessary steps to the process. One reset fail hampered our progress by rendering one of the puzzles moot and delivering an item slightly sooner than intended. One prop in particular was loose, causing us to need more people than usual to work it, but, to the staff’s credit, we were told these issues would be corrected as soon as possible once we brought it up. Part of the theme was never addressed as part of the room itself, this part of the story is only found online so we didn’t notice at first, but would have loved to solve this bit as part of, perhaps, a side quest of sorts.

Verdict:

Tarot Card Mystery was an excellent start to our time at Mind Games of Mebane. The mysterious nature of the props and layout of the room did the theme a lot of credit, and ensured we were engaged in the story throughout. Probably my favorite room at Mind Games, I definitely recommend checking it out here!

8/10 (Great)