Game On Escape Rooms – Cat Burglar (Review)

Location: Morehead City, NC

Players: 2-5 (We recommend 3-4)

Price: $29 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Burglary for Fun and Profit!

Theme:

Your team of world (in)famous cat burglars has infiltrated the home of the billionaire CEO and Guinness Record holder for silliest name, Mr. Bestunkovich in order to find and steal the account numbers of all his offshore accounts! This should be a simple job for your team, but Mr. Bestunkovich is crafty and has hidden everything away behind devious puzzles! If you can solve the mysteries before Mr. Bestunkovich returns, you’ll be able to retire from the thieving life somewhere tropical, but if not, Bestunkovich will probably beat you to death with his ridiculous name! Bestunkovich, Bestunkovich, Bestunkovich. I love that stupid name.

First Impressions:

Previously, we’d visited Game On Escape Rooms’ sister location in Cary, NC to do their excellent MacGregor Manor room, which we enjoyed so much, we decided to look into visiting their Morehead City location as soon as possible! We definitely expected great things, and (spoiler alert!) we were not disappointed! The staff was also a delight to interact with, and provided a top notch experience from start to finish!

High Points:

For the most part, the set within Cat Burglar is extremely well done, and provides a great sense of immersion upon stepping into the room. Though the room is smaller, the maximum is capped at 5, which prevents the room from becoming overly stuffed, as we have seen at other businesses, some of which max out at ridiculous numbers they don’t have the space or puzzles for. Gameplay weaves smoothly between non-linear and linear as the adventure progresses, and there always feels like there is something for everyone to be working on, as clues are peppered expertly throughout the experience. The game itself has several surprises up its sleeve, managing to provide new and engaging interactions to our group of grizzled escape room veterans! Cat Burglar also manages to subvert expectations in places fantastically, and provides humor within the room without seeming to try too hard, something of a rarity in most escape rooms. The game flow allows for the energy to last the entire adventure, and left us wanting more, in the best way!

Low Points:

The set design during the later stages tended to taper off, becoming less intricate as we moved further in the game. Unfortunately, one prop that was integral to a certain puzzle did not work, but staff did stop our time in order to correct the issue. One particular puzzle was fun, but felt out of place within the theme.

Verdict:

We went into Game On Escape Rooms expecting a certain level of quality, due to our experiences nearer to home, and they were absolutely met! Cat Burglar was easily a highlight of an already fantastic trip to the coast, and I would urge players new and old to give it a shot! Book your daring heist here!

8/10 (Great)

Full disclosure: Game On Escape Rooms provided a media discount for our group.