River City Escape Room – Innocent! (Review)

Location: Richmond, VA

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 3-5)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

I didn’t do it!

Theme:

From the River City Escape Room website:

The River City is shaken by two ghastly murders. You were just passing through town, having a few drinks at the local bar and someone picks a fight; no big deal, but this time is different. You’re in custody, accused of those murders! You’re booked into the local jail when the police are called away. You have an hour to prove your innocence and escape before its too late.

First Impressions:

Originally, we had only planned to run through one room at River City Escape Room, but after our excellent experience with Alice in Wonderland, our amazing GM Rachel invited us to return the next day. Reasonably sure that the other rooms would be astounding, we gratefully accepted, eschewing the privilege of sleeping in in order to do a couple more rooms at River City!

High Points:

When we returned to River City Escape Room, we were greeted not only by our favorite GM of the weekend, Rachel, but another GM, Dennis, who had come to assist with our rooms as well. I can say, without reservation, after completing 227 rooms, Rachel and Dennis are the best Game Masters we have ever had, full stop. The room itself did not disappoint either. Innocent! is the most challenging room River City has, with an advertised 15% escape rate, but it was a fair challenge. No obtuse, “read our minds” puzzles to be found here! We began by splitting our group into two, one behind bars and the other roaming the police station searching for a way to spring our friends from their confinement! Almost every time our group is split during an escape room, one half, (usually mine,) is in a much duller room and the other half solves way more interesting puzzles, but this was not the case here! There was plenty to do on either side of the bars during our short time apart, and the group came back together at a reasonable point during the game flow.

Speaking of game flow, the flow and connective tissue of the game here are excellent! Our group of five was never fumbling about for something to do, and even when we were stuck, we were actively engaged in the adventure. Further, there was a fantastic puzzle density coupled with a mostly non-linear set-up that allowed for a large group of enthusiasts to always have something to work on. Several of the puzzles encouraged teamwork, and effective communication is rewarded by highly satisfying solves. Every solve also contained some form of feedback, so we always knew where to go next, and all levels of the game were intuitively directed, but in subtle ways, challenging the players to sort out all the little details in order to make their escape! The set itself is well done, and though a police station is a pretty standard room theme, this one is decorated well enough to stand out from the crowd. At no point did it feel as if we were in a boring, converted office space, and the immersion was greatly bolstered by this. There were even a couple of reveals that were huge surprises, which is awesome to see as escape veterans! The story is light, but fun, and fitting for the room, and the final puzzle and climax are great, leaving us basking in the glow of a thrilling break out!

Low Points:

There was a fair few interactions that just required searching about, and those sections felt overly like a scavenger hunt, though luckily our team, notorious as we are for being bad at searching, was able to find these items without burning a hint.

Verdict:

Overall, Innocent! was a highly intuitive, but immensely challenging experience that we really enjoyed. Though newer players may want to get a room or two under their belt before taking this challenge on, just to hone their escape room senses, I think it’d still be a great adventure for any player to take on. Full of surprises and engaging interactions, I absolutely recommend checking this place out. Book your escape from Innocent! here!

8.5/10 (Great)

Full Disclosure: River City Escape Room provided comped tickets for this room.