Location: Your Home via the Magic of the Internet!
Players: 3-10 players (We recommend 3-4 players)
Price: $30 per person, 3 person minimum
Time to Escape: 60 minutes
Digital Juice to be served.
Theme:
From the Get the F Out Room website:
Participants needed in an escape room study. Looking for all ages, male & female to participate in a psychological study of escape rooms. It will take 60 min of your time. Juice will be served.
First Impressions:
I’d heard about The Experiment previously, from folks who made their way out to California, and it sounded exactly like a game I’d like to play. A meta-escape room experience, including some light horror themes masked within a pirate themed escape? Sign me up! Unfortunately, being on the other side of the country, it was dubious whether we would be able to experience this game, but luckily, due to the magic of the internet, we would finally get to see what all the fuss is about! We were invited to this experience by our friends at EscapetheRoomers, and we were excited to join them!
High Points:
First and foremost, it is important to mention that there is indeed juice. While it was digital, and we could only look at it, the juice is not a lie. I repeat, the juice is not a lie. In other news, The Experiment was a beautiful room, boasting a huge set, great sound and lighting effects, and subtle touches that reward players who seek out story details. One particular moment stood out to me when all of us noticed a small detail that triggered us all to shout, “Oh that’s [REDACTED]!” (We actually shouted redacted, it was weird.) Technical wizardry is implemented in excellent ways, with some astounding reveals, both of which we did not see coming at all. Our Game Master, Josh, did a great job of ensuring that the camera was in just the right place to catch these moments as well, without giving anything away. Speaking of our GM/Avatar, Josh did a fantastic job of leading us through the room as his character, Bob. Virtual rooms are always one hundred percent more entertaining when the Avatar really gets into character and banters with us, so we really appreciate the extra mile Josh went to ensure his character was realistically portrayed. We also highly, highly, appreciate how streamlined Josh has made searching the room. It can never be overstated that enthusiasts are bad at finding hidden objects, and it becomes so much harder in digital rooms if this streamlining isn’t present.
The story line of the room is awesome, with things starting out fairly benign, and continuing to build intensely towards the finale. The puzzles and interactions play upon this theme beautifully as we worked though the experience, and enthusiasts will very much enjoy how even the simplest of escape room rules are subverted to create a highly entertaining experience on top of the game itself. One particular moment that I adored comes after a fantastic reveal, and all of our expectations about what would come next were turned upside down by the time we reached the excellent moment of revelation about what we were meant to do. The game flow is smooth, and though the room is fairly linear, we didn’t feel at any time that any of us were just sitting around while others solved. While the game itself isn’t overly difficult, it does present several good moderate challenges, and plays with perspective several times, encouraging out of the box thinking throughout. Several items have been translated to the virtual experience well, with PDFs sent to players before their game. These have been password protected, and while they don’t quite have the tactile feel of opening a lock, it is nice to “open” something when you’ve solved a puzzle.
Low Points:
At one point, colors become important, and had we been physically within the room, I’m sure we would’ve noticed them immediately, but due to the remote nature of the game, we thought the color that should’ve been a hint regarding what to do next was just gray, which threw us off. A brighter color painted on for the virtual experience, or perhaps a call out by the Game Master might help ensure this puzzle doesn’t become unintentionally obtuse. A little bit of the experience is lost in translation to the virtual space, but not much, and it was definitely a fun experience! I would certainly be interested in playing the full scale, live version in the future, should fortune find me in California, however. The camera tended to be somewhat shaky at times as well, not quite triggering motion sickness feelings, but I did get a little dizzy.
Verdict:
The Experiment is a fantastic experience, and I’m glad we had a chance to check it out. Per their website, this is a limited time virtual game, so I recommend checking it out as soon as possible if you have a chance. If not, I feel confident that I can recommend the live experience as well! The great storyline, entertaining puzzling, and subversion of escape room tropes are sure to keep any group of players immersed and entertained. Book your session working with Dr. J. Elias here!
8.5/10 (Great)
Full Disclosure: Get the F Out Room provided our team with a complementary game.
Escape Room Adventurer 