Category: Garner, NC

Conundrum Escapes – Conjurer’s Dungeon (Review)

~ EscapeAdventurer ~ Leave a comment

Location: Garner, NC

Players:  2-10 (We recommend 4-5)

Price: $27.63 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Welcome to the Dungeon!

Theme:

A foul tyrant has taken over the kingdom, but a mystical sword could break the hold she has over the people. Unfortunately, the creator of that sword, a powerful wizard, was trapped in the dungeon and the weapon has gone missing. It is up to you to break into the dungeons and decipher the clues left behind by the wizard to find the sword and ensure the defeat of the evil queen!

First Impressions:

We had a fun time escaping Conundrum’s previous room, Airship Legacy, and were excited to hear that they had opened a new game. Once we had an opening in our escape schedule we booked and had high hopes for this adventure!

High Points:

The latter half of the game is where Conjurer’s Dungeon really shines. One particular prop gives a sense of direction to the rest of the game, and allows the puzzling to flow quite nicely. Connections in this half are clear and direct, without taking away from the challenge of the room. The room is well decorated, if sparse, due to it’s nature as a dungeon. The general ambiance of the room feels chilly and appropriately lonely. One puzzle in particular I really enjoyed due to it’s engagement of a sense that’s rarely used in escape rooms.

Low Points:

The first half of the game was a slog, as much needed cluing and direction was absent. This led to too much ambiguity and murky logic, as well as a fair amount of wasted time trying to find the path we were meant to be following. A good bit of iteration and the addition of clues to fully flesh out the challenges during the beginning would go a long way towards ensuring the room flows well and feels logically balanced. Especially with one main puzzle being original and well implemented, but obtuse if you don’t already know the solution. The room gets better after the initial unclear puzzles, but the frustration lingers through the rest of the experience. A large amount of unclued scavenging comes across as more of a time sink, and doesn’t provide as entertaining an experience as a few more puzzles might.

Verdict:

Conjurer’s Dungeon is an uneven experience that starts weakly, but finishes strong(er), so I’m sure with a bit of finesse and iteration, this room can be great. Currently, however, I can’t recommend it due the lack of connective tissue between many of the puzzles and the frustration that causes. In the meantime, I still recommend trying out Airship Legacy and am confident that with a bit of tweaking, Conjurer’s Dungeon can be a great challenge. You can book your time in the Dungeon here!

5/10 (Mediocre)

Full Disclosure: Conundrum Escapes provided media discounted tickets for our group.

Conundrum Escapes – Airship Legacy (Review)

~ EscapeAdventurer ~ 1 Comment

Location: Garner, NC

Players:  2-10 (We recommend 4-5)

Price: $27.63 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

A world of anachronism, wonder, and clockwork!

Theme:

Conundrum Labs specializes in creating interdimensional rifts in time and space in order to send agents into situations where they can help those who need it across the multiverse! In Airship Legacy, a girl named Molly needs your help to ensure she receives the inheritance her late uncle left behind for her. A brilliant clockwork inventor, Molly’s uncle hid away his plans for a new airship that’s sure to be a gold mine! Unfortunately, he died under mysterious circumstances and was unable to communicate the method of finding the plans. To make matters worse, an evil Duke is set to take everything that is rightfully Molly’s should she fail to snatch the plans from under his nose. You’ve been teleported to the presumed location of the plans, but you’ve only 60 minutes before the portal closes, so be quick!

First Impressions:

Conundrum is a fairly new business, and their lobby is still evolving, but they presented a welcoming face through their staff, as well as by presenting us with small hand made puzzle boxes to work on while we waited for our booked time to begin. These were fun little warm ups that contained a few fun surprises, and helped get us into the puzzling mindset.

High Points:

The ongoing theme of Conundrum Labs is an interesting way to tie multiple rooms with disparate themes together throughout the business, and helps with the immersion right off the bat. The original steampunk theme was well conveyed, and the room was lightheartedly themed and well focused. Puzzles ran across a good range, and were varied, allowing everyone a chance to shine. Props are true to the theme, and are great fun to interact with. Puzzles included a fair amount of original interactions and hand-built items that were obviously lovingly crafted. The climax of the room is surprising and appropriately entertaining.

Low Points:

There was one instance of outside knowledge needed for a puzzle, it was light, but I can definitely see a few groups being unable to progress if they don’t know the answer. One technical interaction felt fairly finicky, and though we had the solution correct, we had to try it several times in order to trigger the unlocking mechanism. One of the penultimate puzzles is a personal least favorite of mine, and my group agreed that it didn’t feel up to par with the rest of the room’s quality.

Verdict:

Airship Legacy is a great first room for Conundrum, combining technological and mechanical puzzles within an original theme.  For beginners, it will be a good first foray into escaping, and will provide an exciting introduction to escape room tropes, and enthusiasts will enjoy the unique theme and puzzles within. With more rooms coming just on the horizon, I recommend giving this room a shot! You can book your interdimensional travel here!

7.5/10 (Good)

Full Disclosure: Conundrum Escapes provided Media discounted tickets for our team