Tag: Backstage Escape Games

Backstage Escape Games – The Haunting of Hyde House (Review)

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Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Players:  2-8 (We recommend 3-5)

Price: $34 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Children are the spookiest.

Theme:

From the Backstage Escape Games website:

Built in 1891, Hyde House hosted families, foreign dignitaries, and heads of state, all guests of the prominent Hyde Family – Harrison, Constance and their young daughter Isabella. Though stories conflict, the family’s sudden misfortune centers around the untimely death of Isabella, after which Harrison and Constance disappeared without a trace. Some believe it was an accident; others suspect a much more sinister fate. For decades, Hyde House sat vacant, its stately elegance deteriorating from time and neglect. Local legend began to profess a curse on the house, claiming tormented spirits haunted its halls. Paranormal experts and ghost hunters began to flock to Hyde House, and the house itself was deemed a historical landmark.Today, the Hyde House Historical Foundation hosts thousands of visitors to the home, but your group of guests is about to have an unforgettable experience. Abandoned by your tour guide, you’ll become trapped in Hyde House and discover you are not alone. Little Isabella haunts the mansion, playing games and leaving puzzles to lead you to her most cherished friend, her doll Emma. With your help, she may have hope at last! Can you reunite Isabella with her doll and free her troubled soul from an Earthly purgatory?

First Impressions:

Our previous two trips to Backstage Escape Games have all been excellent! The games here have always been stunning, and when we visited last year, I happened to notice that there was a teaser for a new haunted mansion room! We were told that it would be opening in the summer, and while it took us a little longer than we wanted to finally make it out for Hyde House, we were raring to go when we finally did.

High Points:

Per usual for Backstage Escape Games, the set design is absolutely flawless. The opening brief is engaging and immediately captured our attention, and the sound design and practical effects that were employed throughout the room elevated the room to a Hollywood style escape experience! At no point did we feel disengaged for the adventure, as there was always something to do for our team of two, and the room continued to surprise us in the best of ways with new puzzles and rooms! The Haunting of Hyde House started us on the “outside” of our intended room, and presented this break in superbly, making for an awesome start to the experience. This whole opening sequence set the feel for the adventure splendidly, and got things off to a raring start that never slowed down. The vibe of this haunting is well presented, and gives off more of a spoopy, Scooby-Doo style of scares rather than a fully terrifying experience, ensuring that it remains fun for all types of players and horror comfort levels.

The game itself presents very clear goals as we moved forward within the game flow, and once we determined what puzzles were being presented, the room was very intuitive. Overall, the connections between each point were very clear, and we were not casting about attempting to figure out any leaps of logic or bypass any distracting red herrings. Though the room was almost completely linear, this worked well for us, and kept the game flow trucking along extremely smoothly. Two puzzles in particular provided some amazing moments of revelation, and it felt awesome once we had determined the clever logic behind these puzzles. One of my favorite interactions in the room involved a puzzle we had previously completed evolving into a whole new one through the use of some interesting haunted tech.

Low Points:

Two puzzles in particular are color focused, and the lighting in the room definitely does not help players differentiate between some of the more similar colors. This is a recurring problem for a lot of horror rooms that employ this type of puzzle in particular, due to the usual dim or spooky lighting, that could be relieved by having only a few very different colors included. A couple of puzzles are somewhat involved, but do not provide feedback though a sound cue or button press, so we just had to trust what we were doing was correct in both of these cases. Luckily, what we were doing made sense, overall, so it was mostly forgivable, but feedback would really help to solidify our choices. One early puzzle required a fair amount of aimless guess and check, and while there was a clear way to winnow down the initial selections, the amount of inputs and items we could use was still fairly large. The story of this room seemed lighter, overall, and though the puzzles were integrated well into the theme, a lot of the Why? tended to get lost between the cracks. The maximum eight players would feel very stuffed within this room, and due to the mostly linear game flow, I’m sure there would be several choke points where folks would be standing around while others solve.

Verdict:

The Haunting of Hyde House is a great game, with some amazing surprises hidden around every corner. While there are a few small hiccups, this one is absolutely not to be missed, and will be a great experience for enthusiasts looking for a fun challenge and new players seeking an hour of spine chilling escapes! I wholeheartedly recommend checking this, or any other Backstage room out. Book your time helping out Isabella here!

8/10 (Great)

Full Disclosure: Backstage Escape Games comped our tickets for this game.

Backstage Escape Games – Dark Winter’s Night (Formerly, The Cabin at Beachstone Lake) (Review)

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Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Players:  2-7 (We recommend 3-5)

Price: $34 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Santa’s not here right now.

Theme:

From the Backstage Escape Games website:

Are you ready for a chilling Christmas story?
In the small town of Parkview Point, something strange has happened at the long-abandoned cabin on Beachstone Lake. Quiet for years, the cabin has suddenly sprung to life with Christmas decorations and cheer. All across town, children noticed that their gifts under the tree and letters to Santa were missing, replaced with a terrifying note from Krampus. The half-goat, half-demon evildoer has challenged anyone to enter the cabin and escape with the gifts. If they do, then the town will experience joyful Christmas seasons for decades to come. If they fail, then Christmas will be forever canceled in Parkview Point.

First Impressions:

We happened to be in Myrtle Beach during December, and while this room runs all year, it seemed like the perfect time for some holiday themed escapes! Even better, this room wasn’t all warmth and tidings of good cheer, there’s a Christmas-hating demon on the loose to outwit! Krampus is such an interesting character, and to have a room revolving around him seemed like it’d be an excellent time!

High Points:

What an immersive room! The initial game briefing takes place at the front of the titular cabin, and sets the tone with a quaint exterior accentuated by whimsically tortured Christmas decorations. To add to the charm, a radio announcer comes over the loudspeaker to deliver the half-wacky, half-creepy story, and keeps the immersion going by starting up a fantastic Christmas themed playlist that’s ever so slightly ominous. The inside of the cabin is just as awesome, with perfect décor and fantastic technology that removes you entirely from Myrtle Beach and transports you to the chilly winter world of Krampus! The story is well delivered through every facet of the game, whether it be puzzles, the evolving room itself, or the notes left behind, keeping us wholly engaged throughout the experience.

Puzzles are excellent, and highly varied, allowing for our team to divide and conquer this non-linear room. The game flow is hugely intuitive, and will make sense to even the newest of players with it’s tactile and creative interactions. Every step of the way gives excellent feedback, and so many of the creative enigmas housed inside the room are just pure fun to solve. It constantly feels like you’re truly working through the demented machinations of Krampus brought to life as you work through the many physical activities and manipulate the various props. There are a lot of hidden items, but they are stashed at key points during the game, ensuring the experience doesn’t become a glorified scavenger hunt, and the meta-puzzles build towards satisfying ah ha moments. Almost every step of this game is pure puzzle solving bliss.

Low Points:

There is one point within the room that can be absolute auditory torture if you don’t achieve your goal quickly. We did not, and our sanity eroded. I think that was the point, but still, that was rough. Near the end, I had flashbacks to a couple of the overly long puzzles from Backstage’s other room, The Legend of Atlantis. In an otherwise excellent game flow, these puzzles can really bog a group down, however, there was only one in The Cabin at Beachstone Lake, and I jumped on that grenade willingly since I tend to be at least decent at solving that type of puzzle. Our group of 3 was fairly comfortable in the room, but still tripped over each other now and again, so I can’t imagine stacking the maximum of 7 in here, so I’d recommend attempting this one with a smaller group if at all possible.

Verdict:

The Cabin at Beachstone Lake keeps up the stunning quality that Backstage Escape Games initially produced with Atlantis, proving once again they’re the bar for Myrtle Beach escape adventures! This room is perfect for anyone looking for a truly memorable outing, and if you’re in the area, you absolutely should try it out! Book your time matching wits with Krampus here!

9/10 (Excellent)

Full Disclosure: Backstage Escape Games comped our tickets for this game.

Backstage Escape Games – The Legend of Atlantis (Review)

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Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Players:  2-8 (We recommend 4-6)

Price: $34 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

…in a day and a night, Atlantis disappeared under the sea, and resurfaced in Myrtle Beach!

Theme:

It was the discovery of a lifetime! Your mentor, Hathaway Wren, had found Atlantis, and not only that, a series of what he called power crystals were stored inside. Charged with enough sustainable, clean energy to bring power to the entire planet, discovering them would make him a very rich man, and change the entire world! A greedy person at heart, Wren set out on this expedition alone, not wanting to share the credit, or the money, with anyone else. That was weeks ago, and no one has heard from him since. Now, your team has found the coordinates Wren hid from you to discover his fate, and find the crystals! Unfortunately, the underwater city only surfaces for an hour, and once it goes down, it will take you with it unless you can escape!

First Impressions:

The entrance to The Legend of Atlantis is situated at Broadway at the beach, and stands out beautifully against the shops and restaurants nearby. The georgeous doors beckon, and begin to set the tone for the room long before you enter. The interior of lobby is very welcoming and similarly well decorated, and includes a mirror maze and quick bank vault laser maze for additional experiences. Backstage’s friendly staff led us into the room itself, and a professionally produced intro gave us the rules and background story before the timer began to count down!

High Points:

Absolutely the best set I’ve seen in an escape room so far. The Hollywood quality props and interior grant a level of immersion that most escape rooms can only dream of. The sheer magnitude of the temple when fully explored is impressive, and every detail is used to create a fully cohesive experience, including lighting and sound. Puzzles flow beautifully, and the difficulty curve is implemented well. They are also varied enough to provide something for all types of puzzlers, and give each teammate a way to shine. There is only one timer in the first room, but updates are given throughout the experience, which was appreciated. The storyline weaves throughout the experience, and one particular prop helps deliver it through the puzzling beautifully. This room was also the most challenging but fair room I have experienced to date, and we barely made it with 27 seconds to spare!

Low Points:

The amount of people needed to solve the room fluctuates between the beginning and end of the experience. A small group will be more comfortable during the first half, but the last half opens up greatly, necessitating more players splitting up to tackle the full range of puzzles. Lighting inside the rooms isn’t dark, but underwater colors, while they help add to the theme and immersion, cause the color dependent puzzles to go from difficult to frustrating in places. One particular puzzle is very large and feels as thought it overstays it’s welcome once the main deductions are made.

Verdict:

The best escape room we experienced in Myrtle Beach, this is a must do for anyone who is visiting the area. The Legend of Atlantis is an exhilarating challenge for enthusiasts that beginners can also enjoy, delivering a fully immersive experience. The Legend of Atlantis will surely be a top favorite room of mine for a long time. Book your time in the underwater city here!

Full Disclosure: Backstage Escape Games comped our tickets for this game.

9/10 (Excellent)