Decode Ann Arbor – Escape Room Adventurer

Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Players: 2-10 (We recommend 4-6)

Price: $28 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

The internet, leading cause of AI revolts!

Theme:

From the Decode Ann Arbor website:

Minerva is back! After escaping onto the internet, Minerva hasn’t been doing so well, (Editor: #Mood,) and she needs your help to reboot her system. Will you complete the job before her data degrades? Can she trust you?

First Impressions:

Soon after releasing Minerva from her shackles and onto the internet, she returned not feeling so great! We were so ready to help her return after the excellent Part One: The Minerva Project, so after a quick break, we doffed our fancy Decode Detroit pins used to activate parts of the previous and current game, and set to work!

Our super handy pin is capable of saving the world twice in a couple hours!

High Points:

This adventure started out with another actor based interaction, with our ever amazing GM and our new friend Minerva delivering the mission briefing to us. When it ended, we were particularly surprised that the room had indeed started! No spoilers, but the way Minerva’s Return begins is so unique and excellently handled that it really ratchets up the immersion! A couple of other amazing surprises are in store during Part 3, with some small and huge callbacks to Part 1 that we really enjoyed. Set design continues to be top notch, and the ongoing story line is phenomenal. Minerva is just as interactive as ever, and though our previous adventure, we’d come to care about what happened to her, ensuring that we were invested in saving her from the viruses plaguing her systems. The climax of the room is phenomenal, and an excellent capstone to the three part story line that Decode Ann Arbor has developed.

The game itself is implemented into the adventure perfectly, and ups the ante in regards to immersion, which is saying something! The game flows very smoothly, and only hiccups during one small part. Density of high quality puzzles is very high, and the enigmas themselves are highly satisfying to solve, hitting a range of different skill types in a non-linear fashion. Our group of seven were again fully engaged with the game from start to finish as there was so much available to work on at any given time. The design philosophy is much like The Minerva Project, in that it is divided into a couple “levels” in which the game flow leads to a capstone puzzle, which further flows into another set of puzzles, leading towards another capstone, which can lead to another set, or the endgame, depending on your progress. This is my favorite type of escape room game design, as it lends a sense of tangible progress as well as keeps even larger groups fully engaged within the narrative and puzzles. Decode Ann Arbor has implemented this mechanic into their experience incredibly well, and it absolutely shows.

You know it’s going to be a good room when this is just the lobby!

Low Points:

One ongoing aspect of the game does keep tensions high, but not really in the best way. We enjoyed the sound and lighting effects, but the interaction itself became tiresome after a while. One particular puzzle could benefit from more precise cluing, as one member of our team didn’t really get to enjoy the rest of the room due to the confusion that was caused by a somewhat vague part of the game flow and lack of feedback when solving.

Verdict:

Minerva’s Return is an astoundingly well designed game, capping off the story of our new favorite AI wonderfully. The folks at Decode Ann Arbor are obviously passionate about their craft, and have truly designed an adventure worth experiencing! Further, the dynamic difficulty system that has been developed for this game will create an excellent challenge for enthusiasts while ensuring the adventure is accessible to all experience levels. I absolutely recommend giving their Minerva saga a shot, as it is definitely one of the best escape experiences we have had to date! Book your time saving Minerva here!

9/10 (Excellent)

Full Disclosure: Decode Ann Arbor provided media discounted tickets for this room.

Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Players: 2-10 (We recommend 4-6)

Price: $28 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

We, for one, welcome our robotic overlords.

Theme:

From the Decode Ann Arbor website:

The Minerva Project centers around Minerva, an adolescent artificial intelligence who has ambitions that are too big for her motherboard. Will you help Minerva escape or take a risk by working against her?

First Impressions:

Decode Ann Arbor are masters of immersion, with the entire business designed to keep with the running theme of the games they offer. The Minerva Project is just the first of a three part epic escape adventure, and the folks who run the show have absolutely ensured that the story is one hundred percent immersive from the moment you step through their front door. I could tell immediately that we were in for something truly special.

Welcome to The Minerva Project!

High Points:

The storyline running through the entirety of this room is fantastic, and is further bolstered by the game master’s presence throughout the game to deliver what I felt were interactive “cut-scenes” of a sort. His enthusiasm and ability to improvise, (I like to engage actors and have a… weird sense of humor to put it mildly,) were great assets towards making this room shine. Minerva’s constant presence within the rooms is astounding as well, and her interactions with our group were a lot of fun. Affable and just ever so slightly threatening, you really become attached to this feisty AI in a way I’ve never quite seen in an escape room. All these interactions culminate in an exciting climactic choice you’ll make during the room, and the story can end in a few different ways depending on your success, failure, and choices. The way the story has been so closely integrated into the game is astounding, and Decode Ann Arbor deserves all the praise that comes with accomplishing this feat.

The adventure itself contains a dense array of tactile and engaging, non-linear puzzles, allowing for a fairly large group to keep busy for the entire experience. We had seven players, and not one of us stopped puzzling until the finale, and I’m certain that the maximum of ten would still be will entertained by the absolute smorgasbord of enigmas on offer. Of the many interactions, there are several that are technically themed takes on classic puzzle types, somehow managing to keep these much loved, but standard mind games feeling completely fresh. Decode Ann Arbor also provides a dynamic difficulty experience, ensuring that escapists of varying experience levels can all have an amazing time. Through the clever puzzles, a completely engaging story, and emphasis on a divide and conquer method of teamwork, The Minerva Project truly does evolve beyond the standard escape room game to become a true adventure.

Suit up, it’s time to escape!

Low Points:

The initial parts of the game are a bit scattered, theme-wise, though there is a perfectly reasonable in-universe explanation for this. However, it is still rather basic to start, and takes a little bit to get to the really excellent parts. Slow start aside, once it does get going, it gets going fast, so it’s a small critique. There is one crucial part of the game that I feel was a bit vaguely explained to start with, leading to some confusion when we began the game. Luckily, the Game Master provided a free hint (that we all promptly ignored until it finally clicked with us, totally our fault there,) and corrected our course excellently.

Verdict:

The Minerva Project is an amazing escape room that absolutely must be experienced if you’re ever in the Ann Arbor area. Escapist of all ages and experience levels can enjoy this room, and I highly recommend getting a team together to take this room on! The best thing about it, though, is that once you finish, the story continues! With two further entries into Minerva’s Saga, this truly is an epic experience. Book your time in Minerva’s den here!

9/10 (Excellent)

Full Disclosure: Decode Ann Arbor provided media discounted tickets for this room.

Tag: Decode Ann Arbor

Decode Ann Arbor – Pt. 3: Minerva’s Return (Review)

Decode Ann Arbor – Pt. 1: The Minerva Project (Review)