Tag: Escape Hour

Escape Hour – Granny’s House (Review)

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Location: Charlotte, NC

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4-5)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

“This Funky Grandma be Trippin’!”

Theme:

You’re locked in the home of an elderly Soviet spy who always wanted grandchildren, but never had time to start a family of her own. She’s stepped out for an hour to get ready to finally realize her grandma experience, and you’ll need to get out before she returns to make you her permanent grandkids!

First Impressions:

I was impressed, as it was like stepping into my grandmother’s house. It may not have been the most elaborate set, but barring the escape room standbys of locks and cameras, it was a very convincing set. A brief intro was given, along with your standard rules, and we were set loose on the room.

High Points:

The rooms making up our new, hopefully temporary, grandmother’s house were oddly comfortable and convincing. We joked that it wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with Soviet Grandma if only she had asked instead of locking us in! Puzzles were well clued and the connections were easy to intuit throughout the room. The room was very much non-linear and allowed us all to have something to work on while having loads of different styles of puzzles as well. All props felt very much like they belonged, and were fun to play around with. It was dim in one room without being so dark we couldn’t see and added to the feeling that we’d made it somewhere grandma didn’t want us to be!

Low Points:

Though Granny was supposedly a Cold War spy for the Soviets, her home only had one spot that seemed to point towards this; I figure a little more theming wouldn’t hurt. An early puzzle required an amount of precision that I’m not sure many people can attain very easily, and though we knew exactly what we needed to do, it took us an inordinately long time to get the puzzle to trigger properly. Some later game puzzles were a little too obviously clued and took away what could’ve been interesting surprises. One puzzle required a bit of guess and check, and didn’t seem to have a clue leading toward the correct way to order the pieces. Some wear in the room needed attention, but was not too prevalent as to take away much from the immersion.

Verdict:

Granny’s House was very competently put together and delivered a solid puzzling experience. Nothing too flashy in this room, but enough fun surprises to keep everyone amused and engaged. This room would serve very well for beginners, as it introduces a lot of basic escape themes, but enthusiasts will enjoy the lighthearted theme and the solid puzzles. Book your stay at Grandma’s here!

7.5/10 (Good)

Escape Hour – The Dollhouse (Review)

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Location: Charlotte, NC

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4-5)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

“No, sir! I did not see you playing with your dolls again!”

Theme:

You and your friends were wandering around the neighborhood when you came across a seemingly abandoned home. On a lark, you’ve decided to check out the weird cottage when you start to realize that someone is still living here. Someone who’s weirdly interested in dolls. When you try to leave, you notice the door has locked behind you! Solve the mystery and get out before whoever lives here adds you to their collection!

First Impressions:

That… is a LOT of dolls. The room gave off that creepy vibe that only mannequins and weird porcelain dolls can provide. Which, in this case, is a good thing! After a short intro video outlining your basic room escape rules, we started going through this oddity of a home.

High Points:

Many different threads wove through the room, giving our fairly large group plenty to work on, even near the end when we were almost done. There was a red herring on one puzzle, but it was easy to determine what was unnecessary, so it felt more like it belonged than your usual red herring. There were quite a few interesting puzzles around, some of which involved interacting with some pretty creepy props, which was a lot of immersive fun.

Low Points:

We had 7 players and were fairly packed into the room before we opened up another space, making it difficult to coordinate well. One room was completely pitch black and did not give us any access to light other than dragging parts of the newly found puzzles into the first room, so while we had more space to work in, we were still limited to the original small space if we wanted to see properly. One puzzle was destructible, but optional.

Verdict:

The Dollhouse is a good beginner’s room barring the lack of flashlights. I feel like adding that to the second room would remove a lot of frustration and allow groups to refocus on the puzzles. Otherwise, a good flow and fun puzzles make this a great introduction to escapes. Enthusiasts may want to try to come with a smaller group, as it wasn’t quite as difficult as other rooms, and they may find themselves breaking out quickly. However, there’s no shortage of puzzles to be had, so a fun time can be had by all. Book your time in the Dollhouse here!

 

7/10 (Good)