Location: Charlotte, NC

Players: 2-6 (We recommend 3-4)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 Minutes

Forget Meta-puzzles and enjoy this meta-room!

Theme:

A quick note to start. Per usual, when I review a room, I try to stay as spoiler free as possible. For this review in particular, I’m trying to be even more vague while still touching on the pertinent points. One of the best parts of Twisted is the constant surprises, so if it seems I’m being less descriptive than usual, that’s because I am. To that point, I’ll just leave you with the theme description from Exit Strategy South’s website.

It’s not that you’re smart, but your record is pretty good! You’ve played 52 rooms and you beat 43 of them. Not bad! You and your crew now go into any escape room and, within seconds, have already figured out the skills that each of you will need to use to beat this thing.

So, you get your group together and set off to play this new room that you heard about.

The game starts and before you know it you realize that being a so-called expert will not help. You’re no longer playing the story, you are the story.

First Impressions:

One thing that I’ve wanted so badly since starting my escape room hobby is for someone to build a meta-escape room. An escape room within the universe of escape rooms just sounded like the coolest theme possible in my head, so when I saw that the previous home of our favorite escape room of all time, The Final Sacrifice, had built that very thing, I got excited. Overly so, some would say! This was my most anticipated room for our recent trip to Charlotte, easily.

High Points:

Twisted is a smorgasbord of creative and tactile puzzles. Anyone who knows me knows that interactive and physically engaging puzzles are my favorite, so it should be no secret that this was extremely exciting to me when I entered the room. Set design is enacted in a thematically appropriate way, and reflects the theme excellently, though it’s very surprising at first. The best part about Twisted is how the room is such a great bundle of the unexpected from the start, presenting an amazing story and a tense adventure wrapped within an awesome challenge that delivered a fantastic bang for our buck! The fact that our group, who is so used to busting out of rooms with at least 20 minutes left on the clock, had only 6ish minutes remaining at the end truly speaks to the fantastically crafted game flow within Twisted. In fact, one of the coolest things about the room is that it doesn’t rely on too many escape room tropes that allow escape room veterans to blow through rooms, but rather creates an original puzzling adventure that is an absolute must play for any enthusiast! Finally, we had such a great GM for this room in Mylene! She was excellent from start to finish, delivering the story and hints to us in an engaging and humorous way. Talking to her before and after the room was a pleasure, and we hope to see her again soon!

We also still love dropping our Keyed Up! chips in the win column every time we visit!

Low Points:

The finale is fun, but can be a bit frustrating for one player due to the nature of the game, but overall, it’s a great climax to the room that keeps everyone on their toes!

Verdict:

Twisted is an absolute masterpiece of a meta-room that beginners can access and enjoy, but enthusiasts will get the biggest kick out of! This escape will absolutely blow your mind and keep your heart pumping for the full experience, and I cannot recommend it enough. Definitely my favorite current room at Exit Strategy South, and I cannot wait for what comes next! Book your Twisted adventure here!

9.5/10 (Excellent)