Tag: NC Escape

NC Escape – Alien Escape (Review)

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Location: Durham, NC (Also available at Green Light Escape Room in Wilmington, NC)

Players: 3-8 (We Recommend 3-5)

Price: $26 per person

Time to Escape: 60 Minutes

Revenge of the Aliens!

Theme:

From the NC Escape website:

You and your team awaken in what appears to be a cryogenic chamber… cold and confused in this dark space you must find your way to the control room before your captors realize you’re missing. This room is designed with experienced escape room players in mind.

First Impressions:

We had played the previous incarnation of this room at Green Light Escape in Wilmington, NC Escape’s sister location, and had a great time. Now two years later, we were interested to see how this room had evolved when it made its debut in Durham. After our previous two trips to the new and improved NC Escape, we were certain we were in for another exciting romp!

High Points:

The previous owners had housed the wholly disappointing Dreamscape within this room. What a difference new management makes, however, as the room is now completely unrecognizable, as well as leagues better than that game. In fact, compared to the original Alien Escape in Wilmington, this adventure is even cooler than the last, with updates to technology, scenery, and the addition of brand new puzzles. Though we had played this game a couple years ago, it didn’t feel like a retread, and whenever a puzzle we remembered came up, it was easy to pass it off to someone who hadn’t done it before and move to another interaction, as the non-linear experience is absolutely filled to the brim with puzzles. I’ll admit, there was one puzzle I didn’t get to do last time that I remembered thinking looked really fun, and I’m glad I was able to literally give it a whirl this go.

The set design has been updated, and looks even nicer than before, with some crazy props and tactile puzzles that work beautifully within the world of this escape. One particular large scale set piece has been upgraded quite a bit from the original, and it looks  absolutely amazing now. We really enjoyed how interactive the room felt, melding physical pieces with well hidden technology to ensure that the game was as immersive as possible. Sound design and lighting play a great part as well, and though I think Brewery Heist is the coolest set in the Durham area, Alien Escape certainly doesn’t slack off in this regard. In terms of puzzles, this room continues to be incredibly creative, and some of the new puzzles strike that great balance between seeming overwhelming at first, but becoming increasingly intuitive as we interacted with them. One puzzle in particular gave nothing away via a very minimalist presentation, but evolved into one of my favorite interactions in the room by the end. This puzzle, as well as a few other very clever enigmas, deliver some of the best ah ha moments I’ve had lately, and overall, they are just a blast to work through. The game flow is effortlessly smooth, and is paired up with some fantastically subtle signposting to ensure our group of five remained fully engaged with the adventure from start to finish.

Low Points:

There was one particular puzzle we came across that, for us, was easily hackable. In fact, we solved it in a way that it had not been done before, but we weren’t clear at all on how it was supposed to be solved until we inquired about it afterwards. The puzzle in question didn’t have a wholly intuitive way to solve in room, and could use a bit of cluing to ensure the usual method of solving makes more logical sense.

Verdict:

Alien Escape is a great adventure, and I’m glad that it has made it’s way to Durham! Even better, this game isn’t just a retread of what we played in Wilmington, but an updated and still immensely entertaining escape that was absolutely worth another look. I highly recommend checking out this room, as well as the others at the new and improved NC Escape. I cannot wait for their next creations! Book your time in the alien spaceship here!

9/10 (Excellent)

Full disclosure: NC Escape provided comped tickets for our group.

NC Escape – Brewery Heist (Review)

~ EscapeAdventurer ~ 1 Comment

Location: Durham, NC (Also available at Green Light Escape Room in Wilmington, NC)

Players: 4-10 (We Recommend 4-6)

Price: $26 per person

Time to Escape: 60 Minutes

OktoberHeist

Theme:

A modern day prohibition has struck, and beer lovers everywhere have been stockpiling as much alcohol away as they can, but a much beloved cache is lost inside an old brewery! You and your boozy friends have stumbled upon that same brewery, and are looking to score the lost beer, but only have an hour to do so. You’ll need a sharp mind if you want to dull it later, so get cracking!

First Impressions:

The Attic was an astounding upgrade for NC Escape, and we were looking forward to our next room almost immediately. Brewery Heist has an original theme and promised to be a larger scale experience based in the same room we had originally completed The Study. This room absolutely blew that one out of the water!

High Points:

I had been in this room before, when it was The Study, a room the previous management had built. Usually when doing a new room in a familiar space, it gives off a palpable sense of deja vu, even with the best makeover, but that was not the case here. NC Escape’s new owners have done such an amazing job transforming the old room into such a beautiful set that I didn’t recognize the room at all. Even after the sneaky twists in The Attic, Brewery Heist proved to be just as, if not more surprising than NC Escape’s other room! A couple of moments during the game, we were astounded by how well the room magically delivered unexpected new treats. In fact, at one point we thought we had to have completed the room when much to our surprise, the room delivered a great “But wait, there’s more!” moment. This room is also one of the few which I can believe would comfortably entertain the maximum ten players via their game flow. With a great run of non-linear puzzling that comes together and branches off several times throughout the game, we remained busily engaged with the room from start to finish. One awesome puzzle had us puzzling over what could possibly be next, and the way we built towards the solution was organic and amazingly satisfying to solve once we finally put all the pieces together.

Though there wasn’t an ongoing storyline beyond exploring the secrets of the old brewery and coming out with the cache of beer, it was an original and entertaining impetus for engaging in the escape. The whole experience is full of mystery, and the final climax of the adventure comes after several very memorable moments. There are a lot of great props to engage with, and the tactile nature of the room really adds to the fun. Each stage of the room builds towards an interesting meta-puzzle, and once each one is completed, it’s a joy to see how the room reacts. The challenge is set upon a really smooth difficulty curve, and the variety of puzzle types really encouraged us to bring our A-game in regards to teamwork! The game flow remains logical and intuitive throughout, and though the room was certainly very challenging, I never felt like we were spinning our wheels or at a loss for what to do.

Low Points:

One small technical failure occurred during our run through the brewery, but it was spotted and taken care of quickly. Some of the puzzles don’t tie as well into the theme as others, popping up as somewhat strange additions. They’re fairly benign, however, and don’t disrupt immersion too terribly. One puzzle type repeats a few times, but each instance was short, causing little frustration.

Verdict:

Brewery Heist is easily one of the best rooms in the area, with an expansive and beautiful set, a great run of non-linear puzzling, and some superb surprises around every corner! Players of all experience levels will find something to enjoy here, and I absolutely recommend trying it out if you’re in the RTP area. The future of NC Escape is very bright under the new owners, and I am extremely excited to see what they come up with next! Book your time searching for the lost beer here!

9/10 (Excellent)

Full disclosure: NC Escape provided comped tickets for our group.

NC Escape – The Attic (Review)

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Location: Durham, NC

Players: 2-5 (We Recommend 2-3)

Price: $26 per person

Time to Escape: 60 Minutes

Don’t tell Mom the Babysitter’s dead!

Theme:

Poor Claire! Her babysitters always seem to disappear on her before they can really start having fun. Her parents, desperate for a night out, have been seeking yet another replacement babysitter, but too many are reticent to take care of the child alone for some reason. You’ve stepped up, however, and are eager to make some extra cash, but things take a strange turn when you’re led to the spooky attic to find Claire’s stuffed animals. She wants to play within the next hour, and you’ll need all of her toys for this game. If you can’t find them, Claire will be very, very disappointed in you.

First Impressions:

NC Escape, save for their Ex Machina room, was an overall mediocre experience, but luckily, new management has taken over and given the whole place a makeover! Having been to the new owners’ other location, Green Light Escape in Wilmington, I knew this would definitely be a much better experience overall.

High Points:

The Attic is one of those rooms that is saturated with surprises that can keep even the most experienced escape enthusiast on their toes for the entire experience. Though some of these surprises relate to the horror genre, many are surprising reveals and amazing game play moments that we really enjoyed. The new NC Escape is astoundingly good at ensuring their secrets remain secret, and the way they are revealed is really fantastic. The early game sets the standard for a highly tactile, and spooky experience that really nails the creeping horror theme well. It never gets overly scary, but the creepiness level is just right for a possibly haunted attic. The latter half of the game opens into a non-linear run of puzzles that ratcheted up the experience on the whole, adding a sense of urgency through the increasingly sinister happenings and revelations we uncovered. The story was woven well into the tapestry of the game, slowly revealing what really happened in this dusty old attic, and the climax of the game was appropriately exciting. Like all good horror experiences, I feel like just the right amount of the story was left mysterious, perhaps setting up a future sequel?

Puzzles we encountered during the game were inserted into the game excellently, utilizing the space to it’s fullest, and ensuring that different puzzlers would all find something that caters to their strengths. All of the puzzles also fit the theme of the game well, adding to the story in a natural way, and ensuring that our satisfying moments of revelation were bolstered by breadcrumbs that delivered hints about the overall story. Technology truly enhanced the experience, adding a enigmatic and supernatural feel to the room, allowing for some hauntingly memorable moments. The game flow was seamless, and we were always sure of what we needed to be working on, but the game definitely did not hand feed us the answers. Challenging from start to finish, it definitely was a team effort to escape Claire’s insidious attic with her toys!

Low Points:

There is a very basic puzzle type that comes up a couple times during the game, and though painless, it isn’t the most interesting interaction to run through twice. A couple of the puzzles can be somewhat ambiguous as to the correct orientation when looking at them, but it is simple to try each solution. However, a more concrete clue for these may help remove the guess and check element from the room. During the early stages of the game, the linearity may create some choke points that result in down time for players in groups bigger than three.

Verdict:

The Attic is a fantastic escape room that delivered a spookily entertaining adventure we won’t soon forget! Great for smaller groups and those looking to be trapped in their own interactive horror movie, I highly recommend checking out this room! Approachable for new players but filled with enough surprises to keep veteran escapees engaged, this is definitely one of the top rooms in the RTP region. Book your time in Claire’s Attic at the new and improved NC Escape here!

8.5/10 (Great)

Full disclosure: NC Escape provided comped tickets for our group.

NC Escape – Dreamscape (Review)

~ EscapeAdventurer ~ 3 Comments

Editor’s note: NC Escape is under new management from the folks at Greenlight Escape Room in Wilmington, NC and this room has (thankfully,) been retired to make way for some much better games! I’m leaving up this review for posterity, but know that it is not indicative of the current set up at NC Escape now.

Location: Durham, NC

Players: 2-6 (We Recommend 3-4)

Price: $26 per person

Time to Escape: 60 Minutes

Trapped in the Matrix

Theme:

You’ve been selected for a next generation Virtual Reality experiment, which will involve uploading your mind into a digital world in order to see what effect it has on the human brain. You’ve been assured that the experiment is perfectly safe, but as soon as you’re strapped in and begin it’s obvious that something’s gone wrong when you’re unable to contact the team responsible for monitoring you! You only have a limited amount of time to explore the digital world and find a way to extract yourself before you’re lost in the Dreamscape forever!

First Impressions:

NC Escape’s previous games were entertaining experiences, mixing basic physical locks and technical puzzles, so when they announced a highly technology focused experience, I was certainly interested to see what they had in store! Considering that they delivered one of the greatest props I’d seen in a room in Ex Machina, expectations were high.

High Points:

There are some clever puzzles in the Dreamscape, some of which have to do with perspective, which is always fun when implemented correctly. Overall, the room heavily focuses on puzzles, and ensures that they make sense within the theme of the digital world. Though a technologically focused room, it involves a good bit of tactile, physical interactions, making the experience as a whole more immersive. The game flow of the room was mostly non-linear, allowing the entire team to stay engaged throughout the game.

Low Points:

The main issue I had with this room was that it seemed to imply in the description on the website that VR would be used within the room, but did not feature actual VR. Also, the room was very new when we visited, but there were several issues within the room involving a malfunctioning technical prop and pieces breaking off of other props even though they were being used very delicately. Another issue is that many of the puzzles involve doing the same task over and over, to the point of the interactions becoming repetitive and boring by the time you complete them. In fact, the second half of the game seems to have a bit of awareness when it refers to it’s puzzles as “inane tasks.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t make completing the more banal puzzles any more entertaining, as at this point, the room seems to be aware of how repetitive it is. Set design is appropriate, but it doesn’t really wow in any way. Due to an ambiguous puzzle and a malfunctioning prop, the climax of the room fell completely flat.

Verdict:

Dreamscape was a highly uneven experience, marred by technical glitches and broken props. The overall experience was interesting, but ultimately disappointing. Given a bit more polish, this room could be more fun, but currently, I’d recommend trying out Ex Machina or The Study instead. You can book your time in the Dreamscape here!

5/10 (Mediocre)

NC Escape – The Study (Review)

~ EscapeAdventurer ~ 1 Comment

Editor’s note: NC Escape is under new management from the folks at Greenlight Escape Room in Wilmington, NC and this room has been retired to make way for new games! I’m leaving up this review for posterity, but know that it is not indicative of the current set up at NC Escape now.

Location: Durham, NC

Players:  2-6 (We Recommend 2-4)

Price: $26 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Why would you want to save the world? Because I’m one of the idiots that lives in it!

Theme:

A mad genius has been under surveillance by a secret government agency due to their suspicions that he is building a doomsday device. Recently, he entered his mansion, and never came out. Your superiors are worried that he may have noticed he was being watched, and has escaped! Break in to find out what he’s been up to and where he is going, but do so quickly, since the trail is quickly going cold!

First Impressions:

The Study was nicely laid out, and while it may not have been as immediately impressive as Ex Machina, there were many different devices that slowly revealed themselves as we started our black ops mission. It felt very much like a dim study, and we felt very immersed in the story once we were given our briefing and set loose on the room.

High Points:

The non linear room ensured both of us had plenty to work on, but also included several teamwork based interactions so that we also enjoyed working together on several capstone puzzles. Technology was peppered throughout, and was well hidden and a nice surprise as we tackled the challenges. Feedback on puzzles was very clear and flowed well from one to the next. This room again did not allow us a method for taking notes, but this did not frustrate, and enhanced the few puzzles we would have taken notes on for teamwork purposes. One late game puzzle was particularly creative, and gave a great a ha moment when we finally figured out why we were undoing the locks we were working on.

Low Points:

Another late game puzzle was creative and straightforward, but the accuracy of the props were slightly off, leading to a bit of frustration in determining where things should be, rather than where they actually were. Some story related items felt under utilized, and just sort of felt like they were there for the sake of being there. The later stage of the game felt a little sparse, as it felt like there could’ve been much more room for theming. One puzzle in particular led us to work together, as it would’ve taken a long time for one person to follow through, but it felt like busy work and way overstayed it’s welcome. Some red herrings popped up due to unintentionally misleading cluing, which brought us off track. The ending was fairly anticlimactic, and didn’t seem to tie up the loose ends as well as we had hoped.

Verdict:

Despite a few hiccups affecting game flow, The Study was a good experience that should be a fine introductory experience for beginners, and an enjoyable time for teams of enthusiasts. I would definitely suggest doing this room before Ex Machina, though, as that one is a tough act to follow! I certainly recommend both, however. Book your time in the madman’s Study here!

7/10 (Good)