Tag: The Heist

The Escape Game – Unlocked! The Heist: Digital Episodes 1 and 2 (Review)

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Location: Your Home via the Magic of the Internet!

Players:  We recommend 1-2

Price:  $10 per episode, or $17 for both bundled

Hahn shot first.

Theme:

From the The Escape Game website:

Volume 1: Chasing Hahn

Thwart infamous art curator, Vincent Hahn, before another masterpiece goes missing.

Volume 2: The Silk Road

Vincent Hahn just barely escaped, but Intel has noticed some suspicious activity in Hong Kong. According to reports, Hahn is dealing with artifacts related to the Silk Road. Your mission is to go there, find Hahn, and capture him before he can get away.

First Impressions:

I always love a good subscription box, but it’s nice to get an adventure instantly rather than having to wait for it to arrive via the US Postal Service. The Escape Game has created digital editions of their physical boxed mysteries, just in time for lockdown. They’re fairly competitively priced, and after having played the excellent Ruins, I was excited to see what sort of puzzles they included!

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High Points:

Unlocked: The Heist carries on the story of The Escape Game’s physical room, The Heist, continuing the search for international art thief, Vincent Hahn. It’s always great to revisit and expand on stories in this sort of medium, and I love sequels to previous rooms and experiences. The difficulty curve of these games was lighter, though the final puzzles did tend to present a somewhat more challenging solve, and Volume One contained a dense array of puzzles to keep us puzzling for a while. Connections were clear between items used and puzzles, and the clues as presented provided a smooth game flow that kept us moving from point to point at a good clip. The inventories are well implemented, and clues are used once, allowing for players to stay focused on what is important throughout, and though no clues are used twice, there are still layers within several of the individual challenges, ensuring that for those interactions, the immediate information revealed may not be the only thing to find. Inputs into the game are straightforward, and give immediate feedback regarding if an answer is correct, ensuring no confusion or frustration in that regard. Videos that accompany the game are well produced and reasonably entertaining, especially during the chase “scene” of Volume Two, and the story is integrated well into the puzzling. The climax of Volume Two is awesome, giving players agency to make decisions within the game world and delivering a satisfying conclusion to the experience. There are also some great references to other The Escape Game experiences, which I enjoyed.

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Low Points:

These games trended towards the easier side, especially for Volume Two, which I was able to complete solo in about 20 minutes. Veteran solvers may find that these don’t quite scratch the puzzling itch for very long, and even for just $10, might not get the bang for their buck that they are hoping for. At some points, the puzzles felt like simple research puzzles that just required us to read the clues and enter information, but luckily those points were early and not ubiquitous.  New players, though, may find that these are a good introduction. The two volumes are rather inconsistent between the two, with each having almost opposite strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Inventory of Volume One includes a lot of information via PDFs, and isn’t quite as polished as Volume Two, while Volume Two tends to be a lot lighter when it comes to density and challenge of puzzles. The story, however, is much more engaging in Volume Two.

Verdict:

While I think that experienced puzzlers and escape enthusiasts are going to find Unlocked: The Heist a rather simple affair, new players who haven’t been quite as immersed in the language of puzzles will find this to be a fun introduction to these sorts of games. These games would also be great for families, as the content is family friendly, but no so much that adults will be turned off to the challenge. We had a good time quickly solving the various challenges, and if the theme and easier difficulty curve appeals to you, I can recommend trying it out. Begin your search for international art thief Hahn here!

7/10 (Good)

Full Disclosure: The Escape Game provided our team with a complementary game.

 

 

 

Room 5280 – The Heist (Review)

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Location: Raleigh, NC

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4-6)

Price: $28 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Gold, Cash, Diamonds, and Puzzles! What more could you ask for?

Theme:

An eccentric millionaire lives on the edge of town, and like any good burglar, you’ve been staking his home out for weeks. A man of habit, he always steps out for an hour long walk just before dark, and after much preparation, you’ve decided that now is your time to strike! Once inside, you’ve found that there are so many puzzles and traps hiding away the goods, so you’ll have to be smart and quick if you’re going to leave this place rich! That is, if you’re even able to leave at all.

First Impressions:

The Experiment and Sherlock were some of the most elegantly paced and well crafted escape rooms we had experienced in the area, so we were obviously excited that we had one more room to go during our night out at Room 5280! After a short break, we were led into another spacious and streamlined set, and got to puzzling!

High Points:

The excellent game design philosophies of Room 5280 are yet again exemplified by The Heist. A clean, spacious set where everything matters is married to a very tightly designed game flow that is packed with creative puzzles. Many times as an enthusiast, it is rare that you come upon a puzzle that is 100% something you’ve never seen before and usually there’s a basis of meta-knowledge one uses to solve even the most creative puzzles after a while, but in every room at Room 5280, there is something within the design that manages to be 100% brand new. Though this was the easiest of the three rooms we experienced, it was not without it’s fun challenges, and required a fair amount of thought and logical deduction.

The room was non-linear in some places, but did have a base that was mostly linear. Our team of four stayed engaged with almost every puzzle throughout, however, with each of us taking on a role for each step of the experience. Teamwork was highly encouraged by the design, and the variety between the puzzles themselves rewarded a team with divergent ways of thinking. Slowly gathering new riches during the room was a lot of fun, and a great way to keep the excitement high during the experience. The whole experience was chock full of intuitive ah ha moments and great interactions, ending on a high note of escape!

Low Points:

The directions for one of the late game puzzles come off very vague, and though some of my teammates were able to wrap their heads around it after we went over it several times, (for which I’m eternally grateful, I’d have never figured out that one,) I don’t think any of the challenge would be lost with some tighter wording to better direct players. There is definitely one particular puzzle that would benefit from slightly more cluing, as the connection can be easily made, but from there, a lot of guess and check is required.

Verdict:

Room 5280 absolutely gets my vote as the best escape room business in the city of Raleigh! All of their experiences deliver a steamlined, tightly designed, and overall enjoyable puzzling experience from start to finish. With a fourth room coming up, I am excited to see what they’ve got in store for us next. I absolutely recommend checking out their games whether you’re an enthusiast or beginner, as there are massively clever puzzles in store for players of any experience level! You can book your big Heist here!

8.5/10 (Great)

Full Disclosure: Room 5280 comped our tickets for this room.

The Escape Game Dallas – The Heist (Review)

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Today, we have another great guest review from friend of the site and esteemed escape colleague, Cathy Nanni! Thanks again to her for writing these reviews!

Location: Grapevine, TX

Players:  Up to 8 (We recommend 4)

Price: $31.99 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Can You Be the Artful Dodger?

Theme:

You’re on a covert mission to steal back a priceless piece of art from a vain and corrupt art dealer. Your mission, however, is as deep undercover as it gets! Law enforcement does not know that you’re going to be embarking on this mission, and should you fail, agency involvement will be disavowed and you will be on your own and behind bars. But if all goes well you’ll be hailed as heroes! You have 60 minutes to make it happen, good luck!

First Impressions:

My experience with The Escape Game began before I had left my house. As soon as you load their website, a chat window pops up asking if you have any questions. The person I chatted with was very helpful in guiding me to which room would be best suited for our group which included my husband, our seven year old son, and my mother-in-law, who had never done an escape room before.

The Escape Game Dallas is located inside the Grapevine Mills Mall. The lobby is very small with a few computers to sign waivers, a bench, and a small souvenir store section. I wish there were more signage as it’s not very easy to find.

As soon as we were checked in, we were taken to our room which began in a small gallery. Several famous paintings hang on the white walls; each painting  brightly illuminated by the hanging gallery lights. After viewing the rules video and storyline video the game begins. Make sure you pay attention to the storyline video or you’ll miss some vital clues to help you escape!

High Points:

Once again The Escape Game developed an excellent set. The clues and set pieces were all very art focused, adding to the immersion of the theme. I liked that they chose recognizable works of art for their gallery, as it made the experience feel more realistic and relatable.  Several puzzles required use of props in the room that made for a very interactive and tactile environment.  There was a unique magic trick style puzzle that I really enjoyed as it was something I’d never seen used in a room before. I can tell from both rooms I have done at The Escape Game that immersive theming is important to them.

Low Points:

While this room was beautiful to look at it was not intuitive to solve at all, leading to a frustrating experience. Many of the puzzles required the use of several components found throughout the room but they weren’t clued well enough that you could intuitively tell what was important and what was not. One puzzle was particularly aggravating because part of it looked identical to the button you press to receive clues. We wasted a lot of time reticent to press that button, worried that it would cause us to use a clue unnecessarily.  Another puzzle piece was difficult to find due to poor lighting in part of the room. It felt like they had run out of ideas and simply decided to toss it in a dark corner.

Unlike Gold Rush, I don’t feel this room is worth the extra cost of admission compared to other rooms in the area. The set was well decorated but compared to the other art gallery/heist rooms I have done, it didn’t deliver a unique experience worthy of the price.

Verdict:

The Heist was pretty to look at but frustrating to play, failing to justify it’s fairly expensive price of admission. I would definitely not recommend this room to a beginner. Veterans may be able to escape, but the experience is wholly lacking. You can, however, book your heist here.

4/10 (Subpar)

Downtown Escapes – The Heist (Review)

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Location: Goldsboro, NC

Players: 2-8 (We recommend 4-6)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Ocean’s 2-8 Players

Theme:

The art collection of Juan-Carlos is without equal, and a new acquisition is rumored to be the most exquisite, and expensive, addition yet! Therefore, your team has decided to steal it. Posing as a janitorial crew, you’ve been given an hour inside the gallery, but you’ll still need to disable the security protecting the most valuable collections and find the prize! Make sure you’re out within an hour, though, as Juan-Carlos didn’t get to be as rich as he is without being ruthless towards his enemies.

First Impressions:

Downtown Escapes has a cozy location in downtown (obviously,) Goldsboro. We got started soon after we arrived, and were given a story rundown before being left outside of the room, waiting for our contact to get in touch. Once we were cleared to enter the art gallery by the mysterious voice, we broke in ready to get our hands on some priceless art!

High Points:

The room’s reveal was excellent, as it was extremely well designed and flawlessly sold the theme of Art Gallery. The gorgeous set design also allowed for many tactile interactions as well as myriad places for surprises to be hidden. Props fit the theme well, and allowed for some really engaging design. A good mix of puzzle types and a non-linear structure ensured that our entire team was engaged from start to finish and the props and set pieces were a joy to interact with. Game flow was well planned, and it was always clear what was next, though not too clear as to be simplistic. The climax of the heist was appropriately exciting, ending the room on a high note.

Low Points:

One puzzle that gave us some serious issues felt somewhat burdensome due to it’s unwieldly nature, but was otherwise interesting. Another late game one made sense once we’d figured out the solution, but would benefit from slightly more direct cluing.

Verdict:

The Heist is an amazing first effort for Downtown Escapes, and is a great introductory room for beginners, as well as an enjoyable enthusiast romp. An immersive and beautiful experience, I definitely recommend trying it out, especially since it is rare for escape rooms to allow you to be thieves or other “bad guys.” Stage your art heist here!

8/10 (Great)

Full Disclosure: Downtown Escapes comped our tickets for this room.