Location: Cary, NC

Players: 4-12 (We recommend 5-6)

Price: $25 per person

Time to Escape: 60 minutes

Ikea Millionaire

Theme:

The millionaire Fredderick Trummel has been murdered, and you have been called to his home for the reading of his will. Upon entering his dining room, however, you are locked in and there’s no executor to be found. A note from Fredderick informs you that you’ve been tricked and implicated in federal crimes against the late millionaire! Figure out who the murderer is, and escape Fredderick’s home before he exacts justice against you from beyond the grave.

First Impressions:

Time’s Up delivered a larger room for their Millionaire Murder experience, but it was mostly empty when we walked in. It was, however, definitely too small for a group of 12 puzzlers, I would venture 8 would be the coziest you’d want to get in here, and that’s pushing it. A large centerpiece was competently decorated, if not mind blowing, but there were only a few other pieces that stood out, but they didn’t quite give off the decadent feel a millionaire’s dining room should. Prices written in sharpie on the backs of most items gave away the inexpensive nature of the room. Our Gamemaster was upbeat and friendly however, and seemed eager to please.

High Points:

Though this was a very low tech experience, there were a few fun surprises and original puzzles at the beginning of the experience. The initial few puzzles were well clued and worked smoothly, and the story set up was interesting.

Low Points:

As we progressed through the puzzles, though, the adventure degraded as the flow and technical issues began to break down the immersion. Mid to late game puzzles weren’t very well clued, and many props we found didn’t fit the theme, as they did not seem like the property of a millionaire. One such piece had been busted a few times, and simply not replaced, which was odd since this supposedly belonged to  someone for whom money was no object. There was also a red herring item that was oddly well hidden, which wasted a fair bit of our time. One lock was opened via the wrong key, due to the looseness of the lock and cheap nature of the item itself, and we were told to replace the item inside and lock it back, which irked us. Some later puzzles were not clued, and as a result, ended up in fruitless searches of an already sparse room. Overall, the experience started strong, but faltered quite a bit as time went on, ending with a whimper.

Verdict:

The Millionaire Murder Escape was full of missed opportunities. While there were interesting ideas and puzzles, the execution was subpar as so much more could’ve been done with the space. The owner seemed receptive to feedback, and genuinely seemed to want to improve the experience, but as is, it’s a difficult recommendation to make. You can book your escape from The Millionaires Murder here!

4/10 (Subpar)