I just had the most fun I have had in a while.
Over the weekend, my girlfriend and I went to an escape room for the first time! Unfortunately, taking photos was not allowed so you will just have to read through my boring awesome recollection.
The place we chose to loose our escape room virginity is called The Asylum by TrapZone Escape Rooms. I will not be revealing the solutions to any puzzles; this post will be a discussion of my experience and thoughts (owners - please do not sue me 🙁).
Unlock the dark mysteries and secrets behind the former doctor turned patient at the Hamilton Asylum! But there's more than what meets the eye! Your team must work together to understand the facility's heinous crimes and find the cure to the experimental treatments before it spreads into society!
This is straight from their website. Well, I am sold. Count me in!
In my opinion, this game was not overly horrifying so you can definitely bring your kids or elders! Despite the previous statement, there is still an eerie feeling throughout the game that adds to the experience.
I do not believe that I am spoiling anything by saying that this is a lock-based game. Essentially, advancements in the game equates to utilizing clues to open combination based locks.
I cannot compare this type of game to other escape rooms as this was my first one. However, I want to express that I throughly enjoyed the mechanism of this lock-based game!
I do not want to reveal anything about the puzzles but they were definitely engaging. The entire experience was well thought out and the puzzles were all intriguing and thought provoking.
I love solving problems. Even more, I love the journey to solving problems. This is not to say that I do not get frustrated sometimes. 🙂
Maybe this is why I am in the software development industry. Anyhow, these puzzles felt extremely satisfying both during the solving and completion phases.
My girlfriend and I communicate very well, obviously. 😅
We did during this game, at least. The master gave us the advice that we should try to announce everything we see during the game as it may be what the other person is looking for.
Side note - the title "game master" is pretty dang cool. I want to be known as game master David. Please refer to me in that manner from now on.
I believe that we communicated pretty well and I think games such as this would help strengthen bonds between people and teams. This would be a fantastic team building exercise!
I hope my employer reads this because I really want to have fun build better relationships with my colleagues. Actually, how about both at the same time?!
No, we died. We had to sign a waiver in case we "did not make it out alive".
Really, we died. We were not able to escape The Asylum. Apparently, we made it through about 70% of the puzzles.
That is fine! Even if this was not our first escape room, I would not feel disappointed. Of course, being able to solve all the puzzles would have been satisfying. However, solving all the ones that we did felt awesome!
This particular room is considered an intermediate level difficulty but we had a great experience as beginners and would definitely recommend it to other first timers as well!
Additionally, The Asylum can accomodate up to 8 players so feel free to bring along help!
Overall, we greatly enjoyed this experience. Future escape rooms have a lot to live up to as this particular game was amazing!
My girlfriend and I would love to try other escape rooms with more people. It was definitely fun with just the two of us but more people may be even better. Plus, we could sacrifice them to escape if need be.
What are your thoughts on escape rooms as a mental, team building, and people bonding exercise? Do you have any recommendations for other escape rooms we should tackle within the Southern California area?