More than 5 minutes left--kinda did better this time than Trapped In Time ▪ Puzzle Workshop GAME INFO COMPANY: Puzzle Workshop ADDRESS: 18003 Sky Park Cir, Bldg 53, Unit F2, Irvine, CA 92614 GAME: CSI: Hollywood PREMISE: Everyone’s favorite Hollywood star, Ruby Valentine, was last seen entering her dressing room on the set of her newest movie. Last night, the local police received an anonymous phone tip from Ruby’s alleged kidnapper. The police need your help before the tabloids get wind of the news. Go to Ruby’s dressing room and find any clues the kidnapper may have left behind. We need your help to find Ruby! GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 02/25/2018: I've gone back to Puzzle Workshop and got another intense brain workout sesh. This time, we're detectives handling the disappearance case for a Hollywood starlet, Ruby. We needed to find out where she went under an hour, or else she could be gone forever. Oh noez! CSI is a much stronger game overall compared to Trapped. First of all, the theme and the storyline is much more coherent and logical. I didn't expect the plot line to go deeper than the official trailer from Youtube! So with some new info gained from watching the intro video on site, I was very pumped to go in there and work on my case right away, whereas for Trapped, I was like, eh. Once inside, I found that the visuals are also much more impressive. The photos from the official website don't really do the room justice. This very much felt like a dressing room for a missing actress, though it looked a bit modest--perhaps one found in a local theater, that kinda vibe. But it worked. I liked it. Furthermore, when the game proceeded into the latter half of the mystery, when more secrets were revealed, the visuals got even better. That's when I changed from liking it to loving it! My best guess is that the lighting helped. Very often, I find that if you want an immersive atmosphere, appropriate lighting isn't just essential, but critical. It makes or breaks it! (A side note: nice touch on the fan, in keeping the environment cool and also giving that intentional feel. Bravo.) The puzzles themselves were sprinkled throughout, and again, I felt like they threw us a good quantity to complete with only 60 minutes to spare. Some connected to the plot well, while some others are loosely themed, but all worked as a whole to tell a story. It felt more like an educational activity designed around a certain topic, which isn't a bad thing, per se. Just at times, it felt a bit weird. (But still fun!) The puzzles this time around were not as "Whoa! I've never seen this before!". They were more like a mixture of old and new puzzles/formats that felt just right. I liked the good balance--puzzles composed of some that we could solve confidently, and some that were more shocking and perplexing. Of the dozen of puzzles available, some did have me like, "Wow! That was pretty cool!" I thought I should point this out because these are what I call "moments". You always want your escape room to have memorable moments, so you can recall it for years to come. And CSI definitely had its moments. :) Like before, the puzzles themselves ranged from opening padlocks to some that involved magnets, computers, safe, and other technology gadgets. Having played enough games now, I can tell ya, padlocks aren't boring. When executed just right, the feeling of unlocking a padlock still hits you at the right spot. Mixing some tech ones just made the experience felt more premium. Once again, it felt obvious to me a lot of care and thoughts went into the designing process, so kudos. Sadly to say though, when tech was involved, Puzzle Workshop hiccupped a bit. One particular puzzle, even when correctly solved, would not unlock due to magnets not being able to align *exactly* as intended. When sensors are this unforgiving, I tend to consider it as a bad design: In theory, super. The execution, so so. And just to nitpick the game, so Puzzle Workshop has a chance to improve upon itself, I am not a fan of puzzles that are otherwise tedious to work through under a set amount of time. These puzzles are mediocre, fun-wise, and I'd probably still do them to pass time in leisure. But being forced to solve them to advance through a timed game, it seemed more frustrating than enjoyable. This one colorful puzzle involved putting 12 key items in order, and I felt that was an overkill. Had this been modified to say... 8-9, it would've been much more tolerable. (I know you know what I am talking about, owners! Wink!) Finally, at times, I was able to hear chit-chat noises from outside the room because the walls weren't soundproof. This somewhat ruined the immersion, which isn't this company's strongest suit to start with. I don't want to dock off too many points for this, but perhaps a faint background music, or some kind of appropriate white noise, would help maintain the illusion of the storyline. Just a suggestion. Overall, I rate this room 4.5, maybe 4.75 stars, so I'm upgrading it to 5 whole stars ;) Puzzle Workshop has a niche that it fulfills, which is provide a truly family friendly setting for teenagers and even kids alike to experience the joys and surprises of escape room games. Even though sometimes, I go for a more intensely themed experience, or a horror-filled escape session, this company gives me a nice change of pace that put puzzles themselves in the spotlight, and let them shine as the main stars, Hollywood style. And yup, we found Ruby! Case closed! Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

The first fail is always bitter ▪ The Basement LA GAME INFO COMPANY: The Basement LA ADDRESS: 12909 Foothill Blvd, Sylmar, CA 91342 GAME: The Basement PREMISE: You and your friends have been kidnapped by Edward Tandy -- a cannibalistic serial killer with a fine taste for unique electronics, taxidermy, and of course human flesh. He has created a sick and twisted game of sorts in his deceased mother's home. He hopes to weed out the unintelligent and find those who are worthy of escaping by his late mother's standards. GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 02/25/2018. Just came back from "Ch 1: The Basement". Updated review right here. ("Ch 2: The Elevator Shaft" review can be found below in my previous review section. Yes, I did the story out of order.) It's my policy to reveal as few spoilers as possible, but there is some pertinent info about the room that I need to bring up to illustrate certain points. So be warned, fairly light spoilers ahead. Let's get something out of the way. The Basement: LA is rated one of the best escape venues in the west coast, if not the entire nation. So this goes without saying, you are playing in a set that is of Hollywood movie set quality. So I am not going to address how superb the props, the lighting, the sound effects, etc were. They were all excellent. Moving on ;) Chapter 1 has max capacity of 10 people, non-private game setting. So you could be stuffed in this horror survival game with strangers. Usually, I am totally against it. The camaraderie between existing friends usually works out better in these games... But having played today with 5 people total, and FAILED TO GTFO on time, I gonna dare saying forming a team with at least 7-8 people will give you a much better success probability. (This room has a dismal 12.5% success rate. It's a very hard room.) So even if you get assigned with strangers, just be friendly and courteous and communicate! It may work out for the best. Another thing, instead of the usual 1 hour, you only get 45 minutes to do whatever you need to do to escape. That's really tough considering the massive list of things you gotta do in there. So again, form a big group of friends that work well together. You'll thank yourself later. (Btw, if you check in via Yelp, you get a marginally useful, legit-ly weak flash light to help you in your game. It didn't do sh*t, lol. While it doesn't hurt to get this little help, it was barely of help by design/nature, I am guessing, because it would actually deter you from looking for another key item during the game. Or maybe the battery inside died on me with my bad luck. Who knows?) The puzzles themselves, strangely, aren't really puzzles. This is my main gripe about The Basement. I *like* solving puzzles. & usually, when I go into an escape room, it is very obvious what are the puzzles that I need to decipher to move on. This game was not the case at all! It is definitely not a, "here, solve this puzzle, open this lock" type of deal. What's "worse", the clues they gave us were cryptic as heck! Oh, lordy! To best explain: The Basement was more in line with a horror survival video game, where you collect key items and apply them--so it's more of a scavenger hunt. As other reviewers have mentioned, you'll spend a large portion of your very limited time to look for pieces of clue and put them together as a whole. And as realistic as it got, these were all hidden very well. You gotta work for them. You seriously would turn the place all over, upside down, just to wonder, "Did I collect everything yet?" To make the room even more complex, this game is non-linear. You really have no certain idea where to start, and where to go next. It adds to the somewhat unwanted confusion, but also appropriately strengthens the immersion of panicked atmosphere of being kidnapped by a cannibal killer. Therefore, if you like the puzzle-solving type of game, this may actually be a different kind of tea for ya! Me, being the aforementioned, felt a bit cheated. Scavenging for random pieces of papers well hidden in the cracks and crannies of furniture wasn't really my thing. But hey, it could be yours. Btw, Chapter 1 is what they call a "performance based" experience--that's just their artsy way of saying (spoiler!) there is an actor in there with ya. The actor functions as both a live prop to further solidify the story, and also your built-in clue system. The clues given are dependent on the actor that you get, and might not be super obvious, so don't depend on them to get you out. You will still need your own wits to do most of the heavy lifting. Finally, just to vent out my frustration, there is a clear rule emphasized by the staff on not touching or unplugging live wire/power outlet. And guess what? (Spoiler!) That's kinda what you had to do for one clue? Wth? It's creative, but I rather do without this one, for safety and fair-gaming reasons. Though we did not manage to escape in time, and in fact, we were pretty far from completion of the game (probably just half way through or at most 75% done), everybody still enjoyed what the venue had to offer. We made a pact to (maybe) retry the room in the future. Since there are two versions of this game, why not? We'll probably do better whilst getting a non-identical game. I look forward to it. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

Suspenders are a sailor's best friends ▪ 60Out Escape Rooms (Marina Del Rey) GAME INFO COMPANY: 60Out Escape Rooms (Marina Del Rey) ADDRESS: 13336 Beach Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 GAME: Titanic PREMISE: Your crew volunteers to navigate the depths of the Titanic with the hopes of activating controls that will salvage the lives of the many helpless on this sinking ship. Their fate is in your hands. Best of luck. GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 02/03/2018: Having heard so many great stories about the 2 rooms I am doing today (Zen Room & Titanic), I was super hyped up to finally come play. Alas, my own experience did not live up to my expectations. First, in Zen, we played as slightly crazed patients stuck in an all-white dream world, and we had 60 minutes to bring back happiness and colors into our lives. Think psych patients mixed with unicorns. This game was non-linear, and had really creative puzzles that required the players to do pretty wacky things. It's genuinely an outside-the-box kinda experience. A lot less plug-and-chug with combo locks, and a lot more hands-on action-based sequences. That's Zen's pro. However, bad execution would make any innovative idea fall flat. A handful of puzzles worked exactly as they were intended to, and those are all good fun. THEN, there were some that didn't quite work because it took a leap in logic that even when players got the right idea, and were in the right direction, it won't quite work because they didn't do it just quite right. For such instances, I could shrug them off as my team's being stupid, or just incidentally incompetent today. Not 60Out's fault; fair enough. THENNNNN, there were gadgets that just simply did not work. They just flat out. DID. NOT. WORK. Period. There were sensors that had to be placed/aimed/aligned EXACTLY on point, and that's a little too excessive and demanding. Without the game master's gentle nudge, we wouldn't have known that we did the right thing, just that the sensitivity of the tech is low. That to me, it's faulty design. Even more so painfully, there was a key that couldn't enter the key hole because the hole was jammed. Now... for an escape game, a genre based on unlocking things... C'mon. We spent a great deal of time wondering why we couldn't unlock a door with a simple metal key. And our gm couldn't believe it, either. She came in to confirm that the key hole was jammed, & our game was completed without actual completion. Understandably, that ruined both our game feel and finishing time, and we didn't get a dramatic/climatic finish to our game as I'd hoped. If I recall correctly, this happened to some other Yelper(s) also... So, with all due respect, PLEASE. FIX. THIS. After Zen, my friend told me, for the first time ever, "I did not enjoy myself in that room." Sure, we "escaped", but the thrill was missing. Titanic was next, since we booked 2 rooms back-to-back, and it was a much better improvement! Story: You have 60 minutes to save Titanic from sinking, duh. This linear room supposedly won many awards, and I understood why. Visuals, pretty on point. Things were relatively clean and well-maintained, and the puzzles were again, creative. Given, they were not difficult, but it's always refreshing to see puzzles that didn't require unlocking padlocks. I enjoyed myself a lot more in this game. The feeling of great gaming is back. I've read from another review that, Titanic's puzzles/solutions felt in tune with the backstory, and each step fit quite nicely into the theme of fixing the ship and saving the passengers on board. I totally agree. This level of immersion helped create and maintain a more complete game play, and you would have a sense of purpose and urgency during a make-believe tale. For this, applause. Sadly, since we were conditioned by Zen to think this room could've been reset with errors too, we asked our gm for a confirmation if a certain prop was missing. It wasn't. But it felt that way. Looking back, it was intentional and was justified within the story line. I just wanted to point this out because of a bad game prior, there is lingering doubt in our minds if this room was fully functional or not. In fact, there was maybe 1 tech hiccup (involving metal sensors) in Titanic also, but it wasn't as big of a deal. Actually, the rest of the game went so smoothly, we busted outta there in 27 minutes. The game actually felt short. We were like, "That's it? It can't be! We want more!" Either we were getting really good at escape rooms, or maybe this room could benefit from an additional 3-4 puzzles, perhaps. Even 1-2 would be welcome! For both games, if you want a clue, you would talk to your gm via an intercom system. This worked well for Zen, since doctors would potentially communicate with locked-up patients the same way. But for Titanic, which took place in 1910s, it felt out of place? All above factors considered, both rooms combined deserved 3.5 to 3.75 stars. Rounded up to 4 for Yelp. Had the rooms been perfectly functional they way they should, and if you judge them just by designs, theoretically, they are great family fun. Basing on today's actual experience though, I am more like "eh". It's far from terrible, but I know 60Out shoots for excellence, and it just missed the mark. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

Low key felt unprepared in my first escape room ever, so much growth since then... ▪ The Basement LA GAME INFO COMPANY: The Basement LA ADDRESS: 12909 Foothill Blvd, Sylmar, CA 91342 GAME: Chapter 2: The Elevator Shaft PREMISE: 3 months ago, Edward hired a man named John Peterson to help him make some engineering changes to an elevator shaft on his property. John quickly figured out that these changes he was being asked to make were indeed sinister in nature. When he confronted Edward, he was told that he could not leave until the project was finished or else his wife and daughter would pay the price. The project is complete and John is long dead. You've found yourself locked inside the elevator shaft. Will you and your friends be able to follow the steps John put in place for you? Or will you perish under the weight of a 6 ton steel elevator? GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 01/01/2018: This is a review for the *new* 2nd chapter in the Edward Tandy series, "Elevator Shaft". The Shaft, as I like to call it, is the updated, improved version of "Boiler Room". RIP, BR. I've never done the Boiler myself, but from what I can see from YouTube, all the old puzzles have been scraped. Fun fact, this is actually my very 1st escape room. My friend, an escape room enthusiast, introduced this super high quality room to me, a room virgin at the time. I've been addicted to the escape room high ever since. Darn you, friend! For what it's worth, he brought me to an extremely well-made room as my first, so I am thankful for that. On the down side, now I have incredibly high standards for all the rooms I book and play--any room that is any less disappoints me. Back to the room! Like I said, I'd never done any room related to Edward Tandy before, and I was jumping right into chapter 2. Did it matter? No. Because as intriguing as the backstory was, it's still the usual "escape within a set time or be killed" tale. For the Shaft, you're placed in the elevator shaft by the cannibalistic serial killer, with a falling elevator above you, waiting to crush you flat. You have 45 minutes to gtfo before you become pancakes. So get to work to deactivate the system! (The Shaft fits 6 players max; my group had 4. We lucked out; no strangers grouped with us, though it's a possibility at this venue.) Now, let's go over the A+ visuals. Basement LA is known to construct extremely detailed, horror themed set for all of their rooms. And yeah, the Shaft was exactly that. We started off in total darkness, then the lights came on, then we heard machine or mechanical sounds, and THEN we saw an elevator ON TOP OF US! And yes, the elevator did move up and down throughout the entire game. I'd imagine it'd just fall down on you when you run out of time. (Shrug!) The look of the elevator above was spot on. It looked like it's made out of old, rusty metal. (However, later on in the game, when the elevator came down far enough, you could actually touch it, you'd see that it was made with movie magic--not metal at all. It presented no actual danger. People who are tall, no worries! You won't get hurt! But you might have to crouch down during certain parts of the game...) Without spoiling what else you could see inside the room, let me just say from wall to wall, everything was decorated perfectly to make your immersive experience as real as possible. And since the room was kinda small, just like a real shaft, the claustrophobic feeling really set in. Coupled with the right lighting effects, this made me really feel the horror theme and the urgency to escape. It's super scary in the most fun way possible. Since this was my first escape room, I did not know what to do at first. The puzzles themselves seemed fairly difficult at the time, but now looking back, this linear room provided fairly simple, direct, yet creative puzzles that were suitable for a beginner like me. Every single puzzle was well incorporated in the goal of deactivating a falling elevator. They didn't feel like puzzles, but instead, they felt like tasks that you had to complete in order to go from step 1 to step 2 and so on. Everything made sense. I was stuck at first, but once you found the first step, you're good to go! These puzzles came in many variety. I really loved them. Again, these kinda set the standards for me for my future rooms. (Tip: read all the text you see... much like reading a manual while operating machinery...) And guess what? There were special effects, and a lot of it! Since this room didn't feature a live actor like Basement LA's other rooms, they really up'd the special fx department. Every single effect you could think of, this room provided. With that said, wear comfortable, preferably older clothing (and shoes) when coming to this game. Don't come play wearing your best or your most expensive garments. They may or may not get somewhat damaged, haha! With every puzzle we solved, something related to effects would happen. Not only did this add to my experience, it really gave you a sense of if you're going in the right direction, and it moved you along the game effectively. For the majority of the game, you won't be given a clock, so you would have no idea how much time has passed. But we didn't seem to need it due to these special fx cues. Finally, let me briefly touch on the clue system and the staff: I have no idea if there's a clue system because my friends and I never got stuck, and we didn't need any clue. Escaped with 0 clue given, with about 8 minutes to spare! That's how we roll! The game master was professional and friendly, and she complimented "these guys were really smart!" Lol. That was the icing on the cake for us. With such a positive experience, how could I not give the Shaft 5 stars?!?! And now, your turn. Go get kidnapped and be tortured by Edward Tandy. You won't regret it. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

Yeah. I pressed the red button. I break ALL the rules. ▪ Cross Roads Escape Games GAME INFO COMPANY: Cross Roads Escape Games ADDRESS: 4245 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807 GAME: The Fun House PREMISE: Come one, come all! Step right up and see if you have what it takes to become a magnificent magician! In this room filled with trickery and illusions, you and your team will be put to the test. Work to beat the clock as you search for clues and solve mind-boggling puzzles in a topsy-turvy experience of a lifetime! Now all you need to do is ask yourself, do you have the wits of a magician? Or are you as clueless as a clown? GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 12/02/2017: This is my updated review after doing "The Fun House". For my other review on "The Hex Room", please see below. Just in case, I wanna forewarn you that this review may contain very minor spoilers, if at all, but I can guarantee you this review will not ruin your experience. Fun House has a very basic storyline or premise--you either pass the test by escaping the room and become worthy magicians, or you remain as clueless clowns. For a room like this though, a storyline isn't needed and that's pretty much all you need to know upon entering. As its name implies, this is a house of fun, a house that one may see at a carnival. Though the exterior is themed with a huge clown's mouth, the interior is not clown based. If you have a fear of clown, no worries, you can still play! This brings me to the set! Similar to Hex Room across the hall, the attention to details is prominent, and customers will really appreciate the level of sophistication and quality Cross Roads is able to bring to this room. Let's face it, if a room is run down, or poorly decorated, you just won't feel as good playing it, even if the puzzles are top-notched. Between the carnival themed props to special rooms with fantastical effects, you'll get plenty for your eyes to feast on and your brain to process... and I am not even talking about the puzzles yet! I am talking about the sheer amount of creativity and wackiness that are thrown at you. You'll enjoy this room visually, that's for sure. Now the puzzles, well... Upon reading many, many reviews prior to actually experiencing the room, I was under the impression that a room with a 40% escape rate and aimed at teenagers and adults alike, the puzzles are gonna be easier than Hex's. Um, not true. I was more stumped by the puzzles in Fun House. I mean, come on, Cross Roads! You actually made me feel stupid, (but in a very good way!) Truth be told, when doing Hex Room, I was able to intuitively navigate myself from problem to solution smoothly since the puzzles are things that I have seen before, or things that my mind can easily solve from previously gathered puzzle solving skills. In Fun House, not so much. These puzzles come in a wide range of formats. Some are mental, obviously, and some are oddly physical, and one in particular requires the group to really work together, or else you are not going to conquer it. I mean it. It isn't physically possible otherwise. I especially appreciate puzzles like this one which encourage group members to bond. If you're playing with a bunch of close friends, this is a magnificent feeling, and I love it. There are puzzles that require you to think through layers of clues before you can reach the final solutions. Those are the head-scratchers that I needed clues on, and dare I say these will perplex even the most seasoned experts. Just remember to pay attention to all the decorations around you! It's soooo easy to miss some important key items. =\!!! Finally, without giving much away, the clue system for this room is well incorporated, and it's hinted at from the official trailer of this room. You are in complete control of how many clues you want to receive. In Hex Room, you can either accept or refuse clues. In Fun House, in contrast, you have to be the one asking or initiating the request from the get go. So experts out there, just skip asking for clues for the truly difficult game that you crave. And I mean it--this room is challenging! Like many has pointed out before, however, this is a room full of combination locks, and it does get somewhat tedious to open the same style of locks over, and over, and over. While high tech reveals are somewhat missing in this room, the entertainment value does not suffer since the puzzles themselves provide you with plenty to chew on. All in all, fancier locks would've been nice, and a more immersive theme or story like Hex Room would be appreciated as well, but I still highly recommend doing both rooms. Treat Fun House as its own unique specie of animal, and you'll see the gem that it is. Btw, we escaped! Will you? To give you one last tip, DO NOT push the red button. I mean, I was determined to push it anyway to test my hypothesis of what may happen, but are you sure you wanna do that, too? ;) On a side note, I wanna thank the staff for being helpful and friendly as always. Though not directly related to the room itself, Cross Roads's customer service has always been A+, judging from my phone calls, emails, and in-person conversations with various members. Please keep this up as this is an important bonus factor that makes me stay as a loyal patron. And since I have more characters space to use, I will just throw in one more brownie point for Cross Roads's spacious parking lot; it definitely takes the stress of finding parking out of the equation! Much thanks! Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

Can't do proper spying without all-black get-ups ▪ Exit Game (Los Angeles) GAME INFO LOCATION: Exit Game (Los Angeles) ADDRESS: 111 N Atlantic Blvd Ste 148, Monterey Park, CA 91754 GAME: An Hour To Kill PREMISE: Come and be a part of James Bond's last adventure. James is on his last mission before retirement when he went missing. You, England's best agents must figure out a way to get through all the security systems in Military Intelligence (section 6) and the vaunted training facilities and danger room. Your mission, should you choose to accept it agents, is to find out what happened to Bond on his final mission? GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 01/07/2018: I booked my game weeks ago, and lately, Yelp reviews had been negative for Exit Game. Understandably, I was a little bit apprehensive about trying out this new venue. Also related to my nerves was that this place only offers private games at an additional fee. Since my friends and I are not made of money, we chose to gamble in hopes that we won't get grouped with strangers... We lucked out. The 6 of us got a "private" game! Yay! :D Anyhow, as it turned out, while some patrons unfortunately had negative things occur during their visits, and while some reviews were just angry rants, Exit Game was a GREAT VENUE to play escape games. I am very appreciative that my game went smoothly, and my group had an absolute blast. Customer service was fine, nothing out of the ordinary to address, so let's move on! The lobby was spacious and accommodated many tables and chairs, and there were plenty of board/brain games for you to play while you wait for your game to start. (One chair, however, was kinda broken. I almost fell down from it, so please replace that chair!) Overall, it's a nice lobby. Of note, I did get to see "spoiler" relating to how groups might exit their rooms when they beat the game, because the exits were all right there, plainly visible, in the lobby... so... Well, that wasn't ideal. It wasn't such a big deal to me because I tend to read reviews prior to visits anyway, and some reviews already revealed that particular feature. Nonetheless, even so, your escape game experience would NOT be affected by this, and you shall see why! My group chose the 007 themed room called "An Hour To Kill", and what an hour it was! From start to finish, there was not any dull moment! It was, by far, hands down, my favorite escape room to date. In the past, I tend to sign up for horror based rooms, thinking the chills and thrills that these rooms offered would be what I crave the most. Well, turned out an action packed room basing on one of the most well-known action spy flicks of all times would achieve just the same, if not better. The designs/decors of the room (or rooms, since you would get to advance from room to room in this game, which was a huge +) were on point. Without spoiling much to you, (since these could be found on the official website), you would go from being captured and confined, moving on to your typical spy office or weaponry collection, & finally arriving at a grand showdown finale in a laser field room--everything was top-notched. I could tell the company takes much time and effort to keep everything clean, neat, and well-maintained. Not only did these props look good, many of them were embedded with the most advanced technology I had encountered so far, so the entire experience really made us feel like we were actual spy agents. And the tech, oh such impressive tech! I really loved all the puzzles "Hour" had in store due to the tech! Given, there were still some classic combo and lock types of contraptions, but they were interspersed with other automated gadgets/puzzles, so you would get a good mix of variety. The puzzles themselves were not particularly challenging, sans maybe 2 or 3 that really stumped me for a good 5 minutes, but other than that, your seasoned escape room artists would do just fine. (Some puzzles were physical as well! I sweated during the game!) The room was mostly linear, & it helped to narrate the story line better, so it made good sense to design the room this way. I recommend having a group of 6 or so, so no one will get bored, & everyone could work as a group to solve puzzles linearly. Too many people may result in people standing around, doing nothing, and not having a grand time! Also, having a group of 6's ideal, because everyone's brains could fill in the blind spots or gaps that other players may have. Together, you as a whole, could conquer these challenges with super great performance. Again, some of those puzzles were so novel, so creative that I'd never seen them before, I felt really rewarded when my group cracked them, especially if it's a tech based lock, since the unlocking process was fun to watch, too! I read from other reviews that the hint system used by Exit Game involves an actual employee's walking into your room & physically talking to you while NOT being in character, so we opted not to ask for any hint at all to avoid breaking the 4th wall. And we escaped just fine with 10:44 to spare on the clock. (We *did* have very strong players within the group.) So I highly recommend you to do the same to preserve the best gaming experience possible. Besides, if you use more than 1 hint, you won't qualify to be on the leader board! (We made it on there, of course!) One side note: the ultimate escape for "An Hour To Kill" was out of this world. If you love escape room, you must do this one. Not an option; it's an order from M ;P Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

0:09 left... It was hard to smile under all that lingering stress ▪ Puzzle Workshop GAME INFO COMPANY: Puzzle Workshop ADDRESS: 18003 Sky Park Cir, Bldg 53, Unit F2, Irvine, CA 92614 GAME: Trapped In Time PREMISE: Travel Back in Time! One of your genius friends has been obsessively working on a top secret physics project: a time portal! The good news is that it works! The bad news is that your friend has gotten himself trapped in time - can you save him? GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 01/19/2018: Pre-game "Trapped In Time", I thought: 1) From other reviews, this venue is just an office space turned escape room location, so visuals must be weak. 2) "Trapped" is the easiest game of the 3 they offer, so I, who had done 5 escape rooms with ease in the past, would zoom through this one. 3) I am playing with my friends who were beginners; they'd probably struggle. 4) Puzzle Workshop prides itself with creative puzzles, so I must be in for a treat! Well, most of the above is wrong. :) Quickly: "Trapped" is a game that transports players back in time via a time machine, so we can help bring our inventor friend, who's stuck in his 80s dorm room, back to our present. Visuals! It is true that this venue gave a bland office space a makeover into an escape game, which took place in an 80s dorm room. The look/quality of the dorm room did not compare to the escape rooms I'd been to in the past. Could you still tell this was an office space? Yes. However, does a typical dorm room look boring to start with? ALSO YES. So, it kinda worked! (Of note, the time-traveling aspect was weak. This could've been a dorm in the 70s, 80s, 90s, or now with slight variations. Solid dorm, though.) I don't think visuals is something to truly complain about for "Trapped", and I could tell the makers took great attention to details. Things that were meant to stay put, were fastened, nailed down, or glued on securely to walls and floor. Things that you needed to interact with, moved easily. This seemingly simple but helpful feature was not always addressed in all escape room venues. This time, it felt organized and meticulous. And I loved that. While immersion wasn't the strongest suit of this game, the somewhat average back story gave just enough for us to work with, and to have a clear objective, and that was enough for me. What's refreshing was that this plot did not involve a crazed serial killer or maniac of some sort, so that's kinda plus, too! While I did not get lost in the atmosphere, I got lost in what Workshop is most proud of--the puzzles! These. Puzzles. Were. SO. CREATIVE! Walking in all high and mighty, I was cocky. I thought having solved several escape rooms in the past made me a strong player--not so. This actually worked against me. Having seen the same format of puzzles over, and over, and over, my brain was ready to plug and chug. So what happened when I was thrown a dozen of puzzles that were innovative that I hadn't seen before? I shut down. My friends, who were novice at best, had a blank and fresh brain canvas, and their noggins worked super well to solve these puzzles as they came. While I was horrified at my own poor performance, I was pleasantly humbled by my failures, and was truly amazed at what this game could open my eyes to. (Well, I wasn't 100%, totally useless; but I did not fare as well as I expected. Shucks.) The puzzle variety was more numerous than I imagined; the locks ranged from combo/padlock to fancier tech based ones. Such a wonderful mix bags of different formats, and all fit into the dorm theme pretty well. If I could grade this game based on the puzzles alone--A+, honor roll, a graduate with summa cum laude! You can't go wrong with these puzzles. You'll have loads of fun. Trust! Let's talk about the clue system a bit. If you need a hint, which we desperately did, because I was an idiot, you just need to yell it out. Text/clue'd come on a tv screen. (The count down timer was also on the same screen.) Not the most sophisticated clue system, nor the most well integrated, but it worked out just fine. Neither a pro nor a con. Unfortunately, we did encounter a hiccup or two in our game. One of the padlocks did not seem to work, so our lovely game master Mikaela had to stop the timer, come inside, and give us assistance. (Btw, Mikaela was professional, polite, and helpful. This enhanced our experience.) While I appreciated the fact that we didn't lose time while she helped us move our game along, this did break the fourth wall. Immersion was effectively destroyed. This actually happened twice when another item didn't work as it intended to. I was truly ambivalent--I was happy to get assistance because time was running out so quickly, but... it's still better if the illusion of the storyline stayed intact. But I get it. Puzzle Workshop's true stars are the puzzles. The immersion and atmosphere are somewhat secondary. So I honestly rather have the timer stopped and the props fixed. Truth be told though, all in all, I didn't really mind! I had a great time still. While the minor mishaps should bring the ratings down, the excellent and courteous customer service I received compensated for the negatives. Factoring in the surprisingly good puzzles this room provided, "Trapped" earned my utmost respect. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

An all Asian cast horror flick--Crazy Stitch Asians ▪ Cross Roads Escape Games GAME INFO COMPANY: Cross Roads Escape Games ADDRESS: 4245 E La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92807 GAME: The Hex Room PREMISE: Can you survive a horror film? This murderous horror movie fan wants to watch you try. Each player will take a quiz before the game to find out which character they are: The Nerd, Virgin, Jock, Rebel, Prom Queen, or Detective. Your team will be divided up into separate rooms where you must work individually and as a team. Not only do you need to escape, but you must also survive! Who will live? Who will die?​ GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 11/11/2017: This review contains minor "spoilers": info from official website, trailer, or Game Master's briefing. My group had 6 people, the best recommended number of players for "The Hex Room". There's me, who has done 1 escape room before, and 5 other newbies. We booked "The Hex Room", and prior to the game, we had to take a personality quiz to determine who will be assigned to what role during the game. Assigning the right person to the right character choice DOES help you achieve your goals easier, so keep that in mind. The premise: 6 horror movie characters clichés are kidnapped by a maniac killer who has a penchant for horror flicks, escape within 1 hour to avoid a horrible bloodbath. My Game Master's intro was complete, thorough, and professional. (Side note: I give big props to Cross Roads for staffing such well-trained, friendly, and awesome employees.) He emphasized communication is the key to beating the game. Then the characters assignment took place. I was assigned as Detective, so this review will be largely based on Detective's point of view. Each team member will be given a costume piece, which was actually part of the overall game, pertaining to your personal puzzle "The Hex Box". (More on Hex Box later.) After that, blindfolded players were escorted into the room, one by one, and the game began. From the trailer, I already knew the room was hexagon in shape, hence the name of the room. Each side of the hexagon had a door, leading to one of the following: The entrance you came in, Nerd's room, Jock's room, etc. Detective was placed in the common hub in the center of the hexagon. Let's go over the visuals! As Detective, I was impressed by the decorations of the center hub. Everything was on par with an actual movie set. A+ work. As Detective, I was able to directly talk to and look at all my teammates as each door will have some type of opening, such as a mail slot, or a doggy door, you get the drift. All rooms I saw were fantastically themed and done with such impressive details, it actually made my relatively plain Detective room look mild. Again, A+! (As a side note, Detective and all characters, really, must be physically capable and mobile, so take that into account. For example, there is no way for you to talk through a doggy door without lowering your entire body down to the ground.) As you probably guessed by now, Detective's role is not largely puzzle based, but rather, to act as the communication guy for your other teammates. Detective had puzzles, too, but you gonna spend most of your time running back and forth, from door to door, to help all of your teammates out. You may need to help passing key items around. You may need to relay CLUES. So if you want to solve more puzzles, or just not good/quick leader, opt out from being Detective. Which leads me to: the clue system in this game. The Game Master would periodically call Detective via telephone to ask you if you want clues. You could accept or refuse. My group had people who are newbies, who completely froze, so I accepted. The number of calls made from the Game Master will vary based on your performance, I'd imagine. As the game progressed, I noticed that I had to give clues to certain members of my team more often than other. I also got a taste of what kind of puzzles were set up in each room. Some were more intellectual, some were more physical, some were "scary". All grade-A puzzles. To offer such a wide variety of puzzles, Cross Roads outdid their market peers. From the clues I was relaying, I knew the difficulty of each room was also unequal. Some rooms WERE easier than others. As members of my group escaped their rooms one by one, time was severely running out. I had all the pieces to bust out of the main room even, but we were hesitant to do so right away. The reason? "The Hex Room" has a 20% escape rate, which was what we were about to achieve. But if you solved your own personal bonus puzzle known as Hex Box, you would be granted a medallion. Wearing the medallion while escaping the room grants you metaphorical survival in this horror movie based game. Only 5% of all participants achieve that. I desperately wanted to become that 5%, so good job to Cross Roads for coming up with this extra layer of challenge. Since we had a number of beginners, we were racing against time to escape. At the point when we were a door away from victory, only two of six players had opened up their Hex Boxes, the other 4 were still actively pondering on their Boxes. With only about 2 minutes left on the clock, I made the executive decision to escape the main room, leaving 4 Hex Boxes unsolved. So yeah, my group escaped with about 2 minutes left on the clock. (We did so with a massive amount of clues from the Game Master, I'd admit, however. Experienced players will not need as many clues, and would probably solve all 6 Hex Boxes, too.) Highly recommended. Now it's your turn to play. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

All whited out ▪ 60Out Escape Rooms (Marina Del Rey) GAME INFO COMPANY: 60Out Escape Rooms (Marina Del Rey) ADDRESS: 13336 Beach Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 GAME: Zen Room PREMISE: Welcome to your dream, After being put into a deep trance, you enter a room that is all white, blank, and a bit bizarre. Your mind has conjured a series of tricks and challenges that you must overcome to bring color back to this world. GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 02/03/2018: Having heard so many great stories about the 2 rooms I am doing today (Zen Room & Titanic), I was super hyped up to finally come play. Alas, my own experience did not live up to my expectations. First, in Zen, we played as slightly crazed patients stuck in an all-white dream world, and we had 60 minutes to bring back happiness and colors into our lives. Think psych patients mixed with unicorns. This game was non-linear, and had really creative puzzles that required the players to do pretty wacky things. It's genuinely an outside-the-box kinda experience. A lot less plug-and-chug with combo locks, and a lot more hands-on action-based sequences. That's Zen's pro. However, bad execution would make any innovative idea fall flat. A handful of puzzles worked exactly as they were intended to, and those are all good fun. THEN, there were some that didn't quite work because it took a leap in logic that even when players got the right idea, and were in the right direction, it won't quite work because they didn't do it just quite right. For such instances, I could shrug them off as my team's being stupid, or just incidentally incompetent today. Not 60Out's fault; fair enough. THENNNNN, there were gadgets that just simply did not work. They just flat out. DID. NOT. WORK. Period. There were sensors that had to be placed/aimed/aligned EXACTLY on point, and that's a little too excessive and demanding. Without the game master's gentle nudge, we wouldn't have known that we did the right thing, just that the sensitivity of the tech is low. That to me, it's faulty design. Even more so painfully, there was a key that couldn't enter the key hole because the hole was jammed. Now... for an escape game, a genre based on unlocking things... C'mon. We spent a great deal of time wondering why we couldn't unlock a door with a simple metal key. And our gm couldn't believe it, either. She came in to confirm that the key hole was jammed, & our game was completed without actual completion. Understandably, that ruined both our game feel and finishing time, and we didn't get a dramatic/climatic finish to our game as I'd hoped. If I recall correctly, this happened to some other Yelper(s) also... So, with all due respect, PLEASE. FIX. THIS. After Zen, my friend told me, for the first time ever, "I did not enjoy myself in that room." Sure, we "escaped", but the thrill was missing. Titanic was next, since we booked 2 rooms back-to-back, and it was a much better improvement! Story: You have 60 minutes to save Titanic from sinking, duh. This linear room supposedly won many awards, and I understood why. Visuals, pretty on point. Things were relatively clean and well-maintained, and the puzzles were again, creative. Given, they were not difficult, but it's always refreshing to see puzzles that didn't require unlocking padlocks. I enjoyed myself a lot more in this game. The feeling of great gaming is back. I've read from another review that, Titanic's puzzles/solutions felt in tune with the backstory, and each step fit quite nicely into the theme of fixing the ship and saving the passengers on board. I totally agree. This level of immersion helped create and maintain a more complete game play, and you would have a sense of purpose and urgency during a make-believe tale. For this, applause. Sadly, since we were conditioned by Zen to think this room could've been reset with errors too, we asked our gm for a confirmation if a certain prop was missing. It wasn't. But it felt that way. Looking back, it was intentional and was justified within the story line. I just wanted to point this out because of a bad game prior, there is lingering doubt in our minds if this room was fully functional or not. In fact, there was maybe 1 tech hiccup (involving metal sensors) in Titanic also, but it wasn't as big of a deal. Actually, the rest of the game went so smoothly, we busted outta there in 27 minutes. The game actually felt short. We were like, "That's it? It can't be! We want more!" Either we were getting really good at escape rooms, or maybe this room could benefit from an additional 3-4 puzzles, perhaps. Even 1-2 would be welcome! For both games, if you want a clue, you would talk to your gm via an intercom system. This worked well for Zen, since doctors would potentially communicate with locked-up patients the same way. But for Titanic, which took place in 1910s, it felt out of place? All above factors considered, both rooms combined deserved 3.5 to 3.75 stars. Rounded up to 4 for Yelp. Had the rooms been perfectly functional they way they should, and if you judge them just by designs, theoretically, they are great family fun. Basing on today's actual experience though, I am more like "eh". It's far from terrible, but I know 60Out shoots for excellence, and it just missed the mark. Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

Merry Krampus, everyone. Hope you didn't die. ▪ 60Out Escape Rooms (Downtown) GAME INFO LOCATION: 60Out Escape Rooms (Downtown) ADDRESS: 2284 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90007 GAME: The Krampus PREMISE: Your investigation has brought you to the morbidly festive apartment of the Krampus Killer. But what will happen to you when the suspect is more myth than man? Escape his lair before he returns or you will have one Hell of a Christmas. GAME REVIEW Here is a carbon copy of my Yelp review, posted originally on 12/23/2017: My group thought it'd be fun to do a Christmas themed game "Krampus" around Christmas time, and we were right! (This room would be fun any time of the year, though.) The premise: you're sent by the PD to investigate the disappearance of children. The Krampus killer has trapped them all inside this apartment, and it's your job to (possibly) rescue them out within an hour... or face Krampus's return home. Ok, so the story is the yoush, with Xmas twist. What set this room apart from others was definitely the scary factor! 60out actually tried very hard to make you believe the killer was around the corner, ready to strike. I had done two other horror themed rooms before, and while they were creepy, they weren't scary. I never really had the feeling that an actual killer (or anything, for that matter) may jump out at me. Those previous rooms didn't make me scream. Krampus, however, made me scream 3 to 4 times. So! If you're looking to do an actually fear-inducing room, THIS. IS. IT. DO IT! What made me scream? Krampus was littered with sensory effects that are thrown at you at various points of the game. These could be, but not limited to, sounds, lighting, and a few other surprises. To be a little more specific: this room took advantage of the natural fear of darkness (or minimal light sources) very effectively. This, along with few other tricks, was the main reason why I would recommend this room. The fact that these effects made me feel completely immersed in the story line, making my heart pump and my mind uneasy, was admission-worthy. Every time a room is able to successfully toy with my emotions in a good way, thumbs up! Let's move on to the visuals. To date, I've only been to quality escape rooms, and the props in previous rooms were all well maintained and "movie quality". As to Krampus... well, Krampus tried. If the goal here was to create a dread-filled apartment, then they'd succeeded. With that said, the props were somewhat run down and old. While this may not interfere with the theme, per se, I would appreciate their looking that way without *actually* being run down and old. Many items were worn out due to overuse. One or two key items actually smelled kinda bad. If 60out can Lysol everything down regularly, and rid of any yucky smell, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. Regular upkeeps of key items would also be super! The puzzles themselves were not hard. Fun, but not hard, somewhat formulaic. As someone who's familiar with escape room puzzles, I could confidently solve most of these without much struggling. One particular puzzle, however, was oddly physical, and it's my favorite task of the game. It really worked out my arms. All in all, these are decent puzzles, and fit for a broad range of audience. For the sake of reviewing, I'd say this room could benefit from making the puzzles a tad harder, or fill the room with maybe 2 or 3 more puzzles for the main story portion... ...that's because the room actually contained "a bonus section". The bonus puzzles are entirely optional, but they do grant the players an actual prize item upon exiting the room. However, here's where it got tricky: I personally felt like there really wasn't enough time to solve both the main story puzzles and the bonus puzzles. The bonus part was actually quite long and complex, and would take up much time to complete, which was unconventional for anything "bonus". So you can kinda either do the main story puzzles really, really fast, then solve the bonus ones, then escape? Or more realistically, you kinda work on the bonus ones, risk on running out of time, give up, and escape anyway? I think that's what the owners wanted us to do. They wanted to us to continually solve puzzles at our own time, but still have the option to escape at any given time, since the main story puzzles can be completed quite swiftly. Whatever the case was, I think there could be some tweaking that make this whole experience even more rewarding. In-game clue system was simple, direct, and immersive enough. Our group actually used 2 hints due to our being completely blind and failing to find one key item (TWICE! Hence, the 2 hints!), which got us stuck for quite some time. So, my fellow escapers, look at every inch of this room carefully! Lastly, I thank the staff for being friendly and well trained. My 5th member of the group couldn't attend due to the flu, and my game master automatically provided a partial refund without my asking. I was actually under the impression that there'd be no refund at all! When the game was done, he also took great patience to help us take very decent pictures. My entire experience was enhanced by such professionalism. Again, thumbs up! Signing off, ESCAPE MATTSTER Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster