i-Exit - Party at the Studio

It could have been nice to have more folks in here with us, but we still managed to succeed despite probably looking like fools while we stared at the unimportant things and missed the important ones. It was an interesting time, and we succeeded, but I think that it was a little less than enthusiastically.

Price:$$$30 CAD per person

Theme:★★★★The room goes along very well with the back story for the room.

Quality:★★★Nicely built and maintained - we did have to try one or two things a couple of times.

Difficulty:★★★We had a hard time getting started, and even then things were very stop and go.

Fun:★★While some parts were fun, some were frustrating - very frustrating.

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰9:22

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Find & Seek - Chapter 2: The Curse of Madame Zita's Curiosities

We got paired up with a great group and had a fun time in the room together. Everyone was willing to try things out until we came up with solutions, and it worked out well because we made it to number five on the leader board for this room!

Price:$$$26 CAD per person

Theme:★★★This is so quirky and fun - well built out and neat.

Quality:★★★★Things are well put together and everything worked exactly as it should (once we found out how it should).

Difficulty:★★Some nice treats in here - some of the clues are obvious early on and others build over time. Something for everyone.

Fun:★★★We had a great time - there was just so much going on, and the decor is neat and goes great with the theme.

With:7 peopleEvan, Judy (with five others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰Not available

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Smarty Pantz - Spies & Lies

I think we've stopped by here the last few times we've been in Vancouver, and I'm glad there are still some rooms here for us to look forward to on our next trip, too. We have had such great experiences here - their rooms are good, and the staff is amazing. This room is another good example of this - from the very beginning we had a good time and had a great introduction to the story (you will see it below - I laughed a LOT). Well thought out from start to finish, along with a puzzle in here that I think is one of Evan's favorite across all the rooms we've done (he lit up as soon as he figured out what to do with it).

Price:$$$25 CAD per person

Theme:★★★★★The theme is great, and made even better by the employees. Just...I am smiling now thinking about it.

Quality:★★★★So much attention to detail.

Difficulty:★★This was overall fairly easy to follow along to, assuming that you or your spouse doesn't leave something you need somewhere you don't think to look for it.

Fun:★★★★I laughed so hard at times that I couldn't breathe. Their staff did such a great job, especially with the introduction before we started, that I couldn't even answer questions they asked because I was laughing so hard.

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰9:22 (45 minute room)

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Escapology Las Vegas - Cuban Crisis

Having done some of escapology's other rooms in Orlando and know that both that location and this one were corporate owned, I expected a high level of quality and well made rooms. While they don't have much in the way of fancy computer controlled locks, their rooms are usually well play tested and efficiently run. It was just the two of us and my partner in crime had never been in an escape room before. We did escape with a little time left, but had to use hints. Nothing really stuck out as amazingly original, but it was a fun room.

With:2 peopleAnnie, Evan

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰6:42

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Escape Pro - The Hangover

We stopped by on a whim to see if they had any rooms, and we ended up in this one. Once inside, we immediately noticed the decor inside and laughed a bit with it and asked some questions about the props we'd be spending the next bit of time with. Overall, things were fairly easy, but the theme made things fun and glad to have stopped by (and then grabbed a drink next door).

Price:$$17.50 per person (used a coupon available at the time)

Theme:★★★★This made me laugh - it is a little risque for children, but I could imagine adults with an open mind quite enjoy this room.

Quality:★★★★Things worked great - and there were some nice things in there bring things together.

Difficulty:★★We are all quite experienced with escape rooms, so this was a breeze for us (but still fun).

Fun:★★★The theme and decoration really is what made this fun.

With:4 peopleDan, Evan, Judy, Meredith

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰33:18

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Downtown Escape Room: The Cabin

We made the trek up to Sherman with my parents for an afternoon out and some time together. We were joined in the room with a group of girls there for a birthday party, and we had fun working with them. Everyone thought about the puzzles differently, and it was super helpful to have so many points of view (as there was lot going on). We had a fun time in this room and hope to try another some time.

Price:$$$25 per person

Theme:★★★★This was well done - exactly what I'd expect from the story line.

Quality:★★This is mostly good, but there are a lot of broken things as well, one of which kept us distracted from what something was really for.

Difficulty:★★★★There is definitely some challenge here, with the overall theme of the room throwing in many things that weren't useful or were misleading.

Fun:★★★This was a little fun and a little scary. In fact, one of the girl's who started the room left a few minutes in and didn't rejoin because it was a little scary.

With:8 peopleBob, Evan, Judy, Linda (with four others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰4:46

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Breakout - Operation: Casino

This was another instance of finishing all the rooms at a location and it being a little bittersweet for me. This was, honestly, my least favorite theme for a room, but it was still fun given that I am a person that goes to Vegas and only goes to the casino to get outside faster. The puzzles were fun once we figured them out, and some were just fun anyways.

Price:$$$26 per person

Theme:★★★★This does a good job with the theme - a little bit of everything a casino might have.

Quality:★★★★Done well, and thing seemed to work great once we got our heads in the right place.

Difficulty:★★This is a little yes, and a little no. Yes because there were some fun things. No because I don't know the real rules to most casino games, which made it a little hard.

Fun:★★★I liked quite a few things about this room, but then there was the downside above that I don't love gambling so some parts not so much.

With:3 peopleList name of people here alpha order separated by commas.

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰20:23

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The Perfect Escape - O'Bannion's Safe

There are so many parts to this room, I don't know where to start. First, the decorations and props are great - even the door to the room adds to the design. We really had to pay attention to the clues along the way, and we did have a hard time figuring a few out because we were paying attention to the wrong things.

Price:$$$$30 per person

Theme:★★★★★There are such cool props and set pieces in here, and the story is well thought out. Each time we finished something, there was another surprise coming.

Quality:★★★★★Very nicely done and in great shape - love how well things worked.

Difficulty:★★★★Things really built on themselves over time - it started out very easy and then got more interesting and complex as we moved through.

Fun:★★★★At first, things seemed easy, but then they just got fun. Nice, creative puzzles and stories inside.

With:3 peopleEvan, Fred, Judy

Outcome:☺☹Win

Time Left:⏰18:07

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Escape the Sqaure - Frackin Earthquake

While a little bit of a drive for us, we do like the rooms here. We've had a good time in their rooms, and they have some good puzzles. This room in particular has a couple of very neat puzzles inside (and my husband asked a lot of questions about one because he likes nerdy things like this). Very glad to go out and give this a try - worth it!

Price:$$$27.06 per person (with coupon)

Theme:★★I am not certain I follow the theme, but that didn't detract from the experience.

Quality:★★★Everything is in working order and does well (once you figure out what it is for).

Difficulty:★★★★★There were a few easy puzzles, but mostly you will have to use your brain in here. And for one of the puzzles, Evan and I both tried at least five minutes each before we used a clue to get the answer from it.

Fun:★★The ideas behind this are fun, and I think parts of this room were fun (Evan really liked some of the nerdy things).

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰4:46

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Escape This - Heist

A nice thing about this room is that I think we all had something to do, and while I still don't know how everyone did everything, it came together well in the end. It is super nice going in with a group that you trust to just figure things out and to ask for help when they need it. There were some fun puzzles inside, and we did have a fun time getting out.

Price:$$$29 per person

Theme:★★I think overall that the room did go okay with the story, but it was a little boring.

Quality:★★★Everything that needed to work, worked, but there were a few broken items (including one that we broke accidentally when doing something we had to do to win the room...).

Difficulty:★★★Some of these puzzles where tricky little things, and we really liked the combination of puzzles in the room.

Fun:★There was so much going on, there was never a dull moment.

With:4 peopleAndrew, Evan, Judy, Tony

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰2:31

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1 Hour To Escape - The Study

We've liked the rooms here quite a bit - each has some neat things inside and the employees are fantastic to work with. This room in particular was well thought out and has some pretty good puzzles inside (if you pay enough attention to find them all). This was a harder room for us for a number of factors. First, I just had a long day and then doing this later in the evening, I may not have been at the top of my game. Second, there was a lot for a group of two, and we would have fared better with a larger group. In any case, I know I came across as a little irritated after this, but much more at myself than anything else.

Price:$$$27 per person

Theme:★★★This was pretty neat, if a little eccentric.

Quality:★★There were a few broken things in the room, which for the most part did not have any impact on the overall experience.

Difficulty:★★★★This is very hard for two people alone, mainly because we just missed things that either we completely skipped or stared at a bit.

Fun:★★★There are a couple of really neat things in here - I wish I could do them justice, but to do so I'd probably have to give it away. On the other hand, I was a little frustrated because we should have listened when they said it was too much for two people before we went in.

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☹Loss

Time Left:⏰N/A

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Room Escape Adventures - Escape an 80s Dance Party

If you know the 80s, you will have fun here. If not, you may still have fun, but some things were so from the 80s that a couple of the folks in the room with us didn't know what they were. Either way, it is a fun room and we enjoyed ourselves. We could even hears the screams of others in other rooms with the zombies (although there is definitely not a zombie in this room).

Price:$$$28 per person

Theme:★★★★★This was such a fun theme - so many 80s memories in here, and the puzzles really play off of that.

Quality:★★This was a little strange - overall, it worked well, but it seemed like without the actor, that there were things that may not have worked.

Difficulty:★★How neat - there are puzzles in here I will never forget, although none were too difficult.

Fun:★★★★★Being an 80s baby, so many of these things were familiar to me and I loved the energy of the room. Having a person in the room with us was also quite fun.

With:5 peopleEvan, Judy (with three others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰17:04

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The Escape Game Dallas - Gold Rush

This was an interesting experience from start to finish. We had a group of eight - 4 couples who didn't know each other going in AND with language differences. Thankfully, this ended up being a good group and we all understood each other enough to get through the puzzles. Despite some of the issues noted below, we had a good time and were able to make it out in time.

Price:$$$31.99 per person

Theme:★★★★★Very neat - so many things put together some very good spaces, and the puzzles go great with the theme.

Quality:★A couple of these puzzles just didn't work for us - we had to use a clue to get an answer to one because it didn't work, and another came apart after we'd solved it and made a mess.

Difficulty:★★Generally, the puzzles were pretty easy once you figured out what did what.

Fun:★★★This was a good time once we got along the right track. There are some pretty neat puzzles and the group we were with was fun.

With:8 peopleEvan, Judy (with six others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰Not available

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1 Hour to Escape - Spy vs. Spy

We finished this room so quickly and with so much energy that it was a really great experience. I was worried having such a large group in there, but it just made finding and solving things so fast. And while the room itself was fun, we had an extra bonus at the end of the room - a challenge box. Once we finished the room, they gave us a box to solve and we finished that with four minutes of our original time left - two in less than the time of one.

Price:$$$27 per person

Theme:★★★Some of these props we so spot on - I wish I could share because on of the main puzzles just has the neatest prop that is hard to look away from.

Quality:★★★★Great job with the quality of the room - I loved how things worked together. The only thing I would say is there was a puzzle that was hard to get to work because we didn't follow instructions right away.

Difficulty:★★This was pretty simple overall, but there were some fun puzzles inside to keep it engaging.

Fun:★★★★★This was such a fun time - we love the group that we worked with on this and everyone contributed in some way.

With:10 peopleEvan, Judy (with eight others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰22:01

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1 Hour to Escape - The Bank Heist

We had heard a lot about this room from friends and finally we made it happen for us, too. Good thing - this has such a great approach and was a nice change for us from the normal. And enough things to do, some great puzzles, and a fun couple to be paired up with. Everything we heard was true and this was a blast!

Price:$$$27 per person

Theme:★★★★Such a neat idea - let's go rob a (fake) bank tonight.

Quality:★★★I was very surprised by how well everything was working - if you ever go through and see the props in the room, maybe you'll understand. However, well well maintained!

Difficulty:★★★★Really, there is a great mix in this room, but some puzzles were trickier and new to us so took some time. Also, we apparently cannot read and that held us up.

Fun:★★★★★We had a lot of fun in this room - so many things to do!

With:4 peopleEvan, Judy (with two others)

Outcome:☺Won $655,000

Time Left:⏰N/A

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Red Door Escape Room Plano - Encounter

I was very disappointed here - there was a lot of promise at the start, but quickly we just began guessing and hoping for the answer. For the mostly part, we had a very difficult time knowing we'd even finished a puzzle, and most of the time we didn't know how we'd done it. It was frustrating, and the other couple we were with were equally frustrated. At the end, in the parking lot, we all just stared at each other like...well, what the heck was that?

Price:$$$28 per person

Theme:★★★★This really looks nice inside. All parts are in line with the theme of the room.

Quality:★★things are mostly in order, but there was something broken for us that made it difficult to solve a puzzle, and we had to ask the staff about it after five minutes before getting assistance.

Difficulty:★★★★This is hard, the puzzles are slightly ambiguous, and I still do not know how we solved a majority of this room. We would get something and not realize how or even that we had.

Fun:★Not really. There was a period of time that I stood by the wall staring and Evan had to ask me to participate again. This was just so much guess work that it was not a fun time.

With:4 peopleEvan, Judy (with two others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰03:12

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