Norwegian Cruise Lines - Escape the Big Top

This is one of the oddest escape experiences I've had - an escape game with 100 people (10 teams of 10). Each team got the same clues and same puzzles and raced to break the spell using the clues on their table and those around the room. When we walked in, I was skeptical, but really each group was so wrapped up in their own solution that it wasn't a problem. Our team won and broke the spell for everyone - we had a great randomly assigned team for this adventure.

Price:N/AN/A

Theme:★★It is hard to really talk about this because it was an escape room setup in a bar on a cruise ship. However, they did the best they could in the space they had.

Quality:★★★This was pretty neat - we only had one broken thing, and it was a red herring so it didn't matter.

Difficulty:★★Some of these puzzles were super quick, and some took a bit more effort. We had a great team who dove right into it.

Fun:★★★★The environment was very hectic and competitive and fun. With a circus theme, it would be hard not to be.

With:10 peopleCJ, Evan, Judy, Lesley (plus six others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰N/a (not tracked)

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A Room With A Clue - The Treehouse

This is a fun location and there is a lot to do in the area - dinner before the room, music in the bars nearby. It also lead to a lot of walk-ins, which is a nice thing I hadn't seen at most escape rooms. The lobby is fun and the staff is friendly. And the room was a good time - even with the difficult puzzles we enjoyed the experience.

Price:$$$29 per person

Theme:★★★★★This was so nicely done - you really feel like a kid would love this type of tree house. Even I would like to spend time in a room like this.

Quality:★★★Nicely done - everything worked and was well designed. Our difficulties (especially with on of the puzzles) were our own skill levels.

Difficulty:★★★A couple of the puzzles were quite challenging - nothing was easy in this room. But it was all doable and played to the skills of everyone in the room.

Fun:★★★This room is just fun - the theme sets that up from the start. We had a good time and enjoyed the theme, the puzzles, and the couple that joined us in the challenge.

With:4 peopleEvan, Judy (with two others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰Not available

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Red Door Escape Room Plano - The Ruins

...I have liked their rooms at the location in Grapevine, so I was really hoping to enjoy this room as much. Overall, it was okay, but it was also very much a mystery what to do at various points. Luckily, we were all willing to try things multiple ways to come up with a solution, because I can recall at least two puzzles that we had to try a lot even after getting clues. I loved the decor and the person running to room for us, and the two folks who joined us were great. But overall...I just left a little let down.

Price:$$$28 per person (coupon available)

Theme:★★★★This room looks good, especially when you hear how much time they spent making some of the elements in it. This is one of the better looking ruins-related rooms we've been in.

Quality:★★★Everything was in great shape when we went (around opening of the room), although some items were unclear what to do.

Difficulty:★★★★This was hard for us for a couple of reasons. First, some of the puzzles really didn't make sense or match up well to clues given in the room or from the staff. Second, we tend to miss hidden things.

Fun:★There were a couple of puzzles that were pretty fun, but overall this experience relied on too many things that were confusing and frustrating.

With:4 peopleEvan, Judy (with two others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰Not available

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Conundrum - Story Teller

After completing a room earlier in the day, we came back to test a new room that was opening (and is now open) the next week. Even though there were still a few small things they were working on (which have since been finished and look awesome), we found this room great. We love rooms where we both have things we can keep busy with through out and cater to both our different skill sets, and this room delivers on both counts. Very happy we went back to do this one, as it was a perfect end to the day.

Price:N/AN/A

Theme:★★★★A neat story gives a different purpose to the experience than normal and the room is neatly decorated to go along with the story.

Quality:★★★This is well put together, and great for groups of any size (with the exception of one puzzle, which is a little difficult for two people to do alone).

Difficulty:★★★Perfect amount of challenge to keep everyone engaged, especially as there are plenty of things to do as you go along.

Fun:★★★★I don't know what it is, but this room made the nerd in me very happy and also made me feel very smart.

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰Not tracked; beta testing

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Conundrum - Double Agent

Finally a good escape room in the HEB area. We have done a bunch of escape rooms all over the US and this is a top room. We've done both double agent and the story teller and found them both very well organized, challenging, but solvable.

The rooms have multiple paths and several things going on at once. This is not a room where you're all staring at one person undoing a lock - you can split up and also work together in groups. I hate it when I'm standing around while someone else is solving the only puzzle - this room avoids that. It still requires team work to solve some things. There are no silly puzzles and the room has a logical flow. This is not a room with 20 4 digit locks where you don't know what number goes into each lock. You spend your time solving puzzles and making progress through the room, not just constantly trying combos into locks.

The owners and staff are excellent and make sure that you're having a good time. They are careful to not give away the puzzles when giving hints, but still help you along if you ask for it. We found that their level of assistance was perfect for what we requested and we were still able to solve the puzzles with a couple of nudges in the right direction.

This would be a great escape room for either newbies or experienced escapers. The staff is willing to adjust the nudge/hint level based on your request which is nice.

Price:$$$28 per person (coupon available on their website)

Theme:★★★★★This is neat - they did a great jobs finding things to put in this room that make you feel like you are a part of the story.

Quality:★★★★★Everything worked so well, except when we missed obvious things a couple of times. The puzzles were spot on and great once we figured them out.

Difficulty:★★★This room has some great challenges and a wide variety of puzzles, which is perfect for Evan and I since we are both good at different things.

Fun:★★★★★So many neat things in here and some fun puzzles inside. We had a great time (and came back later in the day as a result for their other room).

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰05:36

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Escape HQ Las Colinas - Corporation of DOOM

We decided to complete all of their rooms at this location (which is great and also kind of sad). I think of the three here, this was (sadly) my least favorite. I really blame hubby and myself for some of that, but there were things in the room that did not help with that. However, we had a good time, did a super cool puzzle (really - I wish I could share - but no spoilers - it was just so awesome).

Price:$$$35 per person (had coupon)

Theme:★★★Neat theme, and neat idea. I liked the progression of the story and the way it wrapped up at the end.

Quality:★★This was good, but at least one puzzle was almost impossible for us and required help because of our bad memories.

Difficulty:★★There were some hard things in here, not necessarily because they were hard, but because we kept jumping around and out of order and forgetting things we'd already done.

Fun:★★★There are some puzzles in here that made this extremely fun - I can honestly say I saw things that I've never seen in another escape to date.

With:2 peopleEvan, Judy

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰02:21

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Escape HQ Las Colinas - Country Club Heist

This is an example of three groups coming together with very different experience levels and each doing a great job. There are things in the room for people of all skill levels, and enough clues to guide you to completion if there are things you get stuck on. The room is well put together, even though I wasn't too crazy of the theme going in, but I've heard good things about the room from others, and I like their other escape games.

Price:$$$30 per person

Theme:★★★★This was good - I was wondering how they'd make this happen and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Quality:★★★This was in pretty good order - but you can tell from the pre-game talk that they've prepared for the idea that folks may try and break things.

Difficulty:★★There were some good puzzles here - sadly, there was just a lot going on, a big group, and I didn't catch everything that we did.

Fun:★★★So, golf is not really my cup of tea, so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did.

With:8 peopleEvan, Judy (with six others)

Outcome:☺Win

Time Left:⏰16:28

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