This is our first escape room together (Ben had done other ones in Edmonton before, while I hadn’t). I had imagined escape room locations to be massive warehouses with high ceilings and spacious rooms. When I got to the lobby, I thought it was small and was sure there was more. Alas, I was wrong.

I don’t remember the service being exceptional, but I learned a lot from the staff’s debriefing and video, so that’s good enough.

I don’t remember a lot since we did this room a while back, but I do remember that we got the friendly and efficient service that is typical of the staff at The Locked Room.

If I’m being honest, I’m probably not fit to review the puzzles in this room for a couple of reasons. One, this was my first escape room so I didn’t know what I was doing, except stand around and pretend to be busy (I did complete the physical puzzle in this room which I thought was unique). Two, we went with strangers who pretty much just kept to themselves and did not communicate what they were doing. We were left in the dark for more than half the time.

However, from what I do remember (by watching other people do the work), the puzzles were creative. After having since done so many rooms at The Locked Room, I find that their puzzles are similar in a lot of ways. The creative aspect stems from the way they manipulate props to adhere to the theme.

I did a couple of escape rooms in Edmonton back when they were super new, so the bar wasn’t set very high yet. That said, my mind was blown with how creative some of these puzzles are! There was one puzzle in particular that I really appreciated that approached puzzles in a very different way than I had seen before.

We were a group of six (two being total strangers who joined our party at the last minute), and this room was definitely too small for that many people. Looking back, I also remember feeling betrayed because I felt so excited reading the description and seeing the poster from the website–we would be trapped in a wine cellar with stacks of barrels–but when we got to the actual room, it was nothing like the poster. Lesson learned after my first escape room experience: The poster does not reflect how the actual room looks.

Overall, the room looked ordinary with the usual drawers, cabinets, and other escape room staples–and only moderately resembled a wine cellar.

The room felt a little bit disjointed to me – there were the usual suspects (drawers, cabinets) along with some wine-related furniture, but it didn’t feel as cohesive as it could have been.

This room is also quite small, so if you have a larger group, it might get a bit squishy.

I remember frantically searching for things in the dark, even though I didn’t know what I should be looking for. I was also very much into that one physical puzzle that I did manage to finish which took a lot of time.

I honestly don’t remember what the music is like, but I do remember feeling very engrossed in the puzzles here.

Another reliable thing about The Locked Room is how they always stay loyal to the theme. This one is no different. Expect to encounter puzzles associated with wine.

For me, the theme was a bit disjointed, a little bit like the look. With respect to how thematically appropriate the puzzles were, there were some hits and some misses. For the most part though, the room was true to the theme.

This gets a #gold rating. Even though we had a less-than-satisfying experience, this was a good introduction to the escape room scene. I would also say this room is appropriate for a maximum of four people.

I’m giving this a #gold rating. Take this rating with a grain of salt though, since it’s been a while since we’ve done the room!