Our gamemaster was eager–maybe a bit too eager. He started with the usual “Have you done any escape rooms before?” We answered with a yes but he proceeded with the longest spiel of the rules and how escape rooms work.

They got us in and out quickly and took the time to answer our questions at the end. There was an instance where someone had to come in to manually activate something for us because there was a piece of tech that wasn’t working, but they were able to spot it from their cameras without us having to call them in. Smooth!

The puzzles were a good mix of simple and straightforward, as well as complex and multi-layered. They leaned heavily on low-tech locks, true to Breakout Calgary’s form. There was enough creativity here for both rookies and pros.

The main highlight was a puzzle referencing Stranger Things. The execution was clever and the payoff was satisfying.

Overall, I think the puzzles here were a bit simple. There were a few that I wish had a few more steps to solve so that our group could have more to do since it felt very straightforward.

This is Breakout Calgary’s second residence-themed room (after Final Request). It’s set in a suburban apartment complete with the usual furniture staples.

It was cute enough. For a horror-themed room though, the room mostly stayed cute and didn’t transform into something more scary.

This room went for an older, vintage feeling. It was decorated accordingly, with some older furniture pieces and some old school wallpaper. A standout for me in this room was the lighting – I really liked how they played with it!

In terms of scares, this was on the milder end of the spectrum. There were jumps and screams from us, but that scared feeling did not linger throughout the room. We would let out a loud “AH!” sporadically but the room did not sustain its spooky atmosphere.

I loved how the tech was the driving force of this room – this definitely made it more immersive! Unfortunately, with tech comes tech problems, and although someone had to come in to fix our issue (and scared me in the process), they did it quickly and smoothly.

This was supposed to be a heist in a haunted mansion, but the story got a bit convoluted with the information you find in the room.

Who were the people missing? Why were there random body parts strewn across the room? Who was warning us to get out?

I’m very confused about this room’s theme. I felt like it was trying to do too much, so instead of having one strong and cohesive theme, it felt disjointed and undeveloped. I definitely think it would benefit from a bit of streamlining from the story perspective.

We got out in record time of 30 minutes (out of one hour) which led to a “Oh wow, that’s it?” feeling. While there were certainly jumps, this room could have upped the notch in terms of the scary factor because Breakout Calgary is capable of it. This room gets a #gold for being a good (but mild) horror offering.

I would give this room a #gold. There’s not a lot of scary rooms in Calgary, and while this one isn’t the best, I think it’s still a solid offering that’s worth a visit if you’re up for something spooky.

The folks at Cognito are always all genuine smiles. They even made escape room recommendations for other Canadian provinces.

Unlike our previous visit to do Sorcerer’s Academy, we actually arrived on time! They got us in quickly, and after the room they talked to us a bit about what their future plans are for Cognito. They were very friendly as always.

The puzzles leaned heavily on low-tech locks. While the concepts were mostly ordinary, there were moments of extraordinary creativity in terms of execution here. The puzzles were so deeply rooted into the environment and story that you would never think they were puzzles – this room definitely bamboozled me several times.

There was a nice variety of puzzles here, with some puzzle elements that made us interact with some pretty fun technology that we’ve never played with before! There was one puzzle that we got hung up on that unfortunately caused us to time out – it wasn’t completely unsolvable in hindsight but it was very tough in the moment!

My favorite part was the first portion of the room because of its highly (and deceptively) realistic appearance. The subsequent portions become progressively but appropriately bare.

This room was very clean in a way that made it easy to pick out what was for a puzzle and what wasn’t. At times, I felt that it was a bit too bare and that there could have been a bit more decor without adding in any red herrings.

Something happens at the very beginning of your experience that got me #shooketh. As soon as it happened, my proverbial wig came off and I could not get over how clever it was. I just sat there in awe of how they fooled me.  This highly realistic approach paved the way for the rest of the room.

This (and theme) is where Unmasked absolutely NAILED it! There was a strong story that pulled you along and I loved that there was appropriate music at a good volume, which is missing a surprising amount of the time. I also really liked the hint system! Another thing to note is that we weren’t given a super long spiel about the logistics (e.g., here is the hint button, you can leave when you want, etc.) but instead we found out about things ourselves as we went.

Reading the title “Unmasked” alone would probably have you wondering what the room is about. I thought it would be about modeling, with photoshoots and runway walking as puzzles.

However, it was none of that. What it was though was completely surprising. Go in blindly and let the story unfold in the room.

I mentioned above that the theme of this room was amazing, and I would definitely give this room higher than a 10 here if could! The theme is incredibly unique for an escape room, and it was definitely one of the draws for me to do the room. But what really stood out to me was the story. Unlike other rooms that might have a set story in place for the room, you don’t know much coming into this one. As you do the room, the story unfolds in an incredibly integrated and dynamic way – the decor, the puzzles, the hints, everything! It was just so well done!

This room gets an easy #diamond for prioritizing realism in the player experience. It loses steam in the middle but finishes with a bang. The substantial story and gripping immersion are enough for me to say that this is a must-try room.

Definitely a #diamond. Ask for hints if you need them so that you can get as far as you can! The ending is worth it!

Standard overall.

One thing that I know has been consistent with my visits to Confined has been the friendly service! I love going there – everyone has always been very welcoming and warm.

The puzzles played on the POTUS’s controversies in his campaign, speeches, and policies.

There were equal parts of humor and camp here. The puzzles were self-referential and the room never took itself seriously. However, while funny on paper, the humor and campiness fell flat in execution. The puzzles’ novelty factor wore thin and just became a series of references.

The puzzles were a confusing paradox: The room is built around the Trump product which is all about money and grandeur, yet the puzzle components felt cheap and consisted of Mr. Potato Head and Lego pieces.

I have to say that the solution to some of the puzzles in this room made me laugh out loud. It definitely helped to know a few of the more common ways in which Trump has been made fun of. You’ll need to be very observant in this room, since you need a keen eye to find all the pieces you need to solve certain puzzles!

Size-wise, some parts were tiny. Prop-wise, it was juvenile. Atmosphere-wise, it was unnecessarily dark.

Compared to Alice in 3D and Cabin Fever, this room wasn’t quite as incredible looking. That said, the setting of the theme isn’t something that is as inherently amazing as their previous two rooms. I thought that what was there did look good though – a bit standard, but good.

I smirked at the references, in an “Oh I get it” way. Beyond that though, the room didn’t carry much weight. I wish there was more as I felt the room had an overreliance on its theme.

What Confined is really good at is transporting you to another world with their decor. I thought that without the strength of a really good setting, I didn’t feel as drawn-in as in their previous rooms. To me, the puzzles also weren’t as engaging.

Tackling a public figure that is so omnipresent and current is a massive and brave undertaking. They get bonus points for offering another out-of-the-box theme, which is consistent with Confined’s other rooms. However, I’m not sure if there was any substance to the room other than escaping from Trump Tower.

 

This is definitely one of the most unique themes I’ve seen, and that theme was echoed consistently throughout the puzzles. It was nice to see something a bit lighter than the typical escape room thoroughfare (bank heists, secret labs, killers, etc.).

This room gets a rating of #silver. Underneath the smokescreen of having Trump as a theme, the room was a campy offering that never took itself seriously. The novelty eventually wore thin and substance was sorely missed.

I give this room a #gold. It wasn’t my favourite, but If you’re into something a little bit more campy, then give this room a shot!

A/Maze was one of the few anticipated debutant escape rooms of 2017. The owner talked to us about A/Maze being a fruit of his passion, relayed the details of how Cabaret Voltaire came to be, and teased us about their next room.

We noticed that there were no bookings at their next available slot, but it was an hour or so away, so we called to ask if we could just pop in and do the room ASAP. They were very accommodating and got us into the room as soon as we arrived.

The puzzles in Cabaret Voltaire were integrated seamlessly into the story. The story steps into the foreground and provides the framework for the puzzle progression.

There was creativity here in spades, as what seemed to be an innocuous object became necessary to move onto the next step.

What stood out to me about the puzzles here was how nicely they were integrated into the environment! There weren’t any boxes with locks on them lying around the room, which meant you had to do a bit more exploring. I thought that the real strength of this room was the puzzle progression. While there were lots of different types of puzzles to do, the way that the room guided you through them was intuitive and engaging.

I also loved some of the surprising and fun uses of tech in this room. I only wish that for some of the puzzles we completed, there was some sort of feedback (visual/audio/something) to let us know what we did.

The environment was gorgeous, thanks in particular to the large antique set pieces and a collection of small vintage curiosities that contributed to the overall atmosphere. Cabaret Voltaire transported us not only into a different space but also through time.

Cabaret Voltaire takes advantage of the Amaze building’s natural walls to great effect. Combined with the vintage decor, Amaze does a great job of bringing to life a believable setting. The excellent decor did highlight some props that didn’t fit in quite as well, but I don’t think I would have minded as much if the rest of the room didn’t look so nice!

This room spelled out the true meaning of breaking in. In an unprecedented twist, this room starts very abruptly and dares blur the line between reality and artificial immersion. (Deep-cut reference: I felt like Newt Scamander trying to figure out how to get into Gnarlack’s cabaret.)

Cabaret Voltaire started out subtly, but for a brief moment, the beginning made me go, “Where does the room start and where does real life end?!” …which may have been an overreaction on my part, but I thought the start was a fun idea that worked out really well.

The hint system and the background audio definitely kept the feeling of immersiveness going in the room. I did find that the audio was a bit loud at times though.

While most rooms have tacked on stories that get abandoned in-room, Cabaret Voltaire is the opposite: The introductory story was as convoluted as can be, but the room lets you explore and be engrossed in the story. The characters in this room were almost too real. A simple Wikipedia search would reveal historically accurate references found in this room.

I wasn’t aware of the theme before coming to the room. When our gamemaster was explaining it to us, I thought that the concept was interesting, and definitely unique. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of how the theme developed in the room. To me, it felt a bit like it was forcing the whole “escape or die” trope that is very common in escape rooms.

Also, looking back on the Amaze site, I’m not certain that the room’s description completely captured the feel of the room, but that could just be me.

This room gets a #diamond for daring to be unconventional and unfamiliar. Cabaret Voltaire is a bit of an acquired taste. This room would be perfect for escape room pros who crave something extraordinary. I’m still haunted by the room after several days.

I would definitely give this room a #diamond. It’s an incredibly polished room and the amount of work that Amaze put into this room is very obvious. If all their rooms are this good, they’re definitely a company to watch out for in Calgary!

Located on the outskirts of Kensington, Cognito is one of the surprise additions to the Calgary escape room scene in 2017. The gamemaster was gracious enough to let us play for extra time when we did not finish the room.

We got there REALLY REALLY late because of some terrible traffic, but they were very nice about it and we were still able to play! They’re also very friendly and nice to talk to.

The room’s meat is in the puzzles. What seemed to be a familiar display of escape room tropes, the puzzles delivered many surprises.

Designed to test your team’s individual solving skills, the puzzles catered to different strengths. It’s up to you and your friends to determine who would be most efficient at what station.

Not only were the puzzles creative, but the way that puzzles were organized and flowed was also fantastic. This room had a great system that allowed us to easily link a puzzle to the box it’s supposed to open. This made sure there weren’t any instances where we had a 3-digit combo, and countless 3-digit locks to try that combo in.

The room had a certain charm. What looked like a nondescript office was actually a magical one laden with little trinkets and knickknacks referencing Harry Potter, some of it clearly made, printed, and glued together on-site. There were some impressive pieces here. Some of it, though,  was a little rundown, fragile, and easily tearable.

I actually really liked how the room looked! The major pieces in the room looked pretty great, but there are some small details that didn’t look as nice (like Paulie mentioned, some visible glue, some pieces of paper that didn’t look very magical). The not-as-nice parts may have just been emphasized by what I thought was a good-looking room overall.

Without spoiling anything, Sorcerer’s Academy sends hints in a very unconventional but very thematic way. Owl be the first to say that I found it magical. (I wonder if this method works on Sundays?)

I’m not very punny, so I’ll just leave it at what Paulie said.

Yes, this is a biased rating due to my unabashed love for Harry Potter. It’s surprising how this is the first of its kind in Calgary/Edmonton. The folks at Cognito took accio-ed this theme and ran away apparated with it.

I love magic themes! This room in particular was about as close as you can get to Harry Potter without being a Harry Potter room.

Solid #platinum. Sorcerer’s Academy turned your standard bag of tricks inside out. If you’re seeking a magical fantasy escape room, this school is worth enrolling in.

#platinum! School is a drag without any friends, so bring a bunch! You’ll need them!

We received a warm welcome and an equally warm send-off.

Service was good – I especially appreciated how our hints were only small nudges.

 Padlock-heavy with sporadic technology, the puzzles relied on astute observations and brilliant connections. While the mechanics were standard, there were several moments of sheer creativity here. Make sure to solve every single puzzle to maximize your chances of getting the final meta-puzzle right.

What stood out to me about the puzzles in this room is that none of them were flashy but they were all very solid. There were lots of things to physically manipulate which I found to be a lot of fun.

My only qualm about the puzzles in this room is that the last puzzle could be solved in two different ways (but I’m not 100% sure).

Appropriately dungeon-y with the right amount of darkness and mystery, the room displays a variety of wooden and rustic props.

The first thing that I thought when we went into the room was that everything was too dark. My eyes did eventually adjust and I got to see the decor a little better. There wasn’t a lot but what was there contributed nicely to creating a medieval environment.

The room is a mix of linear and nonlinear progression, allowing for teamwork and individual successes. The unabashed use of darkness also paved the way for an atmospheric experience.

The most noticeable way that this room kept me immersed was the lack of a clock. Instead of looking at a digital clock that would have been out of place in this theme, we instead got the remaining time in 10-minute intervals from a built-in audio.

Theme is where the room somewhat falters. Advertised as a fairy tale, the room appeared to be more of a slice from an epic fantasy like Game of Thrones, with a raven and all.

I was hoping this room would tell a story but the puzzles were related only because they all followed the same theme. I also thought that this room was in between two themes and I couldn’t decide whether it was supposed to be more medieval or more fairy tale.

 I give this room a #platinum. This room promotes creativity amid familiar mechanics. Keep your eyes peeled and sharpen your anagram skills.

This room gets a #platinum. Don’t make the same mistakes that we did and make sure to look around really well.

Two disclaimers: 1.) Isabel will be writing the review for this room as Ben was dubious about the originality of the room and refused to pay again; 2.) Ben and I have done this room already when it was called “Ghost Ship“.

Consequently, I will be writing my review from the perspective of someone who’s done the 2016 versions of EXIT’s rooms, while Isabel from a fresh set of eyes.

The staff members were hospitable enough.

When we were unable to complete the room, they refused to show us what the remainder of the room would have been. This was the proverbial rubbing salt to the wound: I just paid money to do a room I was duped to do again under the lure it was going to be a new and original room–it wasn’t.

 ISABEL

Wow. I really liked Exit Calgary’s lobby. I hate feeling squished when waiting for a room to begin, that was not the case with this establishment. The lobby is pretty flashy but also quite comfortable, definitely made me want to spend time in there. Not going to lie, I got a bit more excited to do the room when I saw the lights and décor as we approached the establishment.

The gamemasters were pretty friendly upon arrival, making small chat but did not go above and beyond to make our experience there stand out from other companies.

The Lost Ship’s Buccaneer Bay’s puzzles were typical of EXIT’s puzzles: Solve a word  riddle and get the 4-word combination to open a lock; or look around the room and decipher some sort of pattern; or manipulate the order of the props and take a step back to see an ambiguous message.

There was beauty here, but it was blemished by improper setup and lazy quality control. There were hooks missing, hooks that wouldn’t stay on, manipulable clock hands that shouldn’t have been. This room was falling apart.

When brought up to the staff post-game, they sheepishly smirked and shrugged with a simple “Oh.”

The puzzles in this room definitely stuck to the theme of being on a pirate ship. They also had some clever puzzles that I haven’t seen in an escape room before, so kudos.

Having said that, there were a couple of different puzzles that weren’t set up properly for us during our escape. One of them was also missing a piece, which led to a lot of confusion and ultimately stopped us in our progress. It was pretty disappointing as it took away from the experience as a whole.

I let out a soft “damn” under my breath when the door first opened. As in–“Damn, this room looks exactly the same as The Lost Ship and I can’t believe I just wasted my money.”

This room gets a 4 in this area. Although there was some attempt at transforming it, the walls, ceilings, railings, cabinets, drawers, lights, and music are practically identical to what it looked before. #moneygrab

EXIT did a decent enough job designing the rooms to make you feel like you’re on a pirate ship. They designed the rooms to showcase different parts of the ship. It would be easy to get hung up on throwing you into a room cluttered with pirate bounty and leaving it at that.

There’s pirate music playing over the speakers while you complete this room. Beware, you may be tempted to grab a bottle o’ rum and pillage the gamemasters.

The Lost Ship was one of the best experiences Ben and I had in 2016. We were spooked and shooketh by how masterful the room married a chilling atmosphere with an unforgettable story and sensible puzzles. It was all there.

Needless to say I wasn’t into Buccaneer Bay.

As I mentioned before, we had some “technical difficulties” with some of the puzzle setup in our room. We ended up accidentally interacting with a part of the room that contained important information… when changed it was no longer able to give us the clue we needed.

If you’re going to have this in a room, make sure the object is glued down, covered, etc, in some way so that it can’t be altered.

Another one of our puzzles was missing a piece, which caused us to do the entire puzzle several times. These types of mistakes can make or break your experience in an escape room, so I was disappointed to experience this here.

We were completing this room with a first time escapee as well, so the issues that arose during the escape kind of left them with a mediocre first time experience.

Rewording the title of the room and tweaking the story doesn’t really count as substantial or meaningful changes.

The pirate ship theme remained the same–just attached to an inferior room.

Pirates. Bloody pirates.

I’m not really blown away by this general theme anymore (thanks a lot Obama… I mean, Disney). I know it lends itself to escape rooms and Exit did a nice job of tailoring their puzzles to the whole pirate theme, but I’m a little less drawn to generic room themes now that I’ve seen some pretty stellar original ideas. 

I give this room a #coal – if you’ve done The Lost Ship: It was like watching a low-quality sequel?… an unnecessary reboot?… an inferior remake? to a favorite movie you’ve already seen and experienced. There’s no point going through it again.

This gets a #silver. I can’t really get past the issues with the room setup, it’s a peeve of mine because it takes away from the experience as a whole… and, well, makes it difficult to escape.

You can tell EXIT has worked hard to put this room together, but a room falls short if you have setup issues, in my opinion.

Trapped finally had their highly anticipated opening in spring this year. Located in busy Kensington, they feature an impressive multi-floor facility. The service was off for a few reasons: Construction was ongoing next door so all we could hear was drilling and hammering. One of the doors leading to the next room was already open when we first entered our room, leading to unnecessary confusion from our part. We also had to waste time and wait for a replacement lamp.

We went to Trapped a couple of days after their official opening day. When we arrived, we found out that we had actually booked the wrong day, but the staff were very accommodating in getting us into the room regardless. Like Paulie mentioned above, there were some issues with the reset and one of our lamps, but overall, I appreciate their effort to accommodate us a day in advance.

…what puzzles?

For a room that showcases a massive size and space, the puzzles here were basically nonexistent. We got to the second room and it was nothing but a scavenger hunt for two small objects. Their minimum player count of 4 is bogus.

There was unfortunately not a lot to do in this room. We had some nice puzzles right at the start, but we quickly found out that there wasn’t a lot more as we progressed. I think there was also one puzzle that needed some outside knowledge relating to Indiana Jones.

It resembled a room that you would find at Universal Studios, or a set to a big-budget blockbuster movie.

What the room lacked in puzzles, it made up for in its decor. Even the walls in this room looked great! I just wish that we would have been able to interact with more of the decor in a puzzle.

My disappointment with each succeeding puzzle we solve just continued to build up. The room ended on a whimper rather than a bang.

I personally did not feel too pressured to complete this room. Part of what took me out of immersion was the feeling of “that’s it?” after completing one part or puzzle.

An anemic attempt at an Indiana Jones-type theme. It was like being presented a beautiful sarcophagus and opening it with nothing of value inside.

It did look appropriately pyramid-like, but the connections between the theme and puzzles were quite weak.

This room gets a #bronze rating. With so much hype around Trapped, this first room we tried was such a disappointment. Go to admire the production value, but don’t go to solve puzzles and have fun.

I’m giving this a #bronze.  It might be good for a first-time escape room goer, but the lack of puzzles really was quite disappointing.

The folks at Arcadia Adventures are always very professional and courteous. The one shortcoming was when we asked them to explain a puzzle we weren’t able to solve at the end. It took two people to finally provide the solution.

They got us in and out quickly and efficiently while still being friendly.

The puzzles started strongly. That initial quality remained consistent throughout our side of the room.

They weren’t groundbreaking by any means. If you’ve done a few escape rooms, you’ll recognize the mechanics for most of the puzzles. What it lacked in originality it more than made up for in variety. There was enough here to appeal to everyone’s strengths in your group.

Like A Golden Acquisition, there was a good variety of puzzles here that kept you thinking in different ways. My side had a puzzle that needed some outside knowledge, which I’m not a fan of because it skews the difficulty of the room depending on whether or not your group knows the answer. That said, I thought that the rest of the puzzles were interesting and well-executed enough to look past the one outside knowledge puzzle!

When we opened the door on our side, we were immediately taken outdoors. Few rooms attempt this setting and even fewer succeed. This is in the success category. The room had an overall eerie feel that lingered in the air. As zombies who were supposed to do the spooking, we were spooked.

Our side did look appropriately lab-like, but I felt like there was something missing. It was the typical scary clinical setting, but I didn’t find that there was anything that set it apart from other similar “escape the lab” themes.

This is a room that aims to accomplish two things: Create a spooky atmosphere and create a sense of competition between the two teams.

They succeeded with the atmosphere part. I wish they made the competition aspect a bit more prominent. It was almost nonexistent in our experience. We were told it was player vs player at the start. When we were actually in the room, we already  forgot the other team was competing with us.

I agree with Paulie – there wasn’t anything in the room that made it feel like it was a competition other than the initial story blurb. It would have been great to hear some zombie noises or something every once in awhile to remind us that there are, in fact, zombies on the other side of the lab door.

Zombies vs scientists was a highly original twist. It was easy to just sell this as a PVP room and forget about the story. I appreciate that they were able to incorporate thematic elements into this type of game mechanic.

The theming in this room was great. The puzzles were all relevant and I loved how the room ended. It was fun, memorable, and satisfying, which I think isn’t very common in escape rooms!

 This room gets a #platinum. PVP rooms are always tricky because your group will always emerge with two different experiences. Although we were on the losing side, we still had a great time. Definitely try this room if you’re getting weary of the cooperative nature of escape rooms.

I give this room a #platinum. I don’t know what the end looks like for the zombies’ side, but I have to say that the end for the scientists is a lot of fun!