July
04
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The [?] Adventure – The Parent Trap
The [?] Adventure is located in downtown Hamilton. We made the trip out to Hamilton with our friends Errol, Manda and a special guest. We have been meaning to visit for a while, because one of the GMs is a friend of ours, GM Mike (who we’ve played a few rooms with). The facility is well lit and has some interesting design choices, like a huge chalkboard where you define the “[?]” in your Adventure (in our case it was the Diva Adventure). They also have a very cool looking leaderboard and even the design of the venue has a good flow to it. After a brief intro we were brought into their first room the Parent Trap.
Creativity and Design (aka its Fancy level): – Was it inventive ? Did it fit the theme?
Score : 3.5 of 5.0
The story goes that you are recruited by Steph’s parents to find out her secret.
The room feels like a teenagers bedroom, which is what the GMs were trying to accomplish. The set design had your standard bedroom furniture with some nice details that give it character. The only thing that stuck out in the room was one technical component, which i’ll explain later.
A minor disagreement from the group comes over whether a teenager’s room would be messy or clean (which this room was absurdly tidy, but not a reason for critique). Also the story notes that Steph is a borderline genius.. I feel the reason is she has an unhealthy obsession with the Olsen twins.
Bells and Whistles: Was it just lockboxes throughout the Room?
Score: 3.5 of 5.0
The room is pretty simple with traditional forms of tech and one interesting element. I wished the interesting element had some slight tweaks in an immersive point of view (to fit in the room better). It was required to be activated and then setup very specifically to get the correct answer. Luckily we had no issues with it, but we feel these tweaks will go a long way with the room.
Intuitive (aka Frustration Level): Did you have to be in the designers mind to escape?
Score: 3.0 of 5.0
The puzzles didn’t require any major logical leaps however there were red herrings. For enthusiasts (who are thorough like us) searching was a bit laborious, as there were quite a number props to filter through (however a good chunk of the searching was through books, which as you know we hate).
The hint system involved texting back and forth with the gamemaster. We didn’t have have any issues with it.
Staff Support/Price : Were they friendly? Were they helpful? What was the Damage?
We have played a number of good-to-awful escapes with GM Mike, who is an expert escaper (his team has escaped more than 20 and lost twice). After powering through a number of Escape Room Start-up headaches, GM Mike seems very dedicated to create a great experience for experts and new players.
The price is $25.00 / person which is comparable with their nearest neighbours.
Overall: The Parent Trap is an above-average, out-of-town escape. There aren’t any memorable moments, but the room shows great potential at what we hope is a series of great games from Mike and company.
For more information check out:
http://theadventurehamilton.com/
Hamilton, ON
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