jacobspencer

Reviews

@jacobspencer
Morty score12
  • Escape rooms12

jacobspencer

Erin Phillips (He/His/Him) | San Diego, CA

https://smith-gordon.com/

@bjimenez
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The Lost Expedition

The Lost Expedition

Steal and Escape

  • Escape room
  • IRL
This room is not purely time based. There's fuel and based on the number of lights you have, the faster your fuel runs out. Split start is super awesome, loved it. There's some computer based puzzles which I thought were really fun (i am a software developer), with roles given to each player (and i got programmer LOL). I don't really have that many qualms, idk what jlions13 problem is.
The A.I.

The A.I.

The Exit Game San Diego

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Sad that this place closed. The room is actually really cool and has some fun and unique technological puzzles. Freddie Wong showed up at the beginning. There's a challenge mode if you finish the room fast enough.
Confinement

Confinement

Red Door Escape Room San Diego

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I'm a big scaredy cat. I looked at all the reviews and I was kinda scared that I'd freak out in this room. Honestly, not too spooky at all. No creepiness from being antique or old. Not really any blood. The spookiness is probably on the equivalent of going to a Halloween store. Somewhat glad for this though. I think that room was pretty fun, I don't like to use hints but there were some puzzles where my group just didn't know what to do, and that was mainly just because the puzzles were unique. None of the puzzles were stupid/unfair, there was a very standard flow to everything. Puzzles were both linear and nonlinear, and there were a handful of riddles, which actually take thinking to solve. GM was very welcoming and friendly. It was $40 and had tax in addition which was somewhat on the pricey side but I think this room just really felt like a standard good escape room. This room is considered one of their harder rooms, but I do think it was pretty medium level.
Prison Break

Prison Break

The Escape Game San Diego

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I think this room has it all. Multiple rooms. Split team. High tech. Good puzzles. Potentially non-linear. Really enjoyed this room. I think they're so confident in their production that they even allow photos and videos literally during the room. First time I've been to a room that allows that. They have infinite clues in this room. We escaped with barely any time, but I also spammed the clue button for the last 15 minutes, just every time we completed a clue I pressed it again. Pretty shameful as someone who prides themself on being experienced at escape rooms. One crazy thing is also the fact that you actually break some props which I've also never experienced at any room. Some unfortunate things about the room are that it is shared unless you book all the slots. We ended up with 3 randoms with my party of 4. Another thing was that a lock can be opened with your hand, without the tool. However, we didn't even do this because the door latch actually broke off. We ended up skipping like half of the puzzles in a room, but I guess at least we probably wouldn't have escaped otherwise. Lastly, our GM also wasn't the most friendly. Though she did explain the puzzles we missed, she went too fast and I still am missing a piece of the puzzle. She kinda ignored me after I asked to clarify again. The receptionist Lily was very nice though. All in all, really great room. A little on the pricey side ($44) but worth it in my opinion. Hoping to do other rooms here in the future!
The C.S.I. Lab

The C.S.I. Lab

House of Hints

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Not too high budget, but fun puzzles! I might've bruteforced one or two though. Kinda small as well. The puzzles all come together at the end which is one of my favorite things to happen.
Deadwood Valley [VR]

Deadwood Valley [VR]

Sandbox VR

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I would not say this is an escape room. There is an escape aspect in this game mode, but I don't think there is necessarily escaping in their other rooms. It really is just a virtual reality first-person shooter game. No puzzles whatsoever. Basically teeters on being a real life escape room and a virtual one, and I would probably say it isn't really a real life escape room. However, that doesn't mean that it isn't fun, because it was fun. Their tracking is really good because they add trackers to your wrists and ankles, so the arm and leg tracking works great. They also have cameras to film you and they give you a highlight video afterwards that switches between how you look in the game and how you look in real life. For the game itself, this is the sequel to Deadwood Mansion (I didn't play this one yet), and it thematically is pretty cool. The game itself has multiple rounds with different environments, but still note you're confined to the space marked within the room. The graphics quality wasn't the highest and the zombies aren't the realest, but better for me since I'm a scaredy cat. Pretty similar zombie quality to other zombie VR games or even non-VR games. You get infinite lives, and I think there's a hardcore mode that removes the laser that comes out of your gun (like your crosshair). All in all fun, but somewhat expensive. I have an Oculus Quest 2 at home, and so $40 for a session can be pretty pricey. However, you do get videos which can be fun to share with family.
Mansion Murder

Mansion Murder

Escapology San Diego CA

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I liked it but our room didn't get reset properly and so a key was lying out next to the lock. There was a few puzzles that I felt would be insane to solve but someone on my team really thinks outside the box. Some of my party was of the opinion that the puzzles did not really make sense.
Forbidden Aztec Temple

Forbidden Aztec Temple

Great Room Escape San Diego

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Super duper great environment and theme. An actor who the game guide dressed up and appears in the middle of the room and just grunts to let you know things. Sad this place closed.
The Lab

The Lab

Great Room Escape San Diego

  • Escape room
  • IRL
First live actor zombie horror room I ever did. There was also another game guide in the room that kept track if you got touched by the zombie. I bruteforced one of the numbers on the 4 digit padlock. Pretty fun, sad this place closed.
Budapest Express

Budapest Express

Escapology San Diego CA

  • Escape room
  • IRL
I enjoyed it, but some important puzzles can really only be done by like 2 players at most, which ends up leaving the rest of the party unsatisfied/left out (I was one of the 2). I think one of the room resetters messed up one of the puzzles which actually happened a previous time I came to this location.