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johnlarson
Reviews
Morty score
147
Escape rooms
147
273
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20
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johnlarson
Matthew Keller (He / Him) | SF Bay Area / Los Angeles / Seattle / Boston
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Experiences (147)
Wishlist (273)
Reviews (20)
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Escape rooms (20)
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Captain Maniacal's Lairbratorium
Red Door Escape Room San Mateo
Escape room
IRL
This was such a cute game and concept! I’ve played plenty of rooms as a unit of 2 but rarely ever one that was intentionally designed for 2 people and to be less than an hour long. Even though it was just one physical room, there was plenty to do for 2 players and everything was logical and fell into place seamlessly. This is a fantastic beginner room or a room for kids to try out on their own!
Escape from the Lockdown: The Strange Village
Real Escape Game - Online
Escape room
Virtual
I found this to be an interesting premise, but the execution left me wanting something more. More immersive? More entertaining? I’m not quite sure. While I understand that the experience is a virtual adaptation of things meant to be done in-person with paper and pencil, among other analog physical puzzles, I had higher expectations for what video clips would bring to the table. It felt more tedious than engaging to play through all the video clips to understand different characters and their quirks. (I will say that language barrier may have contributed to this, as there is a lot of fatigue that comes with replaying dozens of clips and looking for clues while having to read subtitles that may be translated in a way that doesn’t quite set up the proper nuances). Overall, my friend and I found it to be onerous and had to take several breaks between rounds of videos in order to take a step back, refresh, and reset our headspace.
Final Destination 2.0
Roundabout
Escape room
IRL
This was a good experience! I’d recommend 2-3 players, based on both the size and scope of the room and puzzles. The puzzles seemed disparate at first but the room was designed in a way where everything you need is there, so it didn’t require a lot of overthinking — perhaps just connecting the right dots that are there (and not to get distracted by other dots, of which there may be many!). The logic of everything made sense and nothing felt far-fetched or unfair. I enjoyed the experience a lot, and it was bolstered by incredible customer service.
Flashback
Escape Room in a Box
Escape room
Tabletop
I thought this was really cleverly designed! For one of the earlier escape room in a box experiences, I think they did well in throwing puzzles and story that immerse you into the flashback theme. There’s a creative mechanic toward the end of the experience that I hadn’t seen in any other experiences (boxed game or otherwise), and it made for a satisfying end to the series of puzzles to solve. It’s a great rainy day or stay-in activity!
Hackfiltration
Puzzle Break - Online
Escape room
Virtual
This was a really fun game! Developed as a pivot during the peak shelter-in-place era, this game really did get you to think creatively and collaborate with your teams on Zoom. The puzzles were a creative mix of scavenger hunt, decoding certain documents and assets, as well as a hilariously throwback element at the end that proved to be far more challenging than it seemed (in a good way)!
Jurassic Island
Quest Factor
Escape room
IRL
I played this as a unit of 2 and I think that’s the right amount of people (if both are experienced players, I guess). I thought it was an immersive dinosaur-themed experience, from start to finish. I was taken aback at just how dinosaur-y it was — enthusiasts will love it! There was a lot of interactivity that I thought kept us busy and on our toes (in a good way), and we found that to be great. Overall I thought it was a solid experience! We came out feeling satisfied with the game.
Lord Of The Swords
Maze Rooms Tarzana
Escape room
IRL
This room was cute! If you’re into the fantastic swords-and-sorcery theme, this is a great game to play, for enthusiasts and newcomers alike. The set design was great and and well put together. There were some creative uses of props and the puzzles had a fair amount of challenge to them. The story fit the room’s decorations well, and the end of the game felt satisfying based on everything building up to it. We had fun!
Medieval Madness
PanIQ Room Mission District
Escape room
IRL
This room had a great set — it really immersed you in various elements of medieval times (be it torture or religion…or dare I say, what’s the difference? Just kidding!). I have to say, while some of the puzzles had some interesting interactive elements to them, the effects kind of fell flat. The logic for some of them just didn’t quite click and some things were worn out to the point where it made an additional barrier to solving what you needed. I think the experience did pick up in the latter half of it, with more straightforward puzzles that were simple enough to follow. Overall, I would have loved to see better logic and functionality for the first part.
Moriarty's Manor
MindFox Escape
Escape room
IRL
Victoria was such an amiable and considerate game master! We felt very welcomed and that we were in good hands. The game was so creative, immersive, and had a wide range of puzzles that would appeal to all types of thinkers. Absolutely loved every part of this game!
Operation Ares: Escape from Mars
Kryptic Tales Escape Rooms
Escape room
IRL
This was a cute space-themed room! I thought that the puzzles fit perfectly into the theme and story, and they definitely required a lot of collaboration, decoding, and patterns recognition. I found this to be a “big brain” thinking game mixed with some great physical prop usage and mechanics. There were many opportunities to divide and conquer, but the more you diverged, the more you’d come together again (…that will make sense if you play the room!). My team and I really enjoyed this experience and we felt super satisfied after finishing everything.
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