I’m kind of between 👍 and 👎 for gameplay. Not totally intuitive.
So many “NO!” stickers on objects that it’s a bit silly. But then, there are things you ARE supposed to move, and/or use force on, but little to no indication or hint that you should — in fact, intuitively you wouldn’t, for safety reasons.
A few extraneous details that seem interactive and relevant but aren’t.
Puzzles that are illogical, story-wise. Plenty of “Why the hell would that be a lock code?” moments, which I don’t mind in other rooms but for some reason seem especially immersion-breaking in a White House room with a heavy plot.
I’m a bit confused who, exactly, the GM was. The host and the walkie talkie were two do people.
Most troubling about this whole experience was that for the first few minutes after walking in, nobody was present in lobby. No desk, no sign, just seating. Another family walked in and seemed equally confused.
When the host woman arrived, we were not exactly greeted, welcomed, or even asked questions. She seemed a bit too casual and gruff about everything. She assumed our team rooms incorrectly, and when corrected, she continued to give our briefing for White House to the other team. When they told Host that briefing was probably for us, the Host turned to us and continued the briefing, assuming we had listened to the first part she mistakenly told the other group, which made us feel like an afterthought. Host then continued our briefing in the room itself, which spoils the immersion/ impact of the room. Her treatment of the experience was pretty careless, which isn’t a good way to start.
However, the voice on our walkie talkie was a different person. It was a younger man. He was helpful, attentive, and direct. I wish we used more hints, as we had only two puzzles left before we lost the mission.
Afterward, the Host talked to us about the end of the room and how the last two puzzles would have been done, which I appreciate, except the door was wide open and the next group for White House was waiting right there, seeing inside and hearing spoilers.
The room itself was okay, not great, honestly little arduous at times. But the unprofessional treatment of the business is what made this a not-so-great experience for me.
I liked the plot, though simple, but the puzzles didn’t make logical sense. I think its cool to find clues in letters and documents, but having it boil down to math problems for lock codes doesn’t make sense for the story.
