Phantom Of The Big Top

On the good side some unusual hand built props that you can’t see anywhere else. On the bad side some props were old and either completely broken or not working well. Game had consistent and fun theme but some of the puzzles were a bit obtuse without any logical way to find the solution. Part of a 4 location chain that is clearly more than the owners can keep up with. This could be a successful and consistently fun room for any level of escapers but instead it’s more of a classic old toy that needs repair and some TLC.

We booked all three rooms the same day, this was the one I was most excited about. It ended up being the worst escape room I've done so far. Granted, I've maybe only done 30 or 40 but this one was exceptionally bad. The game master showed up 15 minutes late to a game we showed up 15 minutely to and never even apologized. He made weird voices for each room but kept going in and out if them. The worst part was we walked in and he pointed out "this prop is broken, this prop is broken and this prop is broken-don't touch them". Also, we asked for a hint several times with no response so eventually after 5 minutes or so we all just sat down until he came on to ask how we were doing. I don't think the puzzles were very intuitive so at times it was hard to know how we would have come to a conclusion.

Fun for the family. We had lots of fun trying to solve the puzzle.

Overall, not a bad way to kill an hour, but for experienced escape room players, it had some disappointments.

I wouldn’t say it’s the worst game we’ve played but it was a frustrating game because it didn’t have the best user experience and could use more refinement. Since it’s the only escape rooms in Solvang, I would say you should play it but just don’t have high expectations. And also expect some puzzles not to work since a review from a year ago and half a year ago both say it had broken puzzles.

This room was all over the place. We played with 6 people and it was WAY too many for such a small space. Too cluttered and a few of the puzzles didn’t work.

Solo’d this room! Did not get out in time. I had so much left to do but I started out so strong. The carnival puzzles were really cute. One wasn’t working, but that was alright. There was plenty more to do here. I think the puzzles get progressively more difficult as you go along so keep that in mind when considering time/hints.