What are the best escape rooms in the Orlando area?
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Best Escape Rooms?
- Thread starter DisneyFreak
- Start date
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
We love The Escape Game Orlando on I-drive - https://theescapegame.com/orlando/. Admittedly, we haven't been to other Orlando escape rooms yet, so I can't compare it to the many others I know are nearby. We chose this one solely based on the strength of online reviews.
We visit Universal Orlando every 1-2 years and knock out an average of two escape rooms every time we visit, so after four years, we only just finished the last of the six rooms at Escape Game Orlando. (They told us they'd be opening a seventh in a few months, so we'll try that one when it arrives.) If you follow them on Facebook, there are periodic discount offers (e.g., discounted gift cards or game vouchers) that help reduce the cost. Their games are 60 minutes long. The first time we played there, we were allowed only 3 clues per game, after which you'd incur time penalties for subsequent clues. On subsequent visits, we could ask for more. Whether this is because only some games have a clue limit, or because the facility changed its policy overall, I don't know.
My family consists of DH, me, and our son and daughter (ages 15 and 13 currently), who are moderately experienced with escape games, meaning we play 3-4 per year. FWIW, ranking the rooms at Escape Game Orlando from the ones we most enjoyed, to least enjoyed (although the were all great, and much higher in quality and theming than any in our home region of upstate NY -- none of these rooms is just a single room, and you'll find yourself in multiple environments for each one), here's our spoiler-free assessment:
#1 - Prison Break: one of the most challenging games we've ever played and the only one we failed to complete in 60 minutes (it was a heartbreaker: we ran out of time on the very last puzzle and had used up our three clues). The fact that it's nonethless our favorite is a testament to how good it is, with a variety of cool puzzles, and theming that is second to none. I did have a minor quibble with this one, as one of your first tasks is to do something very specific, which you're told in general terms _not_ to do in the rules of the game, but it was otherwise a really well-executed adventure. There are so many puzzles that you can't hesitate for a moment though: ask for clues as soon as you get stumped or there's no way you'll finish. If you're not hugely experienced and confident in your puzzling skills, I'd suggest starting with Playground or Gold Rush as a "warm-up" before tackling Prison Break.
#2 - Playground: this was a fun, clever romp through a classroom and playground setting, with clear and measurable goals, and tons of things to be done simultaneously to keep all team members occupied. We got to revisit our childhoods and run around like kids at recess, and broke out in a little over 50 minutes.
#3 - Gold Rush: we couldn't get over the elaborate theming and multiple settings in this one. It's a great "beginner" game with a variety of really fun and clever puzzles, and in our opinion, was the most straightforward of the games offered. We broke out in less than 45 minutes.
#4 - Special Ops: Mysterious Market: this is a 2-part adventure where the theming and "special" effects abruptly shift halfway through (for reasons that are story-driven). A couple of the puzzles really stumped us (I can't objectively say whether it was because the cluing wasn't great, or because we just weren't "getting it,") but with some additional tidbits from our gamemaster, we were out in about 50 minutes.
#5 - The Heist: This art-themed game included a couple of frustrating red herrings, and one puzzle so convoluted we're still shaking our heads over it, but otherwise had interesting puzzles and nice theming. We finished in less than 50 minutes.
#6 - Mission:Mars: This game had a really well-done space theme and some great special effects, but is very linear in design. Although we enjoyed it and escaped in about 45 minutes, I think this one is best experienced by parties of no more than 3 people, as there just wasn't enough for our family of 4 to do to keep everyone busy.
We visit Universal Orlando every 1-2 years and knock out an average of two escape rooms every time we visit, so after four years, we only just finished the last of the six rooms at Escape Game Orlando. (They told us they'd be opening a seventh in a few months, so we'll try that one when it arrives.) If you follow them on Facebook, there are periodic discount offers (e.g., discounted gift cards or game vouchers) that help reduce the cost. Their games are 60 minutes long. The first time we played there, we were allowed only 3 clues per game, after which you'd incur time penalties for subsequent clues. On subsequent visits, we could ask for more. Whether this is because only some games have a clue limit, or because the facility changed its policy overall, I don't know.
My family consists of DH, me, and our son and daughter (ages 15 and 13 currently), who are moderately experienced with escape games, meaning we play 3-4 per year. FWIW, ranking the rooms at Escape Game Orlando from the ones we most enjoyed, to least enjoyed (although the were all great, and much higher in quality and theming than any in our home region of upstate NY -- none of these rooms is just a single room, and you'll find yourself in multiple environments for each one), here's our spoiler-free assessment:
#1 - Prison Break: one of the most challenging games we've ever played and the only one we failed to complete in 60 minutes (it was a heartbreaker: we ran out of time on the very last puzzle and had used up our three clues). The fact that it's nonethless our favorite is a testament to how good it is, with a variety of cool puzzles, and theming that is second to none. I did have a minor quibble with this one, as one of your first tasks is to do something very specific, which you're told in general terms _not_ to do in the rules of the game, but it was otherwise a really well-executed adventure. There are so many puzzles that you can't hesitate for a moment though: ask for clues as soon as you get stumped or there's no way you'll finish. If you're not hugely experienced and confident in your puzzling skills, I'd suggest starting with Playground or Gold Rush as a "warm-up" before tackling Prison Break.
#2 - Playground: this was a fun, clever romp through a classroom and playground setting, with clear and measurable goals, and tons of things to be done simultaneously to keep all team members occupied. We got to revisit our childhoods and run around like kids at recess, and broke out in a little over 50 minutes.
#3 - Gold Rush: we couldn't get over the elaborate theming and multiple settings in this one. It's a great "beginner" game with a variety of really fun and clever puzzles, and in our opinion, was the most straightforward of the games offered. We broke out in less than 45 minutes.
#4 - Special Ops: Mysterious Market: this is a 2-part adventure where the theming and "special" effects abruptly shift halfway through (for reasons that are story-driven). A couple of the puzzles really stumped us (I can't objectively say whether it was because the cluing wasn't great, or because we just weren't "getting it,") but with some additional tidbits from our gamemaster, we were out in about 50 minutes.
#5 - The Heist: This art-themed game included a couple of frustrating red herrings, and one puzzle so convoluted we're still shaking our heads over it, but otherwise had interesting puzzles and nice theming. We finished in less than 50 minutes.
#6 - Mission:Mars: This game had a really well-done space theme and some great special effects, but is very linear in design. Although we enjoyed it and escaped in about 45 minutes, I think this one is best experienced by parties of no more than 3 people, as there just wasn't enough for our family of 4 to do to keep everyone busy.
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