If you are in Seattle and have not yet played the rooms as Locurio, go now.
Locurio is on the north side of Seattle by Lake Union. When you arrive, you'll call them, and they'll meet you in an alley and let you in. The location is in what looks like an apartment complex that has been retrofitted and turned into an office building. You'll start in their main lobby where you'll hear instructions and use the restroom. They'll then walk you to another lobby where the story immersion begins.
The owner and staff at Locurio are incredibly good at their jobs. The hospitality is as good as I've seen, and the acting might have been the best I've seen. The monologues and in-character hint giving were fun and entertaining. The storylines of their rooms are incredible. I don't usually get into the story of a room, but these were so clear, simple, and exciting that you actually spend time just enjoying the story.
Locurio gives you 70 minutes to escape their rooms. They give generous and clear hints because they want you to complete the room and have fun doing it. They definitely succeeded in that goal.
Both of Locurio's rooms had a very clear dividing line between the real world that you enter the room in and the fantasy world that you discover in an area deep in the room. The transition from real world to fantasy was exciting, impressively well designed, and fun.
Vanishing Act
Mike’s Difficulty Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Their Difficulty Rating: Hard
There are a lot of puzzles and locks in Vanishing Act. The first area of this room was pretty plain, like most dressing rooms, but I'm impressed with how well they turned a magician's props into puzzles. Vanishing Act had a puzzle that was incredibly hard. It's doable, but I would be surprised if many people complete this puzzle without a hint.
The second area of this room is incredibly immersive and well-designed. The lighting, sound effects, and props are spooky and fun. There are two puzzles in this room that take too long and tedious to complete. After we figured out how to do the puzzle, we had to spend too much time actually completing the puzzle, but the game master actually recognized that we knew how to do the puzzles and gave us extra time to complete the second of these two tedious puzzles.
The Storykeeper
Mike’s Difficulty Rating: 2 (out of 5)
Their Difficulty Rating: Medium
The Storykeeper is one of the best escape rooms I've ever played, and I'm pretty sure it's the most impressively designed room I've seen. It's difficult to explain just how much work went into designing every inch of this room. Nothing is out of place, and everything has a purpose. It was so immersive that I really did feel like we entered an entirely different world.
The story, the storytelling, and the acting were unique, clear, and entertaining. I can't write more about that because it's a surprise, but the surprise is worth the intrigue.
The engineering of this room is also incredible. Multiple times I found myself thinking "How did they do that? I'm touching this prop that is actually a puzzle, and somehow it's magically interactive." Everything work. Nothing removed us from the immersion and story. We felt excitement, fear, wonder, and joy.
The room is huge. The various spaces throughout the room are unique from each other yet they flow together so well. I just kept thinking, "There's no way this room and story can keep going." We just kept discovering new and exciting worlds and challenges.
There were no unnecessarily tedious puzzles, and the physical challenge was a lot of fun. There was one puzzle in particular that was incredibly unique. I've never seen anything like it.
If it sounds like I'm exaggerating the quality this room, I'm not. Please play this room.
Comentarios