Here, Kitteh, Kitteh, Kitteh… That’s a Bad Kitteh! – Room: Kingdom of Cats – July 15, 2017

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’re a cat person more than a dog person.

Avoid if… cats acting like humans freaks you the hell out. Where is Cartman with a big box of catnip when you need him?


THE BASICS

Omescape DC: LOCATION CLOSED

Address: 2406 18th Street NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20009 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 202 644 0825
omescapedc@gmail.com
http://omescapedc.com

The Room – Kingdom of Cats: RETIRED

Description (from the company website but cleaned up a bit to make it readable): Welcome to the Cat Kingdom. The ruler, Austin Schrodinger, holds annual championship tournaments to select the wisest cat in the kingdom. Unexpectedly, you, as a human, accidentally set foot on their championship battlefield. According to the kingdom’s law, those in the battlefield must compete in the tournament or otherwise be imprisoned here forever. You have no choice but to accept the challenge and solve puzzles and riddles in the tournament.

Difficulty: 3 of 5

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $28 per person

Identifier: R1

Party Size: up to 8 people

Staging Area: The lobby is up a flight of stairs and has a small number of couches and tables. Also note that it’s above a restaurant, so be prepared for some…interesting…smells in the warmer weather.

Metro Access/Parking: Woodley Park / National Zoo and then walk .7 miles across the Calvert Street bridge into Adams Morgan. It’s Adams Morgan, so parking at night and on weekends can be really tricky. We suggest Uber or Lyft if that’s an option.


OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: You start off in a parlor that is heavily decorated with cat art.

Understanding of the Mission: You are being forced to participate in the annual tournament to find the wisest cat and solve the riddles and puzzles to win the tournament… as humans… or be locked up in prison forever.

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: about 26 minutes

Our Suggested Party Size: 4

Did the room challenge the entire team? No

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Valerie, Heather, Mark, and Shannon

Worth the time and money? Maybe? If you have kids.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

Continue reading

Hocus-f%#&ing-pocus – Room: The Wizard’s Apothecary – December 19, 2015 – FAILED!!

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’ve fantasized about getting your Hogwart’s admission letter.

Avoid if… you think the Lord of the Rings is overrated.


THE BASICS

Escape Room Live:

Address: 814 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms

The Room – The Wizard’s Apothecary:

Description (from the company website): The King’s Royal Wizard has gone missing! You, his faithful apprentices, have been summoned by the King to find him. Disturbingly, you find that the wizard has left behind his Spellbook…

Difficulty (1-10): 5/10

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-12

Staging Area: Escape Room Live Alexandria has a large, open space complete with cow skin rugs and couches with ample seating located in the middle of all the rooms, so there is plenty of space to hang out if you get there early. The requisite restrooms are in the back and the decor includes extremely wacky artwork.

Metro Access/Parking: King Street metro w/ a .7 mile walk (or take the free King Street Trolley to Columbus Street); street/garage parking.


OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the wizard’s chambers nicely decorated with potion bottles, skulls, magical items, and a pedestal containing the Wizard’s spell book.

Understanding of the Mission: Find out what happened to the King’s Wizard.

Did We Escape: NO!!!

Time Remaining: *EPIC FAIL* [Wasn’t entirely that epic… -Jason]

Our Suggested Party Size: We actually had 10 because it was a special event, but we feel that was way too many, and suggest no more than 8.

Did the room challenge the entire team? No, but that’s our own fault. We overbooked the room and that left people standing around with nothing to do. We’ve learned from that mistake (we now cycle in our group of disturbed friends into the rooms).

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Jen, Brittany, Corey, Dalia, Rohan, Stephanie and Jennifer.

Team Disturbed Friends (Jen, Mike, Brittany, Jason, Corey and Rohan) failed to find the wizard! Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live's Facebook page.
Team Disturbed Friends (Jen, Mike, Brittany, Jason, Corey and Rohan) failed to find the wizard! Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? Probably, but not on our night. *SOUR GRAPES* (however, we’re all smiling in the photo, so we didn’t have a bad time LOL).

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Old Town, but we recommend:

Continue reading

Venture through the Looking Glass – Room: Adventures in Wonderland – February 12, 2017

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’ve always wanted to have tea with the Mad Hatter.

Avoid if… you have problems seeing in the dark.


THE BASICS

EscapeRoom Woodbridge:

Address: 12668 Darby Brook Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22912 (click address for a Google Map)

Contact and Website: 703-910-6015
https://www.escaperoomwoodbridgeva.com/

The Room – Adventures in Wonderland: RETIRED

Description (from company website): The Red Queen has taken the Mad Hatter and wants you to solve an age-old riddle before it’s “OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”

Difficulty (1-10): no rating given

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $28 per person. – Use ERGUYS when booking to get either a percentage or set $$ amount off per ticket (whatever promotion is running)

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 6 people max.

NOTE: we were told that this room is being retired in March 2017 and being replaced by a DaVinci-themed room.

Staging Area: Simple sitting area with couches. Restrooms are located in the back of the building past the Escape Rooms.

Metro Access/Parking: no metro access. This company is located in a shopping center and has ample parking. Watch traffic delays on I-95 and leave ample time to get there.


OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description: The Mad Hatter has been kidnapped and the sadistic Red Queen has issued you a challenge to answer a riddle within 60 minutes, or she’ll lop off the guy’s head… and maybe yours as well (muah-ha-ha).

Understanding of the Mission: Solve the clues that relate to Wonderland and figure out the answer to the riddle.

Did We Escape: Oh, yeah.

Time Remaining: 7:27

Our Suggested Party Size: No more than 6 (in fact, 5 was perfect). The room itself isn’t that large and we couldn’t imagine having 10 people in there.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes, there seemed to be enough for the 5 of us to work on without stepping all over each other (despite the small room).

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Eric, Alphonso and Katheryn

Another successful escape for team Disturbed Friends. At the EscapeRoom Woodbridge "Adventures in Wonderland" escape room. Photo courtesy of EscapeRoom Woodbridge's Facebook page.
Another successful escape for team Disturbed Friends. At the EscapeRoom Woodbridge “Adventures in Wonderland” escape room. Photo courtesy of EscapeRoom Woodbridge’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? Yes, it definitely was. We used a Groupon for this room so we didn’t pay full price, but the room is good enough to book without the discount and we recommend you get in there fast before the room changes theme (which we were told is soon!).

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

  • Fair Winds Brewing Company – We decided to hit up this place (about 10 minutes north of the Escape Room) and have a beer or two. (Well, some of us started with tasting flights THEN got beers.)

Continue reading