Escape Room Live Alexandria — Attraction in Alexandria

I had a great time playing The Wizard's Apothecary tonight. Loved the look and quality of the set and props. There was a good variety of different puzzle types, and all the tech and mechanisms in the room were well maintained and worked correctly.

Several of the puzzles can be solved in parallel, making this an especially good room for a group (people can split up and work on different things if they want to, rather than everyone having to crowd in and work on the same thing).

Special shout out to Eli, my game master for the room. Thanks Eli, you were awesome! I played solo and his hints were on point: just enough to nudge me in the right direction without spoiling any of the puzzles for me. I finished the room with 1 minute left on the clock.

I usually do escape rooms as a duo with my spouse, and tbh we usually avoid places with public bookings. That said, I was really impressed with the room quality and customer service at Escape Rooms Live and definitely plan to come back to play their other rooms.

UPDATE: Poe-ranormal Activity My spouse and I had a great time playing this room as a duo. We escaped with about 15 minutes left. We enjoy the extra challenge of starting in separate rooms -- it'll definitely get you working together and communicating!

The atmosphere was good and we especially liked how well the puzzles tied in with the theme.

The rooms have some mildly spooky decor, but most of the spookiness is confined to one part so only one person needs to be marginally brave. This is definitely not what I'd consider a scary or horror room.

We especially enjoyed how the puzzles tied in with the theme. While no familiarity with Poe's work is required, fans will appreciate all the nods and references.

Our gms, Vanessa and Eli, were both super friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic. Thanks guys!

UPDATE: Sherlock Holmes A Matter of Time Shout out to our gms Eli and Vanessa! Great staff add so much to the overall experience.

This was a solid room. Not the most compelling storyline or atmospheric space, but we enjoyed the puzzles and had a good experience. However if you can only do 1 or 2 of the rooms at this location, skip Sherlock and do the Poe and Wizard rooms instead.

This location used to have some rooms that were only 45 minutes, but we were told they added some puzzles and now they're all 60 minutes.

UPDATE: Sherlock Holmes Bombs Away This room was fine, but skippable imo. The set was fine and the props are a solid quality but there was nothing exciting or exceptional. I think most of the puzzles can be summed up as 'find the parts/components, then follow the instructions'. They were still fun, but there was only one puzzle where we felt clever for figuring it out.

Our game master Kara was friendly, and so was Vanessa whom we chatted with a bit after the game.

The Wizard's Apothecary was definitely the stand out room at this location. If you can only do one room there, it should 100% be that one, with 'Poe-ranormal Activity' in...

POSITIVES: We always have fun at Escape Room Live! The rooms are well designed aesthetically, and the themes are cohesive. We've completed 3 out of the 4 individual rooms, and each has a unique style and decor (though two are Sherlock Holmes-related themes). The staff are always friendly and energetic and help to create a great experience overall. They also offer a discount if you book an additional room while you're there.

PUZZLES: Let's talk about the puzzles (no spoilers, don't worry). There are a lot of locks involved. You must find the usual keys and codes to open them. But they manage to spice things up with some unique mechanisms that use interesting and surprisingly high-tech systems to respond to your actions. So it's a worthwhile visit for the experienced escapee and a great introduction for those who have never tried an escape room before. The complexity is well-balanced (not too difficult or too easy). And each room has at least one delightful surprise.

NEGATIVES: Be aware that they will put you in a room with other sleuths, if you're a small party. I took a date, and we ended up in a room with 3 others, even though there were unused rooms at the time of our visit. It definitely took a lot away from our enjoyment, and the constant interactions with the others kept us from enjoying our date as such.

The codes are not all unique from room to room. You'll find similar symbols reused from one room to the next. So it starts to feel like the rooms are a bit similar for the majority of puzzles. Though this doesn't take away from the unique puzzles in each room.

It's possible to solve things "out of order." The rooms are designed with an initial puzzle that leads to the next and the next. But you may be able to find clues for puzzle 3 before you solve puzzles 1 or 2, and there's nothing to lead you back to the missed step(s).

The decoders aren't always well explained. We used brute force to employ a decoder on more than one occasion by rotating it to another position and trying, then rotating and trying again.

Some things are obviously "wired." Which makes it obvious where to direct your attention. A little more care to conceal these mechanisms would make the experience a bit more immersive and authentic.

Parking can be a challenge. King Street is a busy location with limited street parking options (2 hours, paid). There is no garage or lot connected to this location. So plan to take a taxi/rideshare, ride the (free) King Street Trolley, walk some distance, or spend extra time searching for parking.

CONCLUSION: This is a great location for a fun activity. There are tons of dining and shopping options along King Street as well. The rooms are fun and immersive and neither too hard nor too easy. Great staff and fun aesthetics make for a great...

I’m going to offer constructive criticism because I really relied on these reviews before booking.

For context: Today was my first time at Escape Room Live after moving to Alexandria. My group of six adults (two with lots of experience, two with minimal exposure, and two newbies) completed the Edgar Allen Poe-ranormal Activity room in just under 30 minutes.

As far as customer service goes, this place is top tier. Elijah, our host, was excellent and respected that we did not want hints unless our entire party was in agreement. We appreciated his enthusiasm, as well as the kindness shown by Nate at the front desk.

Our first issue with this location is their default “shared experiences.” One might not realize what this notation means before they arrive to their reservation, but thankfully we did. If we hadn’t, anyone could have joined our reservation until the time block had 10 people signed up. We were able to pay for four extra slots (at half price) to maintain a private experience, but that brought the price from $36.99/person (+tax) all the way to nearly $50/person, which is much higher than the escape rooms up the street. I recognize the need for different pricing structures, but it’s important to know what you’re getting into, and the website doesn’t make this point clear. For your own/your group’s health, safety, and fun, take into consideration that you might be sharing the small space with strangers, and that you could be put into stressful situations with other groups. Sharing the experience is a personal decision, but we didn’t want to take that risk, so we paid extra. Unfortunately it was not worth it.

The room itself was admittedly underwhelming. As Elijah noted, “difficulty is subjective,” but our perception was that a difficulty rating of 8/10 was misleading. For a group with only two experienced players, this room would be around a 4/10. With less experienced players, maybe 7/10. There was plenty of time spent standing around, waiting for our group to finish one or two person puzzles. I can only imagine how chaotic it would have been if we actually had 10 players. Again, we finished in less than 30 minutes (out of a given 60 minute time limit) without the use of hints. Not the best bang for our buck, unfortunately.

Overall, I can’t say I would recommend this room to someone in my position. I hope there will be more rooms of higher difficulty that open over time, because I truly would like to work with the helpful staff again and support...