Spellbound Escapes — Attraction in Ledyard

Once we were inside, the rooms and puzzles were fun and challenging. However, the tour guide was not very nice and was rude.

Booking was easy. All of waivers were easy to do prior to our arrival. Arriving was a very different story. Our reservation was for 1pm. At 12:49 she called us and asked if we could arrive 15 min early for the instructions and sign waivers. At this point, we were already en route and this information was a little late. This should have been communicated prior to our arrival and she should have known our waivers were already signed! We arrived at 1:04. She welcomed us and explained the process. She then brought us into one of the rooms, we put our belongings down and She noted we had one hour and the “CLOCK STARTED PROMPTLY AT 1:00pm.” At this point it was 1:09. We had 51 minutes left. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but 9 min is a long time to loose. Just know that when your tour guide welcomes you and explains the process, it’s cutting into your 60 minutes. We paid a little extra for a private party and there was no one else there. As a business, representing solid customer service, she could have just given us the 60 minutes, but she didn’t.

There were 6 of us…All girls. We weren’t rough, disrespectful or inappropriate in any way, but after pushing on a closed door and trying to open a locked door (which is EXACTLY what you think you should do in an escape room) , she threatened to kick us out if we pushed on a closed door one more time. She said one more time and the game would end and we’d be asked to leave. If you’ve never done an escape room, you wouldn’t know that you can’t push anything, and that all of the doors just open. It was rude and she made it a miserable experience. No one wanted to touch anything after that. She ruined the entire experience for us. Sad, not true. I don’t enjoy writing negative reviews, I’m simply writing...

For it being in a shopping center I did not have high hopes whatsoever, I thought it was gonna be this hole in the wall place with flimsy and fake looking props and it wasn't gonna be believable at all. The two most important things to me in an escape room are difficulty and immersion. I want to feel like I'm living another life when I play an escape room, I want to feel like I am part of the story in the room and boy did I. When you walk into the lobby to book your game it is set up like the foyer in Count Dracula's house and it just looks amazing, that started lifting my hopes already and I hadn't even talked to the staff yet. The staff that I spoke to were super kind and personable and made the experience that much better. As she was explaining the rules to us inside the room I could feel my heart going faster and faster because I was getting so excited that I my first impression about this place was completely wrong. The second she closed the door all reality fled from my mind and I utterly felt like I was in the nuclear fallout. I cannot say just how much I loved that place and it is worth every penny. I do however regret that I didn't buy the little camera package that they had advertised next to the register, I can't remember if it was a film camera and you got a set amount of film or if it was one of those disposable cameras, but either way I have never seen an escape room offer that kind of thing. All in all, my friend and I that went just couldn't stop talking about how amazing it was and how much we want to go back again (it was her first escape room). 11/10...

What a way to start off the New Year! We finally did an Escape Room, Temple of the Laughing God. We "ran for our lives" with 37 seconds to spare! It was challenging for sure! This is a high-quality puzzle with two rooms and a roly-poly tunnel bridge between them. My reason for 4 rather than 5 stars is because although we chose the beginner's/intermediate puzzle, there were things without explanation we were expected to solve without an idea what to do or what it meant. It was still pretty hard. We were allowed three clues from the guide if everyone agreed, which we did. We definitely used those! I thought we'd get a written clue to start us off not be left floundering in the dimness randomly touching things. Be sure to use your cellphone flashlights. Aryel, our guide, was wonderful but talked too fast when giving us the intro. I didn't catch the storyline we were solving in the temple, but I got the gist from the realistic props and settings. At least we made our way out! Just barely, hahaha. Thankfully the other family of 4 who shared the space had great insight. (We added to it as well.) They got to work on a sliding puzzle so I we didn't see that was the starting point. Communication is key if you get strangers working the room with you. Make sure to voice questions, share what you find, and jump in to help. Overall, it was fun and I'm glad we finally did an escape room. Time with my grown kids is the most important. We will try the other room next time and find other escape rooms around...