Stash House — Attraction in Los Angeles

I wouldn't say I'm an Escape Room enthusiast, in the sense that I'm somewhat new to the whole idea, but I've been through enough of them to have an opinion. Stash House is easily the best experience I've encountered so far.

When I've gone to other rooms, I've found that you generally only have as many as two puzzles that can be solved concurrently. In a small group that can work, if you've got 2-3 people per puzzle, but I've always been combined with at least nine other people and it's rare if they're all sober during night games. That's not the room's fault, but it gets a little annoying to solve puzzles with five people—especially if any of them are drunk.

Stash House keeps the group size down and always had at least three puzzles to solve at the same time, so 2-3 people could approach each one and usually someone could run around sharing information betweens members of the group. This made the experience much more fun and the game easier to play. And by easier I mean in terms of mechanics, not challenge.

Stash House provides a solid challenge in regards to its puzzles, and some very creatively-integrated technology. The game mechanics take very little time to work out and understand and your group will split up to solve each puzzle in a natural way. As you all discover things and see how they fit together, you'll come together as needed to reach each solution. It's very rewarding this way, and the experience sets you on an exciting and dynamic obstacle course of the mind that leads you where you need to go without making you feel like you're riding a cart on rails.

But one of the coolest parts of the experience is that it's a bit more immersive in how the game is presented to you outright. I'd be more specific, but if you don't already know I think it's a nice surprise. The creators of Stash House put together an escape room that can make you feel like the premise is real and so is your part in it, rather than taking a step onto an elaborate sound stage that looks nice but seems fake.

And everything works, which I have not been able to say about every other room I've been to. Technology can be unpredictable at times, so I wouldn't judge a room for a glitch here and there anyway, but you can tell when certain creators required an absurd (or near-impossible) level of precision to employ the solution to the puzzle. I've solved a puzzle with plenty of time before, only to think I hadn't solved it because the room didn't respond like it was supposed to. In theory, the room operators should be there to help in that situation but that doesn't always happen. Stash House doesn't have unnecessarily complicated mechanics and never really had a chance of encountering this type of problem. That makes for a better, more enjoyable experience (in my opinion).

Overall, this was a great room. The only thing I wish—as I do with any of the great ones—would be the ability to play again without knowing the answers. I think that variable escape rooms will emerge soon (I think there are a few already), and I wouldn't be surprised to see one from these guys in a...

Team Wiz Lab (Wizard's Labyrinth) had some JITB early on Saturday morning in preparation for facing the Stash House escape room. We learned that drug king pin Ray had a test for us if we wanted to join his crew. Thankfully we passed!

Tommy Honton, one of the creators was our Game Master and he was awesome. One of our members is in a wheelchair and most of this room is wheelchair accessible. Tommy went out of his way to help us include this member in the game. The immersion factor is very high in the Stash House with the puzzles being numerous and challenging. (Just an FYI, that blank steel rollup door, yes, that's the place. No exterior signage actually adds to the immersion.) Everything fit the story and there were constant surprises and some great "aha" moments. Stash House's use of technology is awesome without overshadowing the game or the story and their clue delivery system is simple but clever and effective. Although we are relative newbies (this is room #4 for me personally) it was by far the best. Do yourself a favor and book a game. You will need at least 4-5 people (if they are all experienced), more if you have newbies like we did. There were 9 of us and more than enough room and activities to keep everyone busy. The space is open and large enough for a large group to spread out. While the atmosphere is a bit foreboding it isn't scary and comes in at about PG-13 for drug reference. Even younger teens could participate in this room. For reservations go to StashHou.se . Please let them know you were referred by Team Wiz Lab.

Full disclosure: Stash House comped our tickets for this game but I would have been happy to pay the...

Great experience all across the board.

We were supposed to come in with 6 people but 3 people cancelled on me one hour before the room. Stash House was nice enough to refund me for 2 people, so we only paid for the minimum amount of 4 people. Not many Escape Rooms would do this, especially because it really was super short notice.

The Room: Aside from the puzzles, this room had a very strong and cool theme. Everything was cohesive and it really felt like we went into a different world, amazing job there.

The Puzzles: The puzzles were very creative and there were a LOT of them. I definitely see why 4 people is the minimum. None of the puzzles were extremely hard though so it was very satisfying to progressively solve a puzzle and move onto the next methodically. You get a phone as well, with a little guide “A Friend”, nudging you along the way. And again, all puzzles were very on theme.

Price: At 35$ per person, this room is incredibly cheap for how high-class this room was. You get the all around experience and with some rooms in LA being up to 75$ per person, you really can’t get any more bang for your buck than here.

All in all, this is a must do escape room in LA, great for beginners but also enough to do for veterans to have a challenge. Great location and great price too.

Thank you again to the staff for...