Komnata Quest Brooklyn — Attraction in New York

I tried Komnata Quest for the first time a few months ago, and I had a great experience. So far, I went there twice, and I enjoyed each quest in a different way. My first quest was The Chinese Jewelry Box, which was rated for beginners, and it was relatively easy to complete. Some puzzles took time to solve, but they kept me thinking without overwhelming me. Background oriental music and decorations in the room created the atmosphere that kept me engaged. Whenever I had trouble solving a puzzle, the game maker gave me a hint to keep me going. This is a good quest for beginners or pairs, or groups with children. I went with a friend, and, as it turned out, we worked well as a team. If one of us missed a clue, the other one picked up on it. We could also search different areas to find clues faster. Thus, we finished a little bit earlier than expected.

Since I enjoyed myself at the first quest, I was dying to come back and try another one. I chose Limitless, which was completely in the dark and was meant for 2 people. This quest was totally different from the first one. The 2 people are separated and compete their own tasks in parallel rooms. However, they must help each other by passing objects through slots in the walls or sharing information they found. Without giving away too much, I will say that this quest engaged my sense of touch because I had to find objects by exploring the area with my hands. I could not see anything. In the end of the quest my friend and I met and exited together. The downside was that we had to wait for each other to complete our tasks. If I was done earlier, I had to sit in the dark and wait for the other person to finish as well, but overall, it was an interesting experience. Besides, it would have been awkward stumbling upon each other in the dark.

As I enjoyed the two quests I tried, I am looking forward to trying other ones. It was a cool feeling being in a well-scripted and well-staged story and finding clues to escape. It was something I always wanted to experience, and I'd like to...

I wanted to check out Komnata Quest because their Google reviews are astounding, and their rooms looked fun! I had also called Komnata Quest, and the person I spoke to was so excited to tell me about the rooms. We did the Hex of the Chinese Jewelry Box with a group of 3. While my friend and I like doing escape rooms as a duo, it's $50/person for 2, and $35/person for 3. After you complete your game, you get a code for 20% off. At the 104 West location, they are located on the 3rd floor but need better signage outside the building because it is a bit sketchy. You get unlimited hints here as well.

For this room, I enjoyed the layout and a majority of the puzzles. This room is on the easier side, and a good number of clues are found by searching instead of puzzle solving. However, if you cannot spot red herrings, I can see where some people might get caught up! Compared to other NYC escape rooms at this price point, I think Komnata Quest could do more.

My major issue with Komnata Quest is how they operate. First, our moderator Bridget cannot hear anything we say in the room. The clues are prerecorded, so if you have a specific question about something, the moderator will not give you a personalized answer; there is no way for them to contact you! The second thing that bothered me was that there was no time clock in the room. Bridget mentioned that it is for an immersive experience, but to me, timing is part of the strategy. Part of my thrills come from pacing out the experience and knowing when to productively struggle versus asking for clues. When they said no phones or watches, I left my watch on because it is not a smart watch, and I just assumed that they didn't want you to have that in the room. I didn't realize they didn't want you to not see time at all.

When I called Komnata Quest, this room was actually not recommended, but it was one of their beginner rooms. The recommended rooms have jump scares, but I may be willing to try one to see if the experience is better. I will update my review accordingly if it...

City of Ashes was perhaps the scariest room I've played, not for its set design or any element they intended to scare you but for it's utter lack of coherency. The over all experience was a confusing mess of disjointed puzzle which we mostly solved out of order and sometimes without really knowing how. The plot was unintelligible at times and uninteresting, that is, when the ambiant music wasn't drowning out the audio clips. This room was far easier than their St. Angelo's Castle, which was overall a more positive experience, but their conclusions were highly disappointing. The last room in this particular game was a major flop requiring players to "commit" suicide. I would not recommend if you are easily scared or if you're an experienced escape room player. The Game Master was friendly enough not that I can remember her name or she never offered it. When we were brought into the room the audio introduction began to play but she started giving us a verbal introduction over it at the same time. I'm not sure if the audio introduction was errroneous or out-dated but it definitely ruined the immersion and ended up mudding the overall plot, if there was one. We escaped in 29-mins with one clue, which we did ask for or need as we were working on the puzzle correctly. However, due to there not being microphones in the room its understandable how this would happen. At this point I will not be trying another Komnata Quest room without setting my expectations quite low.

Set design/scenery: 4/5 Everything else: 1/5

Again, I reviewed their other room, St Angelo's Castle, with a much higher rating. While I do work at an escape room I have enough integrity to admit that my escape room has some flaws that we are currently working on and any review I give is no way influenced by my current employer. Which is at no point mentioned in...