Trapped Escape Rooms OCMD - Uptown 118th st — Attraction in Ocean City

A year and half after the start of the pandemic, and OC, MD was my first overnight adventure. Of course, an Escape Room was on the list. I discovered Ocean City only has two ERs (each with multiple locations though). Escapemania was the second one we visited during our stay.

Staff: The staff was very friendly, down to the little kid. We were greeted in a timely manner.

Location: This location is across the bridge on what consider "the OC Island". It's a little whiles distance from the Boardwalk, but only a block or two from the beach. This location is a nice size. The waiting room allows space for a small group to wait, and another group to pass through. Unlike our previous experience with a different company, this location had a normal smell. The bathroom was clean, which is always a plus to me. They sell Exit Board Games too, if you're a fan.

Parking: . It's located within a shopping mall (not major stores). As such, there is ample FREE parking.

Cleanliness (COVID): All of the staff wore masks the whole time we were there. The place looked clean. I don't know if they clean each room after each group, but it did appear clean. There is a hand sanitizer station, and the bathroom is clean.

The Room/Experience: My group and I (3ppl) played the Sherlock Home Mystery, which is supposedly one of their harder rooms. Without any spoilers, you get one hour and 10 minues to solve a bank robbery and escape Sherlock's office. I will admit, the room was a challenge, BUT fun. We finished the game with nearly 3 minutes to spare. Our Game Master kept an eye out and helped us when we were stumped (at least 3 or 4 times).

Overall, the storyline was cool, and the entire experience was great. I will admit this was the first room that has ever had us stumped, so for that I'm giving 5 stars instead of my normal 4.

Would I recommend? Depends. If you're like my group and I, who have nearly 30 rooms under our belt, then go for the challenge. HOWEVER, if you're new to the experience or you've played a few and wouldn't consider yourself an expert at ERs, then it maybe too much of a challenge. Nevertheless, everyone's experience is different, so for $33/pp,...

They're are 3 escape room franchises in Ocean City and this was the worst of them. We played 3 at this franchise and I really wish we hadn't booked in advance. The problems fit in 3 categories: bad game play, breaking standard conventions without warning, and bad game masters. The first is that all of the rooms had issues with their game play in terms of incomplete clues, typos, and illogical solutions. Having to guess too solve a puzzle isn't cool, but it was worst at the newer Southern location, so maybe it was released out of beta too soon. 2nd is that two of the 3 rooms broke basic conventions like grabbing things from above your head or moving framed pictures. But the worst was our final game master who wouldn't stop giving unsolicited hints. We asked them to stop and they wouldn't. Every time we started solving the next puzzle, there was a hint. It was patronizing, insulting, and frankly completely ruined the experience. I regret not demanding a refund. It felt like the game was stolen from us. We go so that WE can solve the puzzle. Failing, I can accept, but we never got the chance to find out of we would pass or fail. Completely...

I agree with another post about the hints. Our family did cabin in the woods. The room was small but I thought cleverly designed with unique puzzles for the small space. The host said hints would be given if falling behind. We were solving puzzles in room and were constantly bombarded with unnecessary hints on the screen. We said aloud we don’t need them. We had to train ourselves to not look at screen because they kept sending hints even though we asked them not to. We had so much unused time due to this issue. I felt like we were being rushed so they could just have us be done with the room. Very frustrating. For the high cost of this escape room they should not...