Clockwise Escape Room Pleasanton — Attraction in Pleasanton

As an enthusiast that has done around 140 rooms, ClockWise is a company I'd go to more likely out of desperation than excitement, but they still host very reasonable games.

---Party in Vegas--- 3 out of 5, but on the higher end. Party in Vegas is an excellent beginner room, which had great theming and multiple fun moments that added to the immersion.

Set - It felt like we were in a hotel room after a wild night. There were Vegas-themed props scattered around multiple rooms. The set was pretty basic, but I really liked the theming and how they built the Vegas party vibe.

Story - Standard Vegas story, where you've woken up with a hangover with no memories of last night, and lost the wedding ring! Despite not being a particularly creative story, it was fun nonetheless.

Puzzles - A lot of physical puzzles, each of which fit surprisingly well with the theme. These were on the easy side of the spectrum with a low level of complexity, but overall above average due to the integration with the set/story.

---Asylum--- 3 out of 5. A small creep factor, and a more difficult room than Party in Vegas.

Set - The set definitely felt like an asylum, with its white walls and sparse decorations. There was also a second room involved that had a very distinct vibe. Reasonably well done, but not super memorable from an enthusiast perspective.

Story - This had more story than most, and there was a clear progression. I wouldn't call the story unique by any means or even unexpected, but it was there beyond the intro, which is a plus.

Puzzles - Above average difficulty, some of the puzzles were multi-layered which I appreciated. There were a couple standard puzzles that I've seen in multiple rooms mixed in, but overall the puzzles were pretty solid.

---Paranormal Experiment--- 3 out of 5. My least favorite out of the ClockWise rooms, but as a disclaimer, I'm not usually a fan of spooky rooms.

Set - Sets a spooky ambiance with darkness and fake body parts. There were multiple rooms with distinct sets, but nothing truly stood out. I was fairly unimpressed especially in comparison to Party in Vegas and Incredible Machine, both of which seemed to have much better attention to detail. Also definitely doesn't hold a candle to other horror-themed sets, like those at 13th Gate in Baton Rouge or Hex Room in Anaheim.

Story - Whatever story there was, was pretty insignificant.

Puzzles - These were actually reasonable, but something was off about the cluing into what you were supposed to be doing at a given time. The puzzles were fairly standard, but they were at least on-theme. There were some neat interactions with set pieces, but nothing that made the puzzles particularly interesting.

---Incredible Machine--- 3 out of 5, but on the higher end. Despite not hitting the memorable/distinctive for an enthusiast mark (required for a 4/5), Incredible Machine was a good quality game with interesting story elements and puzzle integration, and some cool set pieces.

Set - There were some really cool set pieces in this room that fit well with the steampunk theme. The multiple rooms didn't have a lot of diversity, but they did have good polish.

Story - We uncover a small narrative as we play the game, which involves character interaction that's integrated into the puzzles. The story here was above average and enjoyable.

Puzzles - The puzzles fit fairly well with the theme and story, some of them involving unique tech. This made the game cohesive, which I...

I’ve gone three times. The first time I did the “Back to Childhood” with my friends and some family and we finish in about 45 minutes with nine people (we were ages 8-12). The other time I did the “Revenge of Medusa” with me and four other friends (We were all ages 10-12) We were unable to finish but were really close. The third and last time until they release the “Three Kingdoms”, I did “Saving Frankenstein” and we finished in 50 minutes with 8 people all of different age ranges. I think people who played all three of the escape rooms preferred the “Back to Childhood” or “Saving Frankenstein”. Also in the “Back to Childhood” you must have an adult in the room with you if there is someone younger than 6 years old. For the “Revenge of Medusa” you have to have an adult with you if there are any 9 year olds.

The childhood one was quite nostalgic for me and the other 11-12 year olds in the room the other younger kids didn’t understand much. Also in “Back to Childhood” you must choose game masters and if you want to think more choose to be a game master if not don’t be a game master. The Medusa one was quite scary there was a scary sound that would play every 5 minutes and it was pretty dark. Me and my friends were screaming a lot in the Medusa. More than childhood and there were 9 people in childhood compared to 5. The Medusa one also needs you to learn a little about symbolism and the theme is around Ancient Greece. The “Saving Frankenstein” was pretty scary. There were a lot of locks and timing stuff. It was also pretty gory so don’t do it if you’re not ready to see blood, bones, and parts of bodies. Also open wounds. This one took a little bit more teamwork then the other two escape rooms. It was also pretty scary. Also in this room you will be called assistants. There was a lot less screaming and a little bit more loud “ah”s.

Overall the escape rooms are really fun and help you bond with your friends. I did the Medusa one with a girl I barely knew and half way through the escape room I was already screaming at her. (True friendship people) I suggest you do the harder in difficulty one with more people. Also these escape rooms are decently cheap compared to other escape rooms. You can go to their website to book a room and get a preview of the story...

We did the "Paranormal Experiment" escape room, and had a couple challenges:

The experience is in the dark, and one of the flashlights provided was dead.

We spent 20+ min on the first challenge. When we asked about it at the end, our guide told us that most people need a hint at that stage. It seems like a play-testing miss to have a puzzle that most teams need help to answer as the first challenge that gates the rest of the experience.

A couple times, the difference between successfully completing the challenge and not successfully completing it felt really arbitrary. We tried one strategy, and then later got a hint to go back and try the same strategy. We weren't clear what the difference was.

Generally, the level of the puzzles felt a little too easy to us, with a couple that were arbitrarily hard to observe. There was relatively little abstract thinking or complex reasoning that was required. As such, we either solved the puzzles almost instantly or not at all. There was very little opportunity to feel like we were working through a challenge and that by approaching the problem in a novel way we got to the answer (although perhaps we would have felt more that way if we'd hadn't wasted so much time in the beginning).

When we finished, the experience was really abrupt. Our guide wasn't actually sure whether we had finished in time or not. We asked whether we made it and she was like "I'm not sure... check the clock." We expected to see some explanations for the puzzles we had solved/missed, but we were out in 5 minutes. It would have been much better to do a solution walkthrough, even a brief one.

Generally I like escape rooms a lot, but this one missed the mark...