Red Door Escape Room — Attraction in San Mateo

We did The Fair game and was introduced to a game master In the beginning who was not the same game master we ended with. Which is fine, but while we played the game- it was clear they weren't paying attention and there was no way to let them know about issues. At the end, when the game master came in and we asked some questions - - we discovered that some of the clue pieces were in the wrong place so we ended up missing a game that was clearly mean to be played. She apologized and said she'd talk to the team. We asked about a lock that we couldn't open and she told us that puzzle was broken. We weren't told about this in our beginning brief - - It was a giant red box taller and wider than an adult person, with a prominent gold lock in front. I told her that we spent time trying to find that key and I asked why didn't they just put a "broken" sign on it. She said - "oh that's something we need to talk to management about and eventually maybe they will take some of our suggestions". You need to talk to your manager about using a pen, tape and paper?? Their work around was to stick one of the clues in a black toolbox on the floor which we found but was also mistakenly left unlocked. So we found a key that was supposed to be for a box that was already unlocked - - but because we also had a random lock that was on an unmarked broken game piece, we spent time continually trying to unlock a lock that wasn't part of the game. - or trying to find another lock. When we asked for a hint, the game master gave us a hint of a puzzle we already clearly finished. We tried talking to the cameras, but there was no response. They weren’t paying attention and clearly couldn't hear what we were saying. When we were escorted out we were clearly not happy with the game masters answers which felt dismissive and made up - - - and she still had the gall to ask for a positive review so that she could potentially win a prize. When we complained to the front desk, I could see the game master embarrassingly sneak away from the conversation. And all they said was "oh we're sorry about that."

It's clear that they have had similar complaints before and so they have a canned and practiced "oh I'm sorry" response that takes no actual responsibility to how frustrating multiple mistakes in a game experience can have.

They have no quality control or protocol measures to make sure that the game rooms are actually properly set up. And they can't seem to figure out how to make a "broken" sign with...

Did once upon a time with my wife and seven year old son.

Wife and I have done several escape rooms with about 2/3 success rate. Son's first. I really wanted him to have a good time. Asked for easiest room.

About halfway through we got stuck. You had to measure something to get a code to open combination locks. We measured many many times and came up with x. Locks don't open. Asked repeatedly for clues, they suggested measure things to get code. Yup, already know that. Code doesn't work.

With like 1 min left they gave a clue that indicated our measurement was off, correct answer was x+1. Tried that, locks opened, times up.

We lost about half our time on this.

Complicated by the fact that the locks are imprecise (you can enter the right code and still have to tug on them a few times to open) and very hard to read (neither my wife nor I, neither of whom wears glasses, could read the numbers on the locks, even with provided flashlight).

So the end experience was just frustrating, not fun. Son was really disappointed because for a half hour he had nothing to do while we fought with locks.

Suggestions: Pay attention to what people are doing/saying when they ask for clues. Telling us to measure and use measurement for locks when we already knew that was frustrating. Get locks that are easier to read. At the point you are providing a flashlight you know they are hard to read. Keep locks maintained so they open smoothly when the right combo is on. Keep measuring equipment maintained so you don't get false positives. Generally speaking pay more attention. We were stuck for 30 min and asking for clues. Notice that, understand where/why we are stuck, give meaningful relevant advice.

At the end they gave us a free session for next time we're in town (appreciated) but the overall experience...

This was my 20-24th escape room! I did the gift, maniacal, confinement, and fair game.

All the games here are solid rooms with very interesting puzzles. Shout out to Emma for being our gamemaster during confinement! She was amazingly friendly and engaging throughout the game. Really enjoyed the periodic clues she left when we were struggling.

In terms of the actual room, confinement was probably my favorite because it had a thrilling aspect. This room had much more lock and key puzzles than other rooms, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s not a super scary room either! The only con was that there were a few puzzles that had some random jumps in logic and relied on trial and error/luck. Recommended for medium to advanced players.

Fair game was probably the most immersive room! It’s exactly like you’re at a carnival. A lot of very fun puzzles in this one that I’ve never seen/done before. Recommended for kids (who aren’t afraid of clowns!) and beginners

The gift was my most anticipated room, but this was probably my least favorite room. There was a few puzzles that didn’t work so they just had us ignore them, but I really wished I had the chance to solve them. The storyline was very great until the end when we escaped. The ending completely abandoned the storyline and made it feel like random puzzles in a room. The puzzles were very easy in comparison, so I recommend this to beginners also.

Maniacal was really cool. It’s a short one about rebuilding a robot. It’s a really nice game for kids or anyone who’s not an escape room enthusiast. Or if you wanted to “warm up” before an actual room. Enthusiast can probably skip.

Overall, this is a solid escape room location. It’s a new location, so there were some issues with functioning waivers, locker space, and properly...