The Bunker Experience — Local services in Pasadena

This was the 2nd immersive Escape Room I've done!

Entrance: There isn't a lobby but instead someone will be waiting for you at the doorway at the time you booked. What was also cool, was if you wanted to add another person to your group, you can add and pay at the door. They take exact cash or you can pay with a credit card.

Like most Escape Rooms your party will sign a wavier. There is also lockers for your belongings because you will not be allowed to take anything inside.

The Experience: This was a fun one! Pretty cool location. We did Chapter 1 and they did a good job with decorating the environment to really help you feel immersed in the story. Actors were great and added a nice touch to the whole experience! As for puzzles, they were pretty decent though some were tricksters, but we eventually figured them out. I don't want to give anything more away but overall great experience! The end was awesome!

Recommendations: I feel like I agree with some reviewers that 10 people in the room might be too much. We were lucky that we didn't have any strangers added to our party. I think it would have totally changed the experience but we got lucky. I think if there were more people it might feel too crowded (too many people on clues or not enough to go around) and take away from the story and experience. I think our group of 6 was perfect but I don't think I'd go higher than 8. Maybe lowering the amount of people allowed would help with that.

Ok, so this is just a suggestion since I've done a few Escape Rooms that have this...a keepsake at the end. I've done a few where they actually give your entire party a photo you take at the end with options of emailing. I really love this because it makes the experience more memorable for the group. I know this is added cost but maybe it's only for parties who succeed? Or at least give away one photo? Some people might not want anything so this could also just be optional. Just a...

This escape room was unlike any I've done before and I wanted to review it to let the staff know how impressed we were and to let other customers know that it may be slightly different to other escape rooms you've been to!

The Bunker Experience is set underground, and your team have to escape from a bunker set within a nuclear apocalypse. To make things worse, there are vandals who are trying to break in.

This room is not for the faint of heart (though you can request no jump scares, which I thought was a good option from the team) as there are live actors within the complex and you have to operate under that pressure. This made it all so much more entertaining! You also have a fully committed actor guide with you in the room, which makes asking for hints slightly more fun (if you need them, that is).

The design of the room was great too, with every object feeling authentic and the whole place feeling right how it was intended. I don't want to say too much about what was there as this would spoil it for a first timer.

I'd love to do another of their games as the live element made it so much more fun than normal...

This escape room was one of the most emersive ones I've seen. The theming is rich, and the challenge is suitably complicated. There were no puzzles or obstacles that required significant leaps of logic, but one or two of them left us really lost. The staff seeded us with little bits of flavor text or clarifications that helped us sort it out, but without revealing solutions. Of course once we figured them out, the solutions seemed fairly obvious, but we spent some time pretty well stumped.

If I had any even minor criticism, it would be that some of the puzzles felt a little linear (a locked box contains a clue to get the combo to another locked box, which contains a clue to get the combo to another locked box), but really, there was plenty of variety to keep it interesting.

Avoid dark holes (no spoilers), keep an eye on your buddy's 6, and hopefully you'll make...