JAR Studios Escape — Local services in Rancho Cordova

I'll break my review down into 3 categories...

What I Wish I Knew Beforehand:

There were a few comments made by the owner which, if I would have known prior to coming here, I probably would have chosen a different escape room. They were:

"If you are not a gamer (video gamer) then you ar SOL".

"Don't expect to escape. You'll be disappointed if you go in with that expectation." Apparently, out if the 300 groups who have gone before, only 1 solved it in the allotted time. One other came close.

-When the room was finished being built and the testers came through, they had a list of things that needed to be changed, but he thought "Forget that!" and opened anyway.

Pros:

-Theme/storyline is appealing

Puzzles are challenging

-Owner is friendly and willing to give clues or help, if the group is interested in it.

Cons:

The bathroom was in desperate need of a cleaning. Status: horrifying!

The into/instruction period took much too long. While I was glad that the owner was friendly, he was overly talkative and I found myself looking at my watch hoping we could just get going. He talked to us for a while before showing the intro film, and they gave us additional instruction before entering. It would have been nice to just get it all from the film or from him rather than him, the film, him... We didn't get started until more than 35 minutes after our scheduled time. Then when he came in a few times to give help, he would get talking again. It was distracting.

-In my opinion, with a 00.33% of groups actually solving the room in time, there needs to either be a longer time limit (currently it is an hour, but others around here range from 1-2 hours), or the puzzles and clues need to be going in a more direct fashion. While they are well thought out and enjoyable, there just isn't the time. Maybe for gamers this isn't an issue, but again it isn't advertised towards gamers as far as I could tell. At the end he came in and walked us through the remaining puzzles, and even with him walking us pretty much straight through them, it took another 30 minutes. This alone says that more time is needed to give players a chance at completing the room. Though, I don't believe the owner is looking to have made a room that is even escapade by even a small percentage. One of the first things he said was to not to get our hopes up about escaping because more than likely it wasn't going to happen. Well that stinks.... I wish we would have known this prior. I'm fine with not escaping, but really, how is it fun to play when you literally have no chance at completing...

Really enjoyed the overall experience. Joe (The owner) was welcoming, and his enthusiasm enhanced the experience! I honestly thought that he was really cool, and it's important to have an good gamemaster, because even if the room is amazing and your gamemaster sucks it's not gonna be that fun. I always like when it's the actual creator running the room, they always seem more passionate and excited.

room;

The room was neat and the puzzles were well thought out. The set could have a bit cleaner [not as it was dirty, but referring to the build]. I'm not too critical about this, as it was built themselves, unlike, others who essentially purchase a premade kit and only install it into their rooms. I liked the flow of the room however, and the puzzles seemed to make sense with the theme.

lobby;

I liked how the theme was also incorporated into the lobby, that was a very neat idea.

after;

I also like the conversation after we escaped. I found it really insightful and interesting. Talking about escape rooms things is really fun and interesting, I wouldn't have minded hearing more about it. It was sad that we had to leave so soon, but we were on a trip back...

What an awesome escape room or Live Action Gaming room this place was! First and foremost a big thumps up to Joe the owner. As soon as we entered he was engaging and had a extremely affable personality. He was extremely passionate about this business and it really started the experience on a good foot.

I am still pretty new to escape rooms but so far this place ranks as my favorite. The lobby is themed along to the escape room and it was really nice to see that this detail was seen throughout our entire experience. Joe started off a quick chat and some brain exercise puzzles. I don't want to spoil any of the room but there was definitely enough of a challenge to make this a fun and engaging experience.

Joe also offers the options of clues on a walk-talkie if you are having trouble, but we really did our best to not ask for help. We caved but thankfully it was only for one puzzle. Throughout the experience Joe didn't act as a silent observer criticizing our mistakes but acted as a helpful guide.

I highly recommend this place especially if you are new to...