Great Room Escape — Local services in Richardson

My experience is probably not the norm. I was going to write it off as a one off and not review but after what seems like the 6th or 7th email reminding me to review, I figured the company REALLY wanted to know my opinion.

First off, I do a lot of escape rooms. The group that I did this particular room with has probably done over 30 as a team. I say this not to brag, but to let you know that we have done a lot of different rooms with a lot of different companies. This particular room was very different from what we’ve seen elsewhere.

Pros: The room had a theme that we had not seen before and we were very excited about it. Elements of the 80s were everywhere and a working knowledge of pop culture helped greatly.

Cons:

1. There were quite a few things broken in the room that the “game master” had to either tell us about or trigger manually once we solved a puzzle. I get things happen and they may be hard to fix, but it definitely distracted from the room.

2. Our “game master” stayed in the room with us. This might not be a con for everyone. I will say most rooms have a camera/tv system or intercom to help give the illusion of solving it only with your team. The person in the room watching with no thematic reason to be there, made us uncomfortable. We even briefly discussed leaving as a team before we started. There was no opening story presented. We had no idea why we were “stuck in the 80s” and even had to ask what our end goal objective was to escape. Our “game master” was kind, but was not in tune with our group dynamics. He would not stop talking. Although, he felt he was being helpful, it came off more irksome. We never felt we had a moment to think about the puzzles in front of us before he would chime in with “hints”. It almost felt like being in a group project with someone who saw the answer key but doesn’t want to do any of the heavy lifting.

3. As a group and individually in all of the escape rooms we’ve done (well over 100), we’ve never been asked at the end to tip a “game master”. Not until this room. It’s not a bad concept, but it needs to be made clear prior to entering the room. We were unprepared for that and had no cash on us. When that was conveyed, we were then told it was also possible to tip through various cash apps. We felt very on the spot.

4. We beat the leaderboard time. If the board in the hall was up to date, we got out faster. There was no recognition of it (which suits our group), but it was weird that we discovered it on our own walking out the door. We also were not asked if we wanted a picture or anything at the end of the room. That...

This was my second experience to do an escape room and this was definitely not as much fun as my 1st. It was a very different concept having a zombie in the room and none of us liked that aspect. I don't know how other companies run the zombie but this was an aggressive one where it has access on a chain to 90% of the room in only 20 Minutes so it could grab at you wherever you are. We were told that singing to it would calm it down but that didn't always work and no part of me was interested in singing...esp for 55 minutes. In fact when I did try to sing, my analytical part of the brain was non-functional. There was loud music playing in axe throwing section which was easily heard in our open top room and made it harder to think/discuss the clues. My first experience (in Lewisville) was more fun because you weren't having to run away or yell at each other, and I liked how they used cameras and could walkie talkie the guide so you could get a hint but nobdy was in the room the whole time. Our guide at this place had a good accent and was nice so none of this was his fault, just a bad setup. Two of us got sidelined due to being touched by zombie and that sucked. I wanted to be a part of solving the clues not relegated to singing to calm down an overactive zombie. I liked it the least, but no one in my crew had a good time. I knew we should've tried the 80's music one, but three of us weren't too familiar with that genre of music so we were thinking it would be too hard. I don't like being harsh to a small business, but the reviews are all so positive, I felt like our opinion needed to be shared...if only to inform people of the effect the zombie has so you could chose a...

This is not the place for escape the room enthusiasts. This is the first one I’ve done where the staff stays in the room with you. The ENTIRE time. And gives you clues and hints without you asking. Most rooms I’ve been to they have a walkie talkie or screen or something you can use if you get stuck and ask for help but, otherwise, you’re free to solve it on your own using your own wits and problem solving. Instead, in our experience with the 80s room, our host pretty much did the room for us, which took all of the fun out of it. She would stand next to the thing we needed next or tap on the next clue or sometimes just straight up hand us the last piece we were missing. I would say maybe if you’re going with kids and you’re wanting step by step hints given to you then this is the place for you, otherwise steer clear. You won’t be doing any solving yourself. And, similar to another poster, our host got upset at one point when a person in our group wasn’t understanding the clue and snatched the things out of his hands and did it for him. Yes, the 80s stuff was cool/nostalgic but I wish I could’ve escaped the room myself. It was more like being in a guided tour or something. And, I was unimpressed with the puzzles compared to other rooms I’ve been to. Some I think were just remote controlled by the host, which meant we weren’t allowed to work on two clues at once, which, with a big group, means people are just standing around. I could go on and on with reasons this was a bust, but, all in all, it’s...