Gnome & Raven — Local services in Richmond

This review is for 'The Museum' experience. NOTE: Adults CAN play and without a birthday party/event and have a PRIVATE game (so if you are playing on a holiday/busy weekend, you may want to check if there are openings here first).

TL;DR: Varying difficulty makes it perfect for new escapers, groups with kids, and adult groups looking for private bookings. May be a little too easy for experienced escapers, BUT it is a really fun experience and beautiful atmosphere so take your time to enjoy it all :)

Lobby/General experience: G&R is in the Stony Point shopping area so give yourself a few extra minutes to walk from car to location. You WILL know it when you see it, the front and the lobby is beautiful and ornate. I would have been cool with just sitting in the there soaking up the atmosphere for an extra 15 mins.

Customer Service: Everyone was friendly and relaxed. Seemed like a very genuine mood. I can't remember our GMs name :( but he had light blue hair and was a taller guy ( we were there 6-30 afternoon). In character and friendly without being over the top. Quick to respond when we asked for help and clear and concise with instructions.

The Game: You can choose difficulty. We are 4 adults who have all played rooms before. I would recommend 'Advanced' for any all adult groups, or adult/teen groups with some experience. We asked for 2 hints and had 26 minutes left over. NOTE: There is no timer in the room which I like but is worth mentioning. You get 15 min updates. We played 'The Museum' which I picked based on other reviews I saw and the fun description. The name sounds bland, but this room was really cute and clever. There were a variety of puzzles, and the room is non-linear, so great for larger groups. Our group of 4 worked on the same things rarely and some puzzles required multiple people. This is a weird compliment but the furniture in this room is GORGEOUS. There is one are that is clearly where the party is held and it's beautiful. If I had that many friends I'd totally have my party here as an adult XD. I love how it was a part of the room. My only concern would be that if a large or raucous group was playing in the room adjacent (Wizard room?) you could for sure hear between the two. We heard the other group and sounds during the end of our game. It wasn't bothersome, but if it was a huge group of yelling kids, it could definitely be...

Worst experience with a business. They don't know how customer service works. I booked an escape room, and the website let me add options for birthday cake, drinks, even asked the name of the birthday kid. After booking, I emailed the venue to double check and a rep told me, yes you have extra time, and confirmed vanilla cake. The day we arrived, I was told "I'm sorry, we don't have a cake available for you." No drinks. I wasn't going to turn into a "Karen" in the entrance, and further ruin the group's experience or hold up other groups, so I figured afterward, we'd find something else. (Unless you want expensive fine dining, trying to find a place in this shopping center that can accommodate 7 teens walking in for refreshments turned out to be difficult. I settled for buying a bunch of cookies from a cafe, and getting drinks from a vending machine.) Later, when I emailed the rep to express my dissatisfaction, she apologized for not double checking that I had selected a birthday package. Very short email, no offer to make up for any frustration on my part. I replied with an attachment of the confirmation which clearly stated birthday options, and asked why there was a question about it. Her reply stated "You did not book a BEST BIRTHDAY EVER package. You booked an adventure for seven players. What you did was answer questions for the best birthday ever package." 😤 In other words, I chose a regular escape room time with birthday options for cake, drinks, etc which apparently is a discrepancy and she apologized for not catching the "disconnect." I replied that it seemed she was blaming the customer for THEIR website allowing me to book one event but leading me through questions for a another and offering options, which, again, were confirmed by her. She agreed the system was flawed, and apologized for not having an "extra cake" to offer me. After expressing my frustration that she was blaming the customer for a fault of theirs, and expressing no desire for them to make it right, she gave me a modest partial refund. I am confounded as to how this venue is still able to keep...

Experience was good in the details, and the management in some aspects, but I didn't have any fun at all. Most of that was because of two things: The group was way too big for one room. The people bringing us there, I was with a program that was using it for a team building type thing, were a bit at fault for asking for that many in one room, but Gnome and Raven is a bit more at fault for accepting that many and thinking everyone would be able to participate. Way too many cooks in the kitchen, and in the end I got to do absolutely nothing besides look through books for half an hour, which brings me to my next point, management issues. I don't know who did my room, maybe it's the same lady managing the tomb raider one every time, but that's the one our group did. I found two books, that's the only thing no one else would touch because of the previous problem I mentioned, and I spent half an hour at least skimming and reading and trying different numbers as codes to locks, and the manager for our room decided to wait until the rest of the group showed a slight interest to tell us they were purely for decoration purposes. The fact non-blank books were even used is a problem in itself, that is definitely going to be seen as a potential clue, and it took the manager for our room half an hour at least to tell me I was being completely useless and incorrect (not literally) for the first half of the experience. The second half was problems with some of the people partially, but mostly too many people in the room, and I apparently wasn't fast enough to push someone else out for my place as a leader. I know at least a few other people had to deal with that. Perhaps the rest besides me and those other few people had fun, but this sucked for me, and the people here are at the...