The Stage Is Set

I have been to more escape rooms than most people.  There have been many that were fantastic, and some that were less so.  Typically, the ones I have been to have fallen into these categories.

1.  They take place in an office, where you have to use your imagination to set the mood and location.  For instance I went to one room, where the website showed an underground chamber, but took place in what looked like an old accounting office.
2. They take place in a location that naturally matches the theme of the room.  A great example of this is ‘The Curiosity Shop‘ in Riverside, California…. which is in an actual old shop.
3. They take place in an office building that has been decorated really well to create an atmosphere.  Some good examples are ‘The Entrapment‘ in San Diego and EscapeX Rooms in Irvine, CA.

Recently, I got to experience something different… something that really made me say, ‘WOW!’

I went to ‘The Fun House’ at Crossroads Escape Games in Anaheim, CA.  This was a brand-new room that Madison and Luke had opened just a week earlier.  They also have the very popular ‘Hex Room’, which I have not been able to do yet, as I need 5-6 people… and I don’t seem to have enough friends.

However, ‘The Fun House’ does not require that many people, so we booked that and headed up to Anaheim.  After arriving to what was essentially a giant warehouse, with a very nice waiting room.  After the normal waivers were signed, and the rules were given, we entered into something that absolutely blew my mind!  Madison and Luke had used the cavernous warehouse space, with the high ceilings, to essentially build a building within a building.  You weren’t in an office that had some funhouse decorations, you were IN A FUNHOUSE!  Loud colors, crazy pictures on the walls, giant doors with oversized knobs.  They even had a vaulted ceiling that looked like a circus tent, an ‘upside down’ room, and one of those perspective rooms where it actually gets smaller on the other end.

The amount of set design, time and creativity it took to create this room was mind-blowing, and truly raises the bar for escape room creators.

Talking with Luke and Madison, I was impressed when I heard they had essentially designed and built the adventure themselves.

If you are a designer of escape rooms, or a room owner, you have just been called out!  This was an absolutely incredible room, and takes set design to a whole new level.

And so far, I have only mentioned the set design.  It should be noted that the room was a ton of fun!  It was challenging, clever and had just the right mix of easy and difficult puzzles, so you were challenged, yet always felt success, rather than frustration.

Overall, ‘The Fun House’ at Cross Roads Escape Games is an exciting escape room, and an absolute must-see for any escape room enthusiast!

Oh, and as for our success.  We were told that no 3-person groups had escaped The Funhouse yet… but we did!  And we did so in 35 minutes

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Cross Roads Escape Games
4245 E La Palma Ave
Anaheim, CA 92807
(714) 572-1004
http://ift.tt/1SyGaUM

 

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