ESCAPETHEROOMers first visit to Exit Escape Room NYC was back in August 2018. We booked "The Mission" room last minute on a weeknight and they were extremely accommodating. This location is in an office-like complex with an elevator and they are located on the 7th floor. The room designers are big on making their props seem very real, especially inside this room. One thing we noticed that could've used an update, was the AC unit. The condensation from the unit was leaking water onto one of the props that contained clues. The two of us escaped with minutes to spare, so it's definitely doable with a small group. We couldn't hear so well on one of the devices so if they made the volume a little bit louder that would greatly help with one of the clues. There was some new tech implemented into this room that we've haven't encountered before which we found interesting. We really enjoyed the storyline here as it really followed the theme and played well w/ the set design.
We recently went back August 2019 to try their other rooms. We feel that the best number of players for the games are between 3-4 people, although we were able to successfully escape with just the two of us. "High Speed NYC" had a great idea to incorporate the iconic NYC subway as a design set as we felt very at home here. As a native New Yorker, we know exactly what we are supposed to do on a busy train which helped us with a lot of the puzzles. The subway chairs and metal rods felt like it was taken from a real subway line. They are very big on reasoning here on the set design and puzzles where it has to make sense why a certain prop or a puzzle is being incorporated. For instance, if I'm on a train and I'm stuck, there wouldn't be a toilet plunger lying around for me to use. Because of that, the game flow went very well. The only thing we can suggest making this more immersive would be maybe to add tv screens on the subways to resemble the passing time and stations. It would be cool to feel the "movement" visually other than sound. The mag locks placements were great as it was very obviously where certain object was revealed. We did have a little "wow" moment when we realized that there was still a lot to do as the game progressed so definitely make sure your time check is in place! So far this is our favorite room.
We love the new Exit Escape Room NYC location. The lobby is very spacious with loft-like ceilings. They also have a party room so it's great for corporate or celebration events. We had a lot of fun in the "Sugar Rush" room with just the two of us. This is a dream come true to incorporate "cooking" into an escape room theme. It was very clever how the puzzle designer implemented a "process" in the room where you would have to create the initial project and end with a finished one without having to break any safety codes.
We were debriefed on us being sent into compete in a cupcake baking challenge, but our competitor has hidden all the ingredients and locked us inside to sabotage us. We must make the cupcakes in time for the judge before time runs out! As we stepped inside the kitchen, everything felt very "organized". This is one of those rooms where you don't need to find or organize your clues, everything has been placed right in front of you. All you need to do is associate what goes with what and the puzzle will solve itself. With that said, there's pretty much no red herrings in this room. We recommend this for beginner escapees or families with kids to try this room as it's very entertaining. The puzzles did feel a bit easy at times because of that. It would be interesting to see if they can have a more difficult level incorporated for enthusiast's. Also, I think incorporating a scent would've elevated the level of immersion when the finished product is ready or even through-out the game. Overall, we really enjoyed this room mainly because I'm a sucker for sweets!
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