ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY
Play if… you ever regretted not becoming an archaeologist.
Avoid if… dark tombs just make you think of curses.
THE BASICS
5 Wits Adventures – Arlington:
Address: Ballston Quarter Mall, 3rd Floor, 4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22203 (click address for Google Map)
Contact and Website: 703-997-9694
https://5-wits.com/arlington/
The Room – Tomb:
Description (from the company website):
The original 5 Wits adventure, Tomb has thrilled more than a million guests since it first appeared in Boston in 2004.
Your group takes on the role of a team of archaeologists, tasked with unsealing the newly-discovered tomb of a long forgotten Pharaoh. Once inside its pitch black halls, you’ll have only your wits and a flashlight to guide you. But tread carefully – the mighty Pharaoh is not happy with your intrusion into his resting place!
This tomb is filled with ancient riddles, deathtraps to outsmart, and tests of skill and courage. It’s up to you solve Pharaoh’s challenges, find his burial chamber, and set his spirit free… or fail, and face his wrath.
Difficulty (1-10): none given
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Cost: is based on how many adventures you purchase:
-
- 3 adventures: $39.99 per person (can use over different days/doesn’t expire)
- 2 adventures: $36.99 per person
- 1 adventure: $29.99 per person
Identifier: R1
Party Size: Minimum of 2; maximum of 12
Staging Area: There is a very large lobby where you can check out previous groups’ scores and buy some merchandise. Additionally, they have party rooms for corporate/private events.
Metro Access/Parking: It’s in Ballston Quarter Mall so you can take the metro to the Ballston-MU Station, or drive and park in the parking lot (or on the street).
OUR EXPERIENCE
This is the video we took before we entered the adventure:
This is the video we took just after we completed the adventure:
Note: The ERG were given the opportunity to try out this adventure for free, with the understanding that we would continue to provide an honest review and follow the same process that we’ve used on all of our other ratings.
Logistics:
Description of the room: You start off outside a tomb entrance and have to find your way inside. Once you do, you are in a large antechamber that is sparsely decorated with items.
Understanding of the Mission: Figure out how to enter the tomb, make your way through the tomb by solving the Pharaoh’s riddles, and find a way to release the Pharaoh’s trapped spirit… or spend eternity trapped with him.
Did We Escape: Yes
Scores: 99% with two secrets found
Our Suggested Party Size: 8 worked okay, but you can probably do 6 if you are all experienced players
Did the adventure challenge the entire team? Yes
Members of our team (other than the ERG): Heather, Brittany, Corey, Tara, Eric, and Steph D.
Worth the time and money? Yes
Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:
- Punch Bowl Social – it’s less than a 30 second walk from 5 Wits and has good food and drinks and more games, if you haven’t had enough
Note: As this is an Adventure with 5 Wits and not a typical escape room, our scoring rubric does not (properly) apply. You can watch the video below for our review of our experience.
Final Thought: We had heard things from several people about how different Tomb and Espionage are, so we wanted to wait until we’d done them both to get these reviews up. We think it’s pretty obvious why Tomb is held in slightly better regard than Espionage.
While there is an amount of teamwork required for Espionage, Tomb is definitely better suited for (larger) teams. We would even go so far as to say you could not successfully complete it with only 1 person.
We enjoyed this one at least as much as the other and, as we said last time, buy the 3 pack and get more bang for your buck.