DC

We Went Down (and Not in a Good Way) – Room: Titanic – June 16, 2017 – FAILED!

~ Mike K. ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you enjoy a good ocean cruise.

Avoid if… you have a fear of drowning, or just really, really hate Leonardo DiCaprio in that movie.

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Georgetown

Address: 3345 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms
[email protected]

The Room – Titanic:

Description (from the company website): Aboard the beautiful, new Titanic, you are surrounded by opulence on the journey of a lifetime… until you hit an iceberg. Trapped in your state room, can you find a way out using your ingenuity and wits before the water rises above the porthole?

Difficulty (1-10): 8/10

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-10

Staging Area: This is probably the swankiest location we’ve seen. Tons of seating AND A BAR (wine and beer, for Escapers only). There are also free lockers to stash your belongings before you enter the room.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the room and find yourself in the opulent quarters on the unsinkable cruise ship, the Titanic.

Understanding of the Mission: Simple… escape your quarters and the level before time runs out (and your porthole fills with water).

Did We Escape: No (we needed another 30 seconds (Jason’s estimate) or 2 minutes (Mike’s estimate))

Time Remaining: grrrrrrr

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 should work fine

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes (Jason begs to differ)

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Whitney, Birgit and Mindy

Team Disturbed Friends (Mike, Whitney, Birgit, Mindy and Jason) were lost at sea when they failed to escape the Titanic.
Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? Yes (if for nothing else than aesthetics)

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:  It’s Georgetown. Take your pick

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Curse? What Curse? Hey, Where’d This Tail Come From…? – Room: Curse of the Mummy – May 5, 2017

~ Jason ~ 4 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you like the Mummy movies or anything Egypt.

Avoid if… you don’t want to get dirty or have asthma.

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Georgetown:

Address: 3345 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms
[email protected]

The Room – Curse of the Mummy:

Description (from the company website): You are archaeologists, lost in a forbidden Egyptian tomb with the stone doors sealed behind you. Air is running out & the curse of Anubis will take you! Escape is the only option. Find the secret passage to escape with your life!

Difficulty (1-10): 6/10

Time Limit: 45

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-10

Staging Area: This is probably the swankiest location we’ve seen. Tons of seating AND A BAR (wine and beer). There are also free lockers to stash your belongings before you enter the room.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the first room of an Egyptian tomb. There are a number of statues along the walls, a big-ass pharaoh’s head, and some weird altar in the center, and some archaeology tools scattered among everything else.

Understanding of the Mission: Find out what happened to the (now) missing archaeologist and escape before getting cursed.

Did We Escape: Yes, and we SHOULD have made the freakin’ leader board… [Jason is still pissed about this. Mike is pissed too, but only slightly less than Jason’s all burning pissed-off-ed-ness (I hear there are creams for that)]

Time Remaining: 5:30

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 5. Six should probably be your max for this room.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Mostly

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Birgit, Whitney, and Angie

The Escape Room Guys (Mike and Jason) teamed up with Escape Room Woodbridge (Birgit, Whitney, and Angie) to solve the mystery of the missing archaeologist and avoid the mummy’s curse!

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are plenty of places to go for food and drinks, depending on your budget. We’ll leave it to Google, since we had beer at their bar.

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That’s Not an Oversized Turkey Leg They’re Eating! – Room: Prehistoric Room – April 20, 2017

~ Mike K.

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you like the Flintstones and fuzzy pelts.

Avoid if… you’ve ever been worried about being eaten first in a situation where cannibalism is in play.

THE BASICS

PanIQ Escape Room Washington DC:

Address: 3283 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: (202) 735-0485
https://paniqescaperoom.com/washington-dc/escape-rooms/prehistoric
[email protected]

The Room – Prehistoric Room:

Description (from the company website): You and your buddies are prehistoric cavemen in 6,000 BC. Your group encountered a hostile tribe of cannibal cavemen. They’ve taken you back to their lair where you are being held captive. The tribe is out hunting but will be back before the Sun sets. You have 60 minutes to escape or become caveman chowder.

Difficulty (1-10): 3.5/5

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $24-36 (+ tax per person) (varies based on number of players)

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 2-7

Staging Area: First, ring doorbell to gain entry. Rooms are on the 3rd floor of the building. Small waiting area with couches and water cooler. Enough space for 1 team to hang out while they wait, but additional seating in stairwell area.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Note: The ERG were given the opportunity to try out this room for free, with the understanding that we would continue to provide an honest review and follow the same process we’ve used on all of our other ratings.

Logistics:

Description of the room: You start off in a tribal campground locked in a cage.

Understanding of the Mission: Escape the cannibal tribe’s lair or become caveman chowder

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: 15:30

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 was good, but 4-5 would have probably been better

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes, but space – at times – limited the number of people who could work on the different puzzles.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): David, Tara and Steph.

Team Disturbed Friends (David, Tara, Jason, Steph and Mike) avoided becoming caveman chowder! Photo courtesy of PanIQ Escape Room.

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are tons of places to have dinner or grab a drink.

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Never, EVER drink the KOOL-AID™!! – Room: Insane Asylum II – Saturday, March 25 – FAILED!

~ Mike K. ~ 3 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’ve ever wanted to experience being in a padded cell (without being actually committed).

Avoid if… you are all thumbs.

THE BASICS

PanIQ Escape Room Washington DC:

Address: 3283 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: (202) 735-0485
https://paniqescaperoom.com/washington-dc/escape-rooms/insane-asylum-2
[email protected]

The Room – Insane Asylum 2:

Description (from the company website): The year is 1956. You have been kidnapped by the CIA and are being used as a guinea-pig for their mind control program known as MK-ULTRA. Doctors have held you inside a padded room for weeks now.
There was an emergency at the other side of the institution, so the staff is gone for a while. Probably this is your last chance to escape before they completely brainwash you.

Difficulty (1-10): 4.5 of 5

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $24-36 (+ tax per person) (varies based on number of players)

Identifier: R2 (Note: this says Insane Asylum II, so we’re giving this room the revamped room identifier, even though we did not do Insane Asylum I)

Party Size: 2-7

Staging Area: First, ring doorbell to gain entry. Rooms are on the 3rd floor of the building. Small waiting area with couches and water cooler. Enough space for one team to hang out while they wait, but additional seating in stairwell area.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (it’s open 24 hours) at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Note: The ERG were given the opportunity to try out this room for free, with the understanding that we would continue to provide an honest review and follow the same process we’ve used on all of our other ratings.

Description of the room: You enter a padded cell. Clearly the person who inhabited the room has gone a little loco.

Understanding of the Mission: Solve the clues and figure out how to escape the cell before the asylum’s staff returns. You are close to being brainwashed and this is your last chance to escape before they succeed and you become a mindless drone in their spy program.

Did We Escape: NO! [Insert word cloud of expletives here]

Time Remaining: Less than 0.

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 6 and that worked well. We could have added a seventh and it would have been fine. We don’t suggest any less than 4 because there is a lot to do.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Eric, Alphonso, Liz and Jill

Team Disturbed Friends (Eric, Jason, Mike, Liz, Jill and Alphonzo) ended up being committed to the Asylum after failing to escape! Photo courtesy of PanIQ Escape Room DC.

Worth the time and money? Hell yes, even though we failed.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are tons of places to have dinner or grab a drink.

Continue reading →

Crime Doesn’t Pay – Room: Perfect Crime – March 16, 2017

~ Jason ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you loved playing Clue while growing up.

Avoid if… crime scenes make you uneasy.

THE BASICS

PanIQ Escape Room Washington DC:

Address: 3283 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: (202) 735-0485
https://paniqescaperoom.com/washington-dc/escape-rooms/perfect-crime
[email protected]

The Room – Perfect Crime:

Description (from the company website): An aristocratic family member has been murdered. Some are calling it the “Perfect Crime”. You and your group of brilliant investigators made a new discovery that has led to a hot pursuit which might shed new light on the truth. Maybe it wasn’t the perfect crime after all?

Difficulty (1-10): 4 of 5

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $24-36 (+ tax per person) (varies based on number of players)

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 2-7

Staging Area: First, ring doorbell to gain entry. Rooms are on the 3rd floor of the building. Small waiting area with couches and water cooler. Enough space for 1 team to hang out while they wait, but additional seating in stairwell area.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the Facebook Live video before we entered the room:

This is the Facebook Live video just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: You start off in a small room that is wallpapered with newspaper clippings and advertisements.

Understanding of the Mission: Solve the murder mystery by finding the murderer, the date the murder occurred, where the murder occurred, and the murder weapon, and then get the key to escape the room.

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: 17:10 remaining;

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 7, which was pretty perfect.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Tara, Eric, Dalia, Mark, and Katheryn

Team Disturbed Friends (Tara, Eric, Dalia, Mike, Jason, Mark and Katheryn) solved the murder and escaped the room! Photo courtesy of PanIQ Escape Room.

Worth the time and money? Hell yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are tons of places to have dinner or grab a drink.

Our Scoring:

JASON SAYS: MIKE SAYS:
Overall Expectation (Summary)
The description on the PanIQ site didn’t give much background, and I still don’t know why it’s called the ‘perfect crime’ other than that’s part of the story. More on that later.

It took us some time to find the place initially, as well. It’s not a storefront; it’s more a gated alleyway. Which kind of added to the intrigue. Ryan, our GM (who doesn’t like being called that), met us outside and walked us up.

 This was a new location for us, so I really had no major expectations. However, I will say that I hadn’t heard of this company before and only found them after seeing a Groupon deal, which we purchased.

Finding the location took a few minutes. It’s behind a wrought-iron gate that has a buzzer, so that was initially our first challenge (how to actually get into the location!).

The theme itself sounded interesting, but nothing that made me want to choose this room over another. We’ve done a number of detective-themed rooms, so it was a “meh, it’s another room to do.”

Again, I’ll recall the adage to never judge a book by its cover… I was pleasantly surprised.
Story (Rating)
Some high-falutin so and so has been murdered. Allegedly, the plot was so well crafted that it’s the ‘perfect crime’.

We know it’s the 1900s. We know we didn’t do it but we’re there to figure out who did. And all I have is this pencil…

Rating: 7/10

 You are a team of detectives called to a aristocratic family estate sometime in the 1900s (this was stressed multiple times by our GM before we entered the room) to investigate a murder! Man, can’t these rich people settle their arguments over polo, 25-year old single malt scotch, and cigars like normal, civilized people?

Anyhoo, murder rarely pays, unless you don’t get caught… and unfortunately for the murderer, Team Disturbed Friends was called in based on our excellent track record.

Game on!

Rating: 7/10
Mission (Rating)
Holy multiple objectives Batman! We were tasked with the following:

  1. Find out who the murderer was
  2. Find out when the murder occurred
  3. Find the murder weapon
  4. Determine the location of the murder

Once we figured those things out, we just had to make our way out of the room (my favorite, a key to unlock a door!). And I mean that, just having to find a key to unlock the point of egress is literally my favorite objective.

Rating: 10/10

 Your mission – should you choose to accept it – encompasses multiple objectives (oh,yeah, baby!!) where you have to find out:

  • who the murderer is
  • the exact date of the murder
  • the location where the murder occurred
  • and the murder weapon

Once you determine these items, you will find a key that will allow you to escape the room.

Hmmm… we’re in an isolated estate and have to find out who the murderer is, where it happened and with what weapon. This seems familiar?

If you are a faithful reader of this blog (*cough, cough* become a follower *cough, cough*), then you know that a room with multiple objectives is like crack to me * and I LOVED how many things we had to figure out here.

Rating: 10/10

*  DISCLAIMER: Mike absolutely denies ever having tried crack, and is only drawing a parallel to say that multiple objectives in an escape room releases endorphins in his brain mimicking a natural high (kinda like a runner’s high, which he’s also never experienced because he’s not a runner… unless someone is chasing him… with a weapon).
Puzzle Diversity (Rating)
*Wipes tears from eyes*

I…We…They…

The only thing missing from this room was a secret freaking passage.

Seriously though, this room had so many things that we hadn’t encountered before in ANY other escape rooms. There was chess, maps, mazes. Hell, even a freaking stress test (that’s what I’m calling it; you’ll understand when you do this room). I think I was still giddy when we got out of there.

Why doesn’t this rating to go 11…? Oh right, this isn’t Spinal Tap.

Rating: 10/10

 Um, wow. I was initially unimpressed, but then something happened and all was right with the world. It was like Christmas, my birthday, St. Patrick’s Day and Oktoberfest all rolled into one. I think I actually gasped.

So. Many. Types. Of. Puzzles!!!

We’ve seen some of these used in other rooms, but there was not one puzzle type that was repeated, and some of them were brand new experiences for the ERG.

The puzzles also hit two of my hobbies (spoiler below in white text, so highlight if you want to see it), so it was pretty awesome. Kind of like it was tailored to my own interests.

Mike’s Hobbies:
Genealogy & Travel

Also, you need to make sure you have someone with a steady hand with you, and that’s all I’m saying. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you do the room. What a nice nostalgic touch!

The puzzle solutions themselves led to a number of key locks and combination locks. I think there were 7(?), but maybe only 5 – I had trouble counting (one plus two, plus one, plus one – HAHAHAHA).

Rating: 10/10
Puzzle Complexity (Rating)
This room had a great range of puzzles, difficulty-wise. There were one or two that were easy, yet time consuming; others required all hands on deck (both time-consuming and not). That’s the way it should be and they really took it and ran.

I was so impressed with how well thought out they all were that I was just shocked for a few seconds. Walking in and seeing some of them was a giant WTF moment (in a good way) and also made me go MINEMINEMINE on 2 of the puzzles. 

Rating: 10/10

 So, we had no newbies with us this time, and we still needed time to get through some of these clues. They had a few easier ones  in the beginning to whet your appetite and we did have about a 3-4 minute delay when we didn’t follow our Rule #3 again, so we spent time looking for a combination that we already had. Great job, Mark for double-checking!

Then they brought in the big guns. I think that Jason and I may have accidentally run over a few of our teammates on the way to one of the puzzles (hey, they all signed liability waivers and knew what they were getting into… hmmm… DID they sign liability waivers for us? Note to self: get them to sign liability waivers), and I stubbornly went back to one of the puzzles because I couldn’t just let it beat me. SUCK IT, UNNAMED PUZZLE!!

One puzzle was so difficult that we ended up solving it, but we reverse-engineered it to get the solution. I think we actually surprised our GM that we didn’t solve it in the conventional way. Another thing to remember is that certain items are put in the room for a reason. If you get stuck, try and use a prop. I can’t believe that we missed this, but it worked out in the end anyway.

Rating: 10/10
Flow/Cohesiveness/Uniqueness (Rating)
The room was broken into 2 rooms (we were told this at the beginning, so I don’t feel bad telling you here). The bulk of the work is in the second room, but getting there was pretty fun. We had a small Rule #3 snafu (which I blame on everyone but the person that tried that particular combination, including myself), but we got in, regardless.

The second room was extremely well thought out. The bulk of the puzzles all led into other puzzles that funneled their solutions to the final puzzle to find the 4 pieces of information listed in the Mission rating above. Absolutely loved it. Brilliantly put together.

***APPLAUSE***

Rating: 10/10

 I don’t think we’ve done a room where everything JUST FIT together as well as this one did. Everything fit the theme, and it was worked so well into the storyline that I am still nodding my head in satisfaction.

The decor, at first, seems confusing, but that all changes about 10 minutes into the experience. Then, you feel like you’ve been transported to this estate and are investigating a crime scene (the outline of a body is a very nice touch).

Lots of unique stuff to the room that also fit well with the theme, and all the puzzles and clues just flowed into a final climax… which can give you delayed satisfaction if you’re not 100% correct (giggity).

I have no critiques here. Absolutely stunning in how it was put together.

Rating: 10/10
Fun/Amusement (Summary)
Nope. Thought it was just terrible. (I’m kidding, obviously.) BEST. TIME. EVER!!
Game Master (Summary)
As I mentioned before, Ryan prefers not to be called a ‘game master’; he preferred to be called ‘Ryan’. So we went with that.

He was a little rushed through the background story. But he was on top of his game while we were in the room, asking if we needed help here and there (no, we didn’t) and was responsive on the walkie-talkie.

 Ryan was our GM and he added to the enthusiasm with the story outline and mission briefing. When we asked a few questions, he raised his eyebrow (which is one of my habits) and said that it was a great question that no one had ever asked before, which he followed up with “how many rooms have you done?”

He seemed a bit rushed in the beginning, but that could be because he was trying to get two groups into two different rooms (and was the GM for both of us at the same time). I’ve not seen this before (we always seemed to have our own GM specifically for our time block) but I can’t say this for sure..

We also asked what the leaderboard (the best time) and he said it was 18:00 minutes remaining. As we were tearing through the room, he would make comments every now and then about how fast we were moving.
How Helpful Were Any Clues Given, if any (Summary)
No clues needed! None were needed. Ryan actually radioed in and asked if we wanted help when we were trudging through one of the puzzles, and Jason (who had the walkie talkie) said “nope… we’ll radio you if we need you”

And note: he’s not allowed to give you any clues for the first 10 minutes, so keep at it if you get stuck initially.
Anger Level Score ERG (pronounced URG, as in “we should have known better”) Score
The only thing I can even say negative about this room is that I wish the story were a little better/more involved. That said…

Rating: 0/5 Fists

 Just a small facepalm when we realized that we were searching for something we had already found.

We need to start remembering to follow that damn rule so we don’t keep making the same mistakes that keep us off the leaderboards.

Rating: ?‍♂️?‍♂️ FacePalms – 2/5

ESCAPE ROOM GUYS’ OVERALL SCORING: 9.4/10

Final Thought: Can’t say anything more than we already have. The best we’ve seen so far. Good job, PanIQ Escape Room DC. We look forward to returning to do Insane Asylum (which the GM said was harder than Perfect Crime).

Friday the 13th Was Unlucky for Jason (Vorhees) – Room: Friday the 13th – January 14, 2017

~ Mike K. ~ 3 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you love camping or the Friday the 13th series.

Avoid if… you have anxiety while being stalked by a serial killer (even a pretend one).

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Georgetown:

Address: 3345 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms
[email protected]

The Room – Friday the 13th:

Description (from the company website): Ch Ch Ch Ah Ah Ah! Jason is back and he just wants to play! It is Friday the 13th and you need to hole up in a cabin and keep Jason out until midnight… after all, nothing bad ever happens on Saturday the 14th!

Difficulty (1-10): 7/10

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-10

Staging Area: This is probably the swankiest location we’ve seen. Tons of seating AND A BAR (wine and beer). There are also free lockers to stash your belongings before you enter the room.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the room and are in the woods outside the Camp Director’s cabin. Probably the best staging we’ve seen for a room so far. We can’t even call this a room; you have to see it.

Understanding of the Mission: Perform a series of tasks to alert the authorities, hide out in the cabin and stave off Jason until the clock strikes midnight on Saturday the 14th.

Did We Escape: Hell, yes!

Time Remaining: 15 minutes

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 8 because we didn’t book the entire room and had two random people in with us (a father-daughter team, who were pretty cool). So, 8 was good, but we could have done it with 6.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes. Plenty for everyone to do.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Mark, Steph, Catherine and Katheryn

Team Disturbed Friends (Mark, Jason, Steph, Catherine, Mike and Katheryn) avoided being killed by Jason Vorhees! Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown's Facebook group.
Team Disturbed Friends (Mark, Jason, Steph, Catherine, Mike and Katheryn) avoided being killed by Jason Vorhees!
Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Facebook group.

Worth the time and money? yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are plenty of places to go for food and drinks, depending on your budget. We’ll leave it to Google, since we had wine and beer at their bar.

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It’s All About the Ending – Room: Room Ω (Omega) – October 22, 2016

~ Mike K. ~ 2 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you have some time to kill and have a Groupon, or have a thing for watches.

Avoid if… you are claustrophobic.

THE BASICS

Omescape DC: LOCATION CLOSED

Address: 2406 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 202-644-0825
http://omescapedc.com

The Room – Room Omega: ROOM CLOSED

Description (from the company website): Professor Stanley, known for his theory of time travel, disappeared inside his own office three days ago. His students said he was about to publish new findings on multiple time dimensions. As his closest friend, you’ve decided to find out the truth of Professor Stanley’s mysterious disappearance. Pay attention to any clues related to time, otherwise the same thing could happen to you…

Difficulty (1-10): 6/10

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $27.99 + tax per person

Identifier: R1

Party Size: Up to 8

Staging Area: The lobby is up a flight of stairs and has a small number of couches and tables.

Metro Access/Parking: Woodley Park / National Zoo and then walk .7 miles across the Calvert Street bridge into Adams Morgan. It’s Adams Morgan, so parking at night and on weekends can be really tricky. We suggest Uber or Lyft if that’s an option.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: A small office… nothing too memorable.

Understanding of the Mission: Find out what happened to Professor Stanley before you disappear without a trace.

Did We Escape: yes

Time Remaining: don’t remember… 11 minutes?

Our Suggested Party Size: we had 6 and that was plenty.

Did the room challenge the entire team? No

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Melissa, Jess, and Jen.

Worth the time and money? Unfortunately, we had to give this one a “no,” and we had a Groupon to discount the price.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Adams Morgan, so there are plenty of places to eat and drink. Here’s where we went:

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Give Me a Gun and Get Out of My Way! – Room: 13 Hours – January 29, 2016

~ Mike K. ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you have a thing for people in uniform.

Avoid if… you aren’t a member of the NRA.

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Glover Park: – LOCATION CLOSED

Address: 2300 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suites G-102, Washington, DC 20007
(Entrance is DOWN the stairs off of Hall Place NW) (click address for a Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com
[email protected]

The Room – 13 Hours (temporarily replaced Double Crossed):

Description (from the company website): This room was a temporary room associated with the 13 Hours movie. As such, the description is no longer available on the site, but our military team was dropped behind enemy lines to complete a mission and find the target of an upcoming attack, radio the coordinates to base and then request an evacuation.

Difficulty (1-10): unlisted

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: T1

Party Size: Up to 8

Staging Area: The lobby to this location was downstairs in what I believe is the basement level of the building. There were couches and some games to keep you busy.

Metro Access/Parking: Tenleytown and then the bus down Wisconsin Avenue, or Dupont Circle and the bus up Massachusetts are your best bets. There’s no metro right by, so you’ll have to drive and find a place to park. Probably better to Uber/Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: The room itself was small but packed with goodies: Bookcases, maps, cigars.

Understanding of the Mission: We had to find the target for the attacks and then radio in the coordinates and request an evac.

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: 6:43

Our Suggested Party Size: Doesn’t matter anymore as this room has been replaced, but 6 people worked well.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Dennis, Dennis’ wife, Chris and Dalia.

We completed the mission! Members of the elite squad were Dennis, Jason, Dennis' wife, Chris, Mike and Dalia. Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Glover Park's Facebook page.
We completed the mission! Members of the elite squad were Dennis, Jason, Dennis’ wife, Chris, Mike and Dalia. Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Glover Park’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

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Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta – Room: Cosa Nostra – March 19, 2016

~ Mike K. ~ 4 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you were a bootlegger (or a gangster) in a previous life.

Avoid if… guns make you nervous or you are a prohibitionist.

THE BASICS

Insomnia Escape DC:

Address: 2300 Wisconsin Ave NW, #200B, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for a Google Map)

Contact and Website: 202-600-0419
https://insomniaescaperoomdc.com/cosa-nostra

The Room – Cosa Nostra:

Description (from the company website): Tucked away in a remote alleyway, behind an unmarked door and camouflaged with a fancy gallery space, there is an urban heaven for booze aficionados. This is the year 1933, under mysterious circumstances, you are transferred to a secret speakeasy, back in the waning days of Prohibition.

Difficulty (1-10): 6/10

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $29/per person

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 2-7

Staging Area: The staging area was basically a lobby with a couch, coat closet, and a water cooler.

Metro Access/Parking: The nearest Metro stop is either Tenleytown or Woodley Park metro (and then a bus), so it’s likely easier to drive/cab/Lyft in. There is street parking and one or two garages nearby.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description: Set in a saloon, you walk into the bar. There’s a poker table with several hands showing and a full pot on the table. The empty booze bottles on the shelf, and a pistol. Well decorated and themed, but it did feel a little crammed at first.

Understanding of the Mission: pretty straightforward… We needed to figure out who was killed and where they stashed the goods.

Did We Escape: Indeed we did.

Time Remaining: Just over 5 minutes.

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 7, so the recommended party size of 2-7 was pretty spot on.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes, there was plenty for people to work on as smaller teams.

Members of the team (other than the ERG): Stephanie, Chris, Jess and Tom.

Team Disturbed Friends (Jason, Stephanie, Mike, Chris and Jess) conquered Cosa Rostra at Insomnia Escape DC. Photo courtesy of Insomnia Escape DC's Facebook page.
Team Disturbed Friends (Jason, Stephanie, Mike, Chris and Jess) conquered Cosa Nostra at Insomnia Escape DC. Photo courtesy of Insomnia Escape DC’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? This location proves the old adage “never judge a book by its cover” since the building and office space is a little unassuming, but the room was really well done. We would do it again if we had to do it all over.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

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Don’t Back Us into a Corner! – Room: Escape the Oval Office – November 1, 2015

~ Mike K. ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’ve always wanted to be a Secret Service agent.

Avoid if… history just ain’t your thing.

THE BASICS

The Escape Lounge on H Street:

Address: 1322B H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 202-399-0900
http://escapetheroom.today

The Room – Escape the Oval Office:

Description (from the company website): Escape the Oval Office is an escape room game where you are a team of White House correspondents for the National News Agency and you just received an anonymous tip about a brewing “scandal” in the White House. Now you and your colleagues must sneak into the Oval Office to uncover the details so that you can get your story to print in 60 minutes.

Difficulty (1-10): 6/10

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: “From $15”

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 4-10

Staging Area: The room is in a townhouse on the second floor, so it’s basically a living room. It is spacious with a lot of seating.

Metro Access/Parking: Union Station and Galludet Metro stops are both a 1.2 mile walk away from this location, or search for street parking.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: It’s a room that is decorated to mimic the Oval Office. Desk, 2 couches, table.

Understanding of the Mission: You are part of the White House press crew and get a tip that there is a scandal being covered up. Does it go all the way to the top? You need to infiltrate the Oval Office, find proof of the scandal, and escape before Secret Service catches you.

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: 12:45

Our Suggested Party Size: 6-8

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Steph, Gina, Shanell, Aaron, Jennifer and two random guys.

Our first room! The team (Jason, Mike, Steph, Gina, Shanell, Jennifer and Aaron) escaped the Oval Office!
Our first room! The team (Jason, Mike, Steph, Gina, Shanell, Jennifer and Aaron) escaped the Oval Office!

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

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