Exciting! The Path at Puzzle Effect in Phoenix (November 13, 2019)

You and your fellow explorers have entered an ancient temple. You must complete the challenges before the ancient evil consumes the earth.

This room is very unique in that it doesn’t use traditional locks. Instead, everything is controlled by weights and magnets. When you successfully solve a puzzle, you’ll often hear something open or drop in the other room. You then excitedly run in to figure out what just happened. The puzzles and riddles are very well created and involve Chinese characters, phases of the moon, constellations, maps, dragons, and the Chinese calendar.

 

Tonight’s team, the Quinnsters, finished in just the nick of time with just 2 seconds remaining! During the escape, you don’t have to ask for clues. Instead, the administrator will guide you if something is unclear and you are stuck. The end, when everything comes full circle, is a truly exciting moment!

 

Book The Path now at Puzzle Effect!

 

Cost of a ticket: $27 (per person)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It – (Especially when it’s just one person)

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

 

Quinn Delaney

An Excellent Experience! Intro to Climbing at Brooklyn Boulders Chicago

Have you never climbed before or only a climbed a few times? Then the Intro to Climbing class is for you. Plus, it’s only $10 more than a regular day pass with gear rental. First, the instructor will teach you how to boulder. You’ll learn about the color coded holds that create specific routes.

Secondly, you’ll be introduced to the auto-belay machine. This is a fantastic machine that will handle the ropes for you. Just attach the carabiner to your harness and climb up. When you push off to go down (or fall), the rope will catch you and slowly lower you down to the ground. They have about eight of these machines which allow you to climb all the way to the ceiling, 50 ft high!

After the lesson, you are free to stay in the facility. Climb a few more walls and you are sure to be exhausted. It’s quite a workout. They also have a yoga room, a workout room with weights, and a lounge area with free WiFi. It’s a great atmosphere throughout the unique space.

Sign up for a class now!

Quinn Delaney

Quinn Delaney

Great Fun! Art Room Events Presents Speakeasy Murder Mystery at Red Lion Pub (December 1, 2017)

John Jones, the founder and owner of the Dil Pickle Club, has been murdered. All of his family and friends have been invited to his speakeasy to hear the reading of his will. Who will get a piece of his estate? Will it be his new wife or his ex-wife? Will it be his business partners at the club? Will it be his trusted lawyer and old friend?  And will the reporter or the detective be able answer the mystery of who killed John?

The participants of tonight’s group were fantastic as they all dressed in their 1920’s best.  The group fully embraced their characters and engaged in a whole lot of wheeling and dealing as they tried to gain information to solve the case and make some money.

The host did a fantastic job organizing and running the event.  It was very exciting as updates were revealed,  especially when someone else died! The new information presented ulterior motives and agendas which enhanced the fun in solving the mystery. The entire three hours flew by!

Sign up for a future Art Room Event today!

Quinn Delaney

Informative! Foraging for Everyone: Foraging 101 through Dabble

Have you ever wondered what is edible in Humboldt Park?  Your curiosity should lead you to Foraging 101 to find out. During this class, we discovered wild plantains, lemon clovers, husk tomatoes, and wild carrots. We learned as the seasons change mulberries, crabapples, and grapes would also be options.  Armando, our guide, doesn’t recommend eating anything found close to the paths, buildings, or roads unless it is above knee height in order to avoid contamination from other elements.

Osage Orange

Beyond finding edible items, you’ll discover plants that are great for creating terrariums and other decorative purposes. Armando’s enthusiasm for foraging is strongly evident and it is a joy listening to him. Sign up for Foraging 101 now!

Quinn Delaney

Review: The Library at The Great Escape Room Chicago (May 28, 2017)

You have 60 minutes to prove yourself worthy and escape the room. There are four color coded stations. Each station lists the number of clues available in the room (from 6 to 21) and each clue has a colored sticker on it. This makes it easy to determine what is a clue and what is not. The clues involve blacklights, an old board game, combination locks, tools, and more.

Tonight’s team consisted of 3 groups totaling 10 people. All the groups worked together well solving the puzzles. It seemed like we had a very slow start, but then all the pieces started to fall into place. We used the magnifying glass on the green puzzle to learn that an item in the room probably should have also had a green sticker on it to identify it as a clue. This freed up the group to focus and complete the other three puzzles and lead to a new record time of 49:22!

Book your escape now!

Quinn Delaney

Fun and Challenging! Operation G.R.A.N.I.E. at Escape Artistry (May 13, 2017)

A special agent has gone off the grid and retired agents, like Granny, are being reactivated to help find her. A metal container which holds the key is locked shut by 9 different locks. The combinations and keys can be found by searching the room for clues. The clues involve chess, a globe, rugs, glass, silverware, a Lazy Susan, a piano, and many more things you’d find in a grandmother’s apartment. There are also a lot of things that are not used, which makes this room challenging.

Team Granny Lovers consisted of 9 agents with a good amount of previous experience. They worked together well and were able to escape just in the nick of time using the three clues allowed. The guide did an excellent job giving us just enough of a hint to lead to the answers.

Book your escape now for Operation G.R.A.N.I.E!

Quinn Delaney

Also, see our review for The Railcar!

Victory! Portlandia at Escape Games PDX

In Portlandia, your roommate has hidden the rent money and you have one hour to find it before your landlord kicks you out. Portland trivia is useful to know to help find the cash, but there is also a travel book in the room with the answers. This room features a very fun surprise that had the whole group excited to discover. Connect 4, Plinko, math problems, combination locks, blacklights, craft beer, and magnets are all used in this adventure.

Team Vancouver had 8 people who all knew each other and had all played an escape room before. Add in two more people and it made for a very strong team that was able to find the money with 2 minutes to spare. There were lots of puzzles to do at the same time, which makes having a large team very useful.

Book the Portlandia room now at Escape Games PDX!

Quinn Delaney

Also, see our review of Escape from 20,000 Leagues in Seattle.

Challenging and Fun! Escape from 20,000 Leagues at Puzzle Break Seattle (March 12, 2017)

Escape from 20,000 Leagues finds you trapped in an underwater laboratory. You have one hour to escape. There are many boxes and panels with combination locks on them. Clues are all around the room that help you find the combinations. Solving a word drop, a giant puzzle, a word scramble, and math equations are all part of the journey. Also, plumbing, bioluminescence, and remote controls are involved.

This escape room is quite difficult to complete in only 60 minutes. Only 14% of teams are able to open the door. Team Squid came up short, but they did do better than most teams according to the facilitators in the room. There was only one panel remaining on the control panel. Also, the team consisted of three separate groups who had never met each other. If only there was an option to buy an extra 15 minutes, escape could have been achieved!

Buy tickets now for Escape from 20,000 Leagues!

Quinn Delaney

Exciting! The Crimson Storm at Phoenix Escape Room (February 23, 2017)

You and your fellow pirates are locked up to the wall and you must escape and find the treasure before time runs out. It’s an exciting adventure as you search the room for clues. Be sure to bring your reading glasses, as the writing and numbers can be quite small. The clues include cool features like a black light, magnets, a sword. The music played sets the scene well as you try to solve riddles which will reveal the combination to a variety of locks (numbers, letters, directional, and keyed).

The game is for 2 to 6 players and the success rate is currently at 23%. Nobody is in the room with you, but you do get clues from the screen. With only 2 people, Team Delaney came up just short with two puzzles still left to solve. Being able to extend the time would be an exciting option.

Book this exciting experience now!

Quinn Delaney

Also, see our review of The Railcar here.

Top 10 Moments in Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding at Chicago Theater Works (October 8, 2016)

(Listen to this song while reading the review)

Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding is a night of all the best parts of a wedding without any of the stress of an actual one. Here are 10 of the best moments.

 

1. Sing along to and listen to the future nun belt out “Jesus Is Just Alright”. Don’t sing during her solo though! By the way, Robert Randolph’s version is great too (this is the song at the top.)

 

2. Score drugs from the best man.

 

3. Eat bottomless pasta, salad, and cake.

 

4. Slow dance to Prince’s “Purple Rain” as sung by Donnie Dulce.

 

5. Catch the bouquet or the garter.

 

6. Beat up the drunken ex of the bride.

 

7. Dance to YMCA, the chicken dance, and join the conga line!

 

8. See the priest get loaded and slur through his blessing.

 

9. Witness Tony almost get in a fight with a random driver while blocking traffic on the walk from the church to the reception!

 

10. Watch the nun close out the show by singing Last Dance by Donna Summer!

 

 

RSVP now for Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding at Chicago Theatre Works!

 

 

Quinn Delaney