Andy T.
Yelp
I've been to Escape New Haven twice now. The first was to experience The Crypt, my second escape room ever. My return visit was to experience The Game Show, my 27th room.
The Crypt was fun for me and my family. The scenic elements weren't overly interesting or elaborate but felt appropriate given that you are mostly supposed to be in a dressing room or backstage. Having not done many other rooms around the country I wasn't aware of just how elaborate rooms could be, but even as newbies it still felt pretty sparse. Regardless, we found it to be a solid challenge and thought some of the puzzles were clever and it required a great amount of communication. As far as CT goes, was an overall fine room. Middle of the pack, nothing to rave about but got the job done and a fun way to spend an hour. Overall that room by itself would earn 3.5 stars.
Having a lot of escape rooms under my belt, I was excited to return and try The Game Show, which had a description boasting "A tech-driven experience full of bright colors and flashing lights, with a competitive aspect that will keep you on your toes. We've taken some design risks, so keep an open mind and become the next contestant!" The prospect on a creative twist on the standard escape room format was enticing and I think in theory this room *could* have been really cool but unfortunately the execution left much to be desired. Everything felt home made. This can be fine, and even charming, in some rooms, but the room was being sold as something it was not. The "bright colors and flashing lights" amounted to flat painted walls with little decor, a few LED color strips and a set of different color lights akin to what a low rent DJ would bring to a high school dance gig. The "tech driven experience" involved a small monitor with a screen that had 80s-esque computer graphics and a clunky interface that didn't feel like you were figuring out puzzles so much as just pushing a few buttons are the right time. There was a lot of different mechanisms and game mechanics to learn quickly and it didn't add to the excitement so much as feel like we were getting really bogged down in learning rules. Ultimately the game show competition aspect of the room felt pointless and unsatisfying. There is a twist that happens, that I won't ruin for anyone still wanting to experience this, which I appreciated, though narratively it was questionable. What bumped this from a 3 star review down to 2 was that one piece of tech stopped working during the game. We had already figured out what we needed to do to solve that puzzle fairly early on and attempted to do so, but the tech wasn't working. A screen clearly rebooted and was just showing computer code not intended for the game. We attempted to get the attention of our game master multiple times and consistently for about 8-10 minutes before it was rectified. It was the second to last step in the room and it left us with 3 minutes to complete the final puzzle and it just wasn't enough time. When the game master came in after the time ran out, we told her about the issue and she insisted that it didn't affect our overall experience because she corrected it as soon as she realized. We said we had been trying to get her attention for a long time before anything happened and she said that no she fixed it right away and it didn't affect our game because there was still other things to work on. This is not true, many of us (since it was a group of 8) were left standing around feeling frustrated and waving at the camera. Had that issue been fixed sooner we would have started on the final piece much sooner and with plenty of time. Now I've been in rooms where things don't work before and I get that it's often a one time thing, but to have our concerns repeatedly dismissed was very disappointing. I don't know if she thought we were all going to demand a refund or something, but a simple acknowledgment that the tech failing was a bummer and perhaps offering us three minutes to finish it since we lost 8-10 would have been a totally fine way to resolve the issue. Our consolation was when we were told we figured out a puzzle without needing a single hint, which "nobody" ever does. Well if 99 teams out of 100 need a hint to solve a puzzle, that's a poorly designed puzzle.
Which brings me to my main issue with Escape New Haven. It's just not a great overall customer experience. You walk into the reception area and you see the game room monitors not even half hidden by a folding wall. It's clear each room is not getting it's own dedicated game master, which really impacts the overall experience. There also just isn't any WOW factor. You are unceremoniously told the premise of the room by an employee before being brought into the room and the timer starts. There is no "ta-da!" moment upon completing the room (when we finished The Crypt we didn't even realize we had finished it until the employee came to get us).