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Comment by justinator | Hacker News Reader

I went to one here in Boulder, and that was enough for me. Couldn't really control my suspension of belief (like say, a good movie with a silly, but engaging plot) to get into to it, and each puzzle just felt like work. You kinda hope for say, Myst, but in real life, but felt more like a weekly Martin Gardnir, but just scattered about a room, and I had to pay $35 to solve it. My mind literally went to chores I'd rather be doing instead being where I was. All the props just felt like someone went to a thrift store. I should've drank considerably more before participating - the same feeling you get at like, a funeral for someone you dont really know.

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That seems to be the baseline for a lot of these places. They rent some warehouse space, throw up drywall rooms, then fill them with thrift store furniture/decor. The puzzles boil down to solving a series of padlocks or keycodes.

However note the place in the article - they clearly put a lot of effort into it. The decor is well done and the puzzles are actually involved, even interactive.

I went on a cruise ship that had an escape room. It was incredibly well designed both from a puzzle and decor standpoint. It was also the most difficult room I've ever tried. It was a fake "submarine" like the one mentioned in the article, though the decor was even more realistic. There were multiple interactive puzzles that involved things like re-routing the flow of water through pipes or using a VR headset mounted on a "periscope" to scan the "surroundings" for clues. The sky's the limit on these, so to speak.

Its a whole different activity, as a group event. 2 or three friends, yelling out clues you've discovered, recording them and trying to put them together, its very engaging.

I'd never consider doing an escape room alone.

I was there with ~5 others for a birthday; I never said I was alone. I never found it engaging though - you'd go through the room and everyone would just tear it asunder. The time limit on the whole thing made it so efficiency was the most important part of the, "experience". Again, felt like a job, more than entertainment.

There are a lot of bad ones out there. Sounds like you found one. A good one can be really fun.

Escape rooms are just now getting into a consolidation phase after the big initial boom, but it hasn’t gone far enough to really squeeze poor quality out, so there’s more low end product out there than there should be.

I've experienced the strip mall thing you're describing. But we have some incredibly themed and customized rooms here. I wish you could have experienced one of those instead.

That was funny. I think if you go in a group like from work or with friends then it helps. If you are thinking of chores instead having fun then you need this more not less.

That sounds a lot like a reply from someone who enjoys an activity and can't fathom that someone else wouldn't. I get that a lot when people (my wife) tries to convince me to go to the beach. I _abhor_ the beach and she just assumes I "not doing it right" in some way.

To be fair, I don't mind the activities around the beach so much (shops, soft serve, etc). However, that's not what the majority of people want to do with their time.

justinator's comment reads like Escape Rooms are overhyped and not worth it, and that it's something most people who have tried it think but it's literally the first time I've ever heard someone describe it like that.

(just to be clear, I went with a group).

But the easiest way I can describe it: it's like going to a really bad haunted house and it's my job to scare myself.

I understand that you don’t like the activity but then that is that. You just say “you” don’t like the activity. Original comment implied that he/she didn’t get it. Some activities are designed for the group, it is nothing like going to the beach.

I agree on the Myst comment. I think if there was more tech involved and a little “magic” after the solving of each puzzle, it would be a bit more fun. That said, watch how much you drink. My friend and I went into one in Denver pretty hammered and ended up both sitting down and falling asleep! The employee came in and woke us up after a little bit. We somehow still ended up escaping with less than a minute left.

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