Escape Room Reviews: Déja Vu

Company: Escape Era San Diego
Room: Déja Vu
Date Played: 2/19/17
Player Count: 2, which was just right.
Success:  Success!

Premise: You’ve received a package telling you to be at a certain place at a certain time. And the package is from… you!

Immersion: Middle of the road. The room feels a little bit cluttered, with a lot of stuff packed into a small space, and it's in no danger of being confused for the "real thing."  All of the props looked good though, and one element half way through is especially effective at drawing you into the story.

Highlights: I came out of this one riding high because I caught a few good solves in a row. (Unfortunately, that's because some of the puzzles are fairly single-player affairs.) There are some puzzles I haven't seen anywhere else, one of which is especially delightful because you'd think it would be everywhere. But it's not. It's just here. Along with a fair mix of locks and tech objects.

Lowlights: HUGE sequence breaking is possible in this game. Almost a third of the game is a chain that culminates in a hint for a puzzle that is available and solvable early on. We just happened to backtrack a little in the name of exploration, which turned out to be a waste of time. Actually, there was kind of a lot of backtracking. 

And Finally:  We did this room and The Diner in one afternoon, on the drive back from San Diego to Los Angeles from a DDMTA screening. On the day, my attitude towards both rooms was influenced pretty heavily by my own performance. If you've only got time for one or the other, The Diner is the better bet, but I'm still looking forward to Escape Era opening their awesome-sounding Video Arcade room. Out of 20 games played, this one clocks in at #10.

How to book this room yourself: Visit http://www.escapeera.com