The Hex Room

We all happened to travel down to California together and decided, yeah, we should probably try an escape room while we’re down there. And boy, we were not disappointed. There’s like a personality quiz you take at the beginning before starting the room. Everyone is designated a “role” as if in a horror movie (think Cabin in the Woods) and everyone is given a prop item that’s related to their character. You’re all split into different themed rooms, all connected to one room that the Detective character is in. This particular role (the one I ended up getting) is the common communication between all the other rooms and helping everyone get out with clues, hints and items spread between the other rooms through their mail slots, doggie doors and openings like that. There was a fifth room (we only had five players, but one had to be in the middle) that was vacant due to our number of players, but it did not affect the game play as items must’ve been moved out of that room, and clues in the room itself were still visible from the door hole. Along with aiding everyone in exchanging clues and items, the main area also had it’s own puzzles to solve. Every individual also has their own “personal puzzle”: a lockbox as an extra achievement, and a surprise inside. Multi-themed and decorated as such, it all fit together so well. The puzzles weren’t overly complicated, but weren’t overly easy as well and themed towards the “role” that you’re given (or mine at least). Communication is key as well as looking thoroughly for items (we had one person, it was their first time doing a room, so it slowed us a bit). Hints were given through a phone call to the Detective only when game master decided we were struggling, and only if we wanted to take the hint. Absolutely a must do room if you’re in the area.

Wow. This room was simply phenomenal. I don’t even know where to start. This room has it all. Great theme, great story, great set design, great puzzles– just phenomenal. Little backstory on this room- some sick fuck wants to recreate a horror film and he collects individuals that represent different stereotypes that you would find in a typical horror film. These individuals have to escape in order to survive. Each individual is placed in their own room, which is themed to their stereotype. Once they escape their own room, everyone must come together and work as a team to escape. During the pregame festivities, we had to take a quiz which determined which character we’d be playing. The characters are: The Nerd, Virgin, Jock, Rebel, Prom Queen, or Detective. I was assigned The Nerd. Once the roles were determined, we were given props to match our character. These props are related to your character’s personal puzzle and you can wear them if you choose to do so. These personal puzzle are not required to complete the room but you get something shiny if you solve it. As we start the game, we are each separated into our character rooms with only the Detective able to communicate with everyone as he’s in the middle. Communication is vital during this stage of the room. Each room contains different items and clues that the other players need in order solve their puzzles so you communication is key in order for everyone to succeed. The décor, effects and narrative voice really did make it feel like you were in a horror film. The room I was subjected to fit the Nerd character perfectly. I thought the puzzles related to my character were quite interesting. It wasn’t overly difficult or easy, it was good. More so than the difficulty, I just liked how the puzzles really complimented this character. It kind of gave you some insight into his mind and personality and I thought that was good. The game master would be watching over this room and if at any point they feel the need to intervene, they would do so by communicating with the detective. The last portion of this room felt like something you would see in SAW. It was awesome. I cannot express how much I enjoyed this room. There is a ton of replay value in the sense that there are so many roles you can play, that each experience would be different than the other. If you’re in the Anaheim area, go check out this fucking place. It’s amazing. Highly recommended.

Holy poop, this room was just so far above and beyond anything I have played. I mean, I expected nothing less with this room being in California and having access to so many people in Hollywood. This is hands down one of my favorite rooms ever. I enjoyed the storyline and that it was a play off of the stereotypical horror movie characters. I ended up being cast as the Jock, and had to begin the room with the huge football shoulder pads on. I was placed in my room in the pitch black darkness and waited for the lights to come on. Found myself in a nasty old kitchen. The decorations in here were AMAZING. It felt like a legitimate kitchen from a horror movie. Things looked grimy and gross and there were tons of things to sort through (eg pots, pans, dishes) which again made it feel like you were in a real kitchen. The fridge and freezer were actually working and I found some…”goodies” inside. I could go on for days about how immersive this room was, but to sum it up, this was the most realistic room I’ve ever been in. The puzzles made sense, and REALLY required your group to communicate well, especially with all of you being separated. I also loved the addition of your own personal puzzle that you could choose to solve if you had time. I was able to solve mine fairly early on while I was waiting for some other group members to solve other parts of the room so we could all move on. It was a great sense of personal accomplishment on top of us all being able to escape the room “alive”. If you ever find yourself in Anaheim, definitely check these guys out, you will not be disappointed.

The backstory of this room has already been covered by my fellow reviewers so I’ll just get to the nitty gritty. This room was awesome. Great theming, great immersion, and a cool set up of puzzles that will make or break a team. I like that there’s care towards giving you a chance for an individual sense of accomplishment with the character-specific lockbox, as well. One thing about this room though- apparently it’s possible for individuals to get left behind should your group choose to move on. So that really amped up the incentive to solve your way out of there because yikes, who wants that? For my character, I was assigned as the Prom Queen, given a little sash and tiara to wear, and put in what essentially was a walk-in closet. Due to the nature of the room it wasn’t anything super amazing, visually. It’s a closet, what can you do? There was a lot of stuff to sort through, anyway. And I was super spooked for the majority of the time due to dimming lights and ambient noise. Plus my room had a unique feature that connected it with another’s. …No spoilers here but wow just working up the courage to even do what I had to do was an experience and a half lol. I’m a big ol’ baby when it comes to scares but I’d definitely do this room again, it was a good time.