Escape Reviewer

Puzzles: ✭✭✬✩✩ 2.7

     Challenge: 4.0

     Logic: 3.0

     Abstract: 1.0

Murder on Champlain TV is a tricky escape to review. Échappe-Toi tossed us on a roller coaster of highs and lows throughout our time inside of this room. The idea and theme integration of this escape is most definitely the apex of our ride. Players are introduced to the scenario with a brief overview of the storyline before entering the room. Requiring a bilingual translation, we found it a little confusing as our host clearly spoke predominantly French. However, we're pretty sure that the French version was much clearer.

 

Upon entering into this room, we immediately remembered that it was summer outside. Lack of air conditioning and starting in a relatively small room with a large number of people was a bad combination that resulted in a sweaty mess. After leaving this room, players enter into one of the largest rooms that I have been inside of. This room, from what I can tell, was an old and run-down screening room, which plays perfectly into the theme of this escape.

 

The sheer size and layout of the room was enough to immerse you into the theme. While the design was nice, props seemed a little dingy, and you could clearly tell that this room was past its prime. The puzzles inside of the main room were fairly fun, despite one of them requiring some prior knowledge and being a little bit abstract for our liking.

 

Up until now, our roller coaster ride for this escape had been a fun one. Taking us up with the set design, a small bump with an abstract puzzle, rising again as we enter new rooms and then a slight hiccup when we had to use some prior knowledge. The first three quarters of this escape are fun and above average.

 

Unfortunately, we have to talk about the poorly designed final puzzle. It is at this point, that we screamed in terror as our metaphorical coaster dropped without a bottom in sight. Taking what was a fun ride and leaving us feeling sick. We faced the final door with an electric number lock. The host eventually walked us through the solution, gathering pieces of information from around the entire escape that seemingly had nothing to do with each other. Even following along with the process was difficult, let alone solving it for ourselves. As our entire team stood dumbfounded for a 15-minute explanation, we began to look at each other with stares of disappointment, confusion, and to some extent, anger. There was no way we were solving this final puzzle without being inside of the creator’s head. Even if we somehow connected the different puzzles together and somehow figured out their order, and somehow knew to use this on the lock, we still may have entered this incredibly long code incorrectly and we wouldn't have known which part was wrong.

 

It’s a shame that a room with such great potential was ruined by the craziness of this final puzzle. Luckily the first three quarters of this escape make up for that fact! If you’re looking for an immersive environment in Montreal, look no further, but remember, don't expect a smooth finish!

Reviewed by Evan on July 26, 2015