Lockbox Escape Room - "Timeline" & "CIA Taskforce: The Gamer"

Updated: Apr 13

Videos/ Photos provided by Lockbox Escape Room

Lockbox Escape Room currently has 3 online escape rooms available - "Timeline", "CSI Taskforce: The Gamer", and "Framed". Each game can be played as a remote escape room or as a "hybrid" game (Will explain this in detail in the review below). We've tried 2 of their 3 games in the two different categories and below are our thoughts on each of them.

Company: Lockbox Escape Room

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Time: 60 Minutes

Game: Timeline

Genre: Sci-Fi

Type of Game: Audio Escape Room/ Hybrid 🗣👂

Date Played: 6/18/2020

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10

Size of Team: Unlimited

Price: $49.99 (2 Connections)/ $4.99 (each additional)

The Story: There has been an explosion and a toxin was released in the air. Our father became a victim to the attack but thankfully he had locked us safely in a bunker. Inside the bunker we discovered he was the scientist that created the project. He felt very guilty and invented a time machine in hopes to go back to fix everything. Now this job was passed on to us...

We decided to try what Lockbox Escape Room had categorized as the "Hybrid" version of this game. A 360 view of the room was presented to us through a separate link. We were able to zoom in and out on certain spots on the photo. The game started with a prerecorded video of an avatar giving us a full tour of the room. After that's done, the timer of the game started. An inventory list of locks and clues needed for the puzzles were presented to us on the screen. If we wanted to take a closer look at a clue we would inform the game master and he would be able to zoom in for us. As we opened locks (by telling the game master), the used items would go away on the inventory list. A prerecorded video would play every time we opened a lock or a clue so you could see the avatar actually doing the action in the escape room. When a new area opened up, the previous steps would be repeated.

Initially we didn't know how we would react to this new concept. There was definitely mixed feelings about this format. We loved the fact that the searching component had been completely eliminated and we could solely focus on the puzzles. Since the room wasn't really focused on set design, we thought we didn't miss much from that aspect. This saved a lot of time on game play and we were able to finish the game in about 37 minutes or so. The puzzles had a nice flow and we able to easily correlate them since they were all in front of us on the inventory list. We did miss some aspect of being able to see the game master trying the locks or the actions we wanted them to do (which they would only be able to tell us verbally that it was incorrect or that nothing happened). This format still felt more fun than just a live stream puzzle game on PDF or audio escape room since the prerecorded video still felt more engaging. We still put this format in our audio escape game category mainly because the avatar was not physically in the escape room during the game.

New players would probably love this format since it is cheaper in price and makes the game easier to follow. With this format, Lockbox Escape Room will be able to simultaneously run many of the same game at once. So if you have a large group of people, you might what to try it in competition mode!

Game: CIA Taskforce: The Gamer

Genre: Detective

Type of Game: Audio Escape Room/ Hybrid 🗣👂

Date Played: 6/19/2020

Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10

Size of Team: Max 6 connections

Price: $49.99 (2 Connections)/ $24.99 (each additional)

The Story: We woke up in a strange room along with other members of our CIA team. It seemed like the infamous assassin, "The Gamer", (who we were tracking down) kidnapped us while we were sleeping. We have to escape before he comes back!

We played this game in the familiar format of a remote escape room. We were given the 360 room photo through a different portal link. You are able to zoom in and out of certain spots on the photo. Darian, our avatar did a great job giving us an overview of the room before the timer started. As a team of three we were able to complete the game in 40 minutes and 18 seconds. This gen 1 room had some solid puzzles and we enjoyed the fact that everything had it's purpose and there were no red herrings.

If we had to pick which game type we enjoyed more, we would probably still have to stick with this one. We had a lot of fun interacting with Darian. Seeing him trying our suggestions and opening locks in real time made us feel like we're playing in the physical room. Hopefully we'll be able to play in a physical location soon (if we still remember how to open locks). We are so happy to see many have reopened. Remember to show your support but be safe!

*** These games can no longer be booked as remote games but can still be booked as an in-person experience ***

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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Lockbox Escape Room for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.