LOCATION: Seattle, Washington, USA
Photo above is property of Puzzle Break Seattle
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: The Eventide Departure
📅 DATE PLAYED: June 5, 2022
🎬 GENRE: Occult, Seance
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 3 ppl): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-5 PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins
💰 PRICE: $200/Team
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes
📖 THE STORY
Your mentor, Professor Firestone, has passed away but nobody can find his will! As students of the professor who have some knowledge of the occult, his son has asked you to try to reach the professor via a seance and discover the whereabouts of the will…
🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
The set design for "The Eventide Departure" was really well done. There was lots to look at and many artifacts, as you might expect for the Professor’s study; these created an interesting, thematic, rich, and attractive environment. It made me want to be a well-funded explorer! However, they did an excellent job of also making it fairly clear what pieces were linked and likely to be puzzles versus those that were purely set decoration, so you didn’t waste a lot of time with irrelevant objects.
There were five candles in the room that show your completion of the five major puzzles in the game. While, of course, you never know which puzzle you might get stuck on, this is a nice way to give you a sense of your progression through the game. One of the classic challenges in escape rooms is not knowing exactly how you are doing one time. How far through the game are you? Have you been stuck on this puzzle too long? Should you take a hint? This candle system is a great, thematic way to give you some idea of where you stand!
One cool aspect of "The Eventide Departure" is that they actually have two versions of the game, allowing two groups to play head-to-head if desired! There are, in fact, two sets of candles in the room - one indicating your progress and the other indicating the progress of the other group, if applicable. (In our case, since we were not playing against anyone, the other set just remained unlit.) I think it’s a really nice touch to facilitate that competitive aspect that could be great for larger groups or team-building events, but to do so in such a way that it also does not negatively impact the experience when played on its own.
During the game you periodically get messages (both “from the other side” and from the living), which help to nicely progress the story.
The puzzle design for this game felt very clean, and it was a joy to play! With one very minor exception described below, everything (while certainly not always obvious) made sense and was very fair. Be sure to observe carefully and search thoroughly!
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
There is one color-based puzzle where we had some difficulty distinguishing one of the colors. This was a minor issue, which you could figure out by deduction/process of elimination, and the GM also confirmed for us which color it was meant to be. So, certainly not a big deal, but one area that could be a bit clearer.
As a personal preference, I always appreciate when it’s very clear if you have triggered something (and bonus points if it’s clear where). In most cases in the Eventide Departure, it was super obvious that you had triggered something, but there was one that we didn’t catch…did that do anything? Hmmm…wait, was this door always unlocked? Perhaps this was just us being too absorbed in other things, but just know to pay attention and look around if you think something could/should have happened!
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
Playing "The Eventide Departure" was a smooth and rewarding experience! It was an exceptionally well-implemented game with a “classic escape room” feel. There are a few traditional locks but plenty of integrated tech and reveals as well. Although you are dealing with a seance, the occult aspect is very mild; it is definitely not a scary or disturbing game. Staff were super friendly, enthusiastic, and accommodating as well. Puzzle Break’s games are stated to be 12+ (with adult accompaniment); while normal gameplay involves one section that requires some ability to go through a low entryway, I believe that there would be a workaround for someone if that were an issue. This is a great room for smaller groups of enthusiasts or mid-sized groups of newer folks; larger groups can try the head-to-head version! (Puzzle Break will also hopefully soon be reopening some of their other rooms geared more towards larger groups.) This is definitely a room that I will be recommending to friends in the area!
ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO
Puzzle Break (in Belltown) has two lobby/seating areas (one with some small physical puzzles to play with), and bathrooms available. There are designated areas within the rooms themselves to leave your things. You do access their space via stairs. It is reachable via public transportation or there are both paid lots and street parking (free on Sundays!) nearby.
🔎 HINT
Apples and oranges might be hard to distinguish in this lighting.
Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
(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 Puzzle Break Seattle for offering us a media discount for our tickets to this game. Although a media discount was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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