REMOTE: The Escape Game - "Only Murders In The Building"

Updated: Apr 9

LOCATION:  Los Angeles, California, USA

Photo above is property of The Escape Game

Company: The Escape Game

Game: Only Murders In The Building

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Remote Escape Room 🗣

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: August 10, 2023

Difficulty (based on 5 players): 5/10

Size of Team: Up to 10 players

Time: 60 Minutes

Price: Free

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As Oliver's new show "Death Rattle" premieres tonight, a crisis unfolds: the vital prop has gone missing. His assistant believes it's within the Arconia, but only 60 minutes remain until showtime. Can you scour the Arconia for the prop before the curtain rises? The clock ticks, the stage awaits, and the search begins.

Video above is property of Hulu

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Signing into the Zoom link provided during booking, we were greeted by our gracious host and GM. They set us up on their custom Escape Game platform, which would grant us access to an inventory and list of locks as we discover new things through the game as well as an “explore” tab that will allow us a 360 view of the rooms. We also got the opportunity to download some fun backgrounds that we could use during the game. Once it was confirmed we all could view everything, we were given our introduction video and were on our way.

If you haven't experienced remote escape games before, here's how this one operated. We would see what our GM was seeing and ask them to perform tasks such as checking under tables, opening boxes, or attempting lock combinations. Our GM was very good at taking our requests and performing them. She was also very cryptic in giving us hints and nudges along the way if it seemed like we were struggling so not to ruin our eureka moments.

Along the way, as we discover new things, they were added into our inventory which was a helpful reminder of what we had found so far. One advantageous thing was that with the 360 view of the room and the inventory, we were all able to be working on something and stay engaged whether it be talking to the GM and asking her to do things or review the inventory and see if you could solve the items.

Photos above are property of The Escape Game

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The puzzles were a nice variation of different types like matching up, searching and more. There were a few puzzles that would have been better experienced in person so if you are able to make it to the game in person, we hope you enjoy those ones. The game is an overlay of Escape Game’s The Heist room. If you have played The Heist before, you may recognize key reveals in the game, but the puzzles were different enough that it felt like a completely different room. Though we did not use the hint system, it was easy to spot. On the top, there is a question mark that can be clicked for pre-made hints, but our host and GM told us that they were there to give us some hints as well if we needed.

Photos above are property of The Escape Game

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“Only Murders in the Building” offered a satisfying online experience. Theming the game to the show contributed to the overall enjoyment. You do not need to have seen the show to enjoy the game, but you will definitely enjoy many of the references sprinkled throughout the game if you have (Gut milk anyone?). The intro and outro videos set the game up to immerse us in the experience. The puzzles were the right amount of difficulty that it made us think but not to the point of getting frustrated. Anyone who is a fan of the show or mystery enthusiasts would get a kick out of this. Though there is not much murder in this particular game, this is a game that must be checked out.

Photo above is property of The Escape Game

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"Only Murders in the Building" is a limited run game that is being offered in-person as well as online:

The Escape Game Los Angeles (located in Century City) - August 11-13 & August 18
The Escape Game Las Vegas (located in The Forum Shops) - August 18-20
Online Remote Adventures - August 14-18