The Greatest Caper - "Mona Lisa Is Missing"

LOCATION:  Montpelier, Vermont, USA

Above photos is property of The Greatest Caper

📝  ETR DECODER

• 🔑 GAME: Mona Lisa is Missing

• 📅 DATE PLAYED: August 17, 2021

• 🎬 GENRE: Heist

• 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 ppl): 5/10

• 👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 1-10 PPL (Recommend 2-6PPL)

• 🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins

• 💰 PRICE: $25/PP

• ☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private

• 🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

📖 THE STORY

An art thief has stolen the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and hidden it in his lair. Our thief has left a series of messages for the love of his life so that she might retrieve it, but we are following the clues to find it first!

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

• The room itself is smartly decorated, with simple, clean, and consistent set design. Very befitting of an art thief, and it wasn't immediately obvious which art was for decoration and which ones were puzzle-related.

• It opens in a low-light setting, which rarely works. In this case, I found the provided lightning to be more than sufficient and even added to the caper feel. There was an option to turn on the lights for groups that aren't concerned with the leaderboard or the ambience.

• There is a bit of personalization at the end, which was a nice, unexpected touch!

• There is a humorous optional puzzle that Austin adds for larger or more experienced groups.

• This is a low-tech room, but it worked smoothly. It was always very clear for which lock a given code was intended.

• There was a mix of puzzles - physical, search, decryption, logic, riddle, and spatial. There are some really fun physical manipulations, and there are some artifacts that are collected early on that don't come into play until later.
  

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

• One of the objects to manipulate needed a bit of calibration/cleaning given the fine level of fidelity required to complete the puzzle.

• The storyline could be more fully realized; it's not entirely clear why messages and clues are left behind, and nothing really develops further as you work through the puzzles. Similarly, the hint mechanism works well but doesn't have any in-story reasoning behind it.

• Some aspects would be crowded with a large group.
  

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

I recommend this room for groups of 2-6 players from ~8 years old and up. It is a simple yet satisfying room that is fun for both kids and adults (even if an art theme might sound less appealing to the former). The linear nature and clear indications as to which lock you're solving make it a great room for new escapers, families, bridal parties/corporate events - anything where the participants might not have much experience. It will provide a satisfying 'hey, we did that!' experience, and Austin is a gracious and supportive GM.

🔎 HINT

People who peek at their Christmas presents will get ahead right off the bat in this room.

Additional Info

• Street parking available

• Parking lot in front of "Pho Capitol"

• Located on 2nd floor (stairs)

• Table Games available

• Private Restroom from each escape room

Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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BOOK NOW

We don't want to go into detail and ruin any surprises for you, but if you'd like more information on the room, feel free to email us.

(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 The Greatest Caper for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#DaveBristol #Heist #IRLescaperoom #EscapeRooms #FamilyFriendly #Vermont #USA #TheGreatestCaper