RATING: 3 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 8:21
We better clean our sinful slates for Heaven’s sake – or there’ll be Hell to pay.
Sinners and Saints, our NEW ROOM awaits! The last thing you remember, you were cruising down Monument Ave. singing “I Will Survive” at the top of your lungs, and now you’re standing in front of Heaven’s pearly white gates waiting for St. Peter to return from happy hour to judge your existence. You could wait patiently in line or you could dig through those unguarded filing cabinets and discard all records of your misdeeds and debauchery. Bypass the Gatekeeper’s locks, traps, safeguards, and codes to omit all incriminating evidence before St. Peter returns. Will your earn your halo or your horns?
One minute we are driving distracted, and the very next, we realize that our numbers are up! We’ve arrived at Heaven’s gates ready to face the music and atone for our sins, only to find out that St. Peter is off partying with Prince (just quoting the gamemaster there – don’t shoot the messenger). If our efforts prove successful, we will be allowed to enter the pearly gates.
There it is, the premise of our mission laid out as plain as the lying noses on our faces. There is no escaping our sins — or the story in this experience, which stays faithful and true along each step of the gameplay. This room provides an entertaining and lighthearted journey through glances at our “greatest hits” of sinful deeds, so that we may undo them – remorse optional – and reach the happy ending residing just through those Rust-Oleum metallic spray-painted gates.
This is the gateway to Heaven if St. Peter had a really tight budget.
Items are lined with nice golden accents, while white, sheets hoping to be clouds hover overhead. The walls have a powder blue tinge and an angel’s harp rests perhaps in the very spot where it is played for the entertainment of those standing in line to meet their eternal destiny in a budget escape game.
Several podiums containing a variety of divine trinkets stand throughout the space, surrounded by organically-shaped areas of white marble-esque tiles. Other areas of the flooring are rough and textured, due to the fact that they were created from poured concrete. We later learned that the concrete was poured to hide the electrical conduits for the tech used inside some of the podiums.
Naturally in the corner of the room is the golden gate illuminated by lustrous, white light.
Judgement at the Pearly Gates included a great sense of humor. For instance, at some point we solved a challenge that rewarded us with evidence of one of the worst transgressions known to mankind: the creation of the mullet — a true crime against great heads of hair everywhere. Other puzzles along the journey humorously revealed even more sins that had been associated with our good name. When we found out what they were, we felt strongly about wanting to erase these from our legacy as well.
Once we retrieved all the incriminating items, the gate opened to welcome us in and it was seemingly safe to pass through. Except it wasn’t that easy after all. There was one final task we had to complete, and only when we succeeded were we free to walk into the light … of the hallway, that is, where we took our victory march back to the lobby.
Escape Room RVA has a reputation for completely re-imagining their rooms rather often. Right where we stood at ground level trying to absolve ourselves of our sins, there once was The Cursed Crypt placed atop a set of steps in a graveyard.
And while it’s always nice to have new games more frequently, it’s difficult to miss scraps, dings and dents left behind from the previous occupant. We suppose it’s a passable trade to have more games forever on the horizon.
Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:
Venue: Escape Room RVA
Location: Richmond, VA
Number of Games: 4
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 minutes
Capacity: 10 people
Group Type: Public / You may be paired with strangers.
Cost: This game has since been retired.