RATING: 4 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 12:38

The folks at this most-epic named escape venue are taking you to camp for a summer of fun and sun… as long as you appease the curse of the camp legend, of course!

Howdy Campers! Welcome to your first day at Camp Echo! Your friendly camp counselor is happy to meet you and excited to show you around! First stop is the recreation cabin where your counselor gives you some background about the camp. This includes talk of a camp legend, some unforeseen, mystical force named Zilla who was rumored to be trouble, but of course there’s nothing to worry about right?

:cue crash of thunder and Zilla’s booming voice which scares your bubbly camp counselor enough to run and hide in the bathroom: 

Uh oh, looks like Zilla’s locked her in but she can at least watch over you from the hole in the wall that she can get to by standing on top of the toilet. Yep, you’re on your own!

You and your fellow campers need to banish Zilla away before your whole summer is ruined!

Camp Echo takes place in one large space that has been transformed to really look like you are in a cabin used for recreation at a children’s summer camp.

The decor itself is simple in the wooden cabin look but with added kid-friendly touches . I’ve been in a room before that had a kid-friendly theme which ended up being tacky beyond belief. This was definitely not the case at all this time.

Also kind of cool to note, camp is already in session when you arrive, and it shows when you look around and find things like completed crafts “drying” in the Arts and Crafts area and doodles on the chalkboard left by other campers.

A nice technical touch as well is a screen that displays images like you are looking through a window to the outdoors.

There’s definitely a nice variety of intuitive puzzles and riddles for this game, all relevant to the story too. There are ones that are common in pretty much every escape game done but also a few refreshing and unique puzzles, especially the final one.

There is also a great use of some of the decor items as clues that can help you solve some of the puzzles. I’m not going to lie, one of them totally went over my head. We solved that particular puzzle without it but when I found out about it after, I was impressed by how clever it was, not to mention it would have made solving it a lot easier for us.

Now that leads me to something  you need to remember in playing this, don’t over-complicate things for yourself! Remember you’re supposed to be a kid here in this story world. Sometimes trying to decipher a code can be as easy as 1-2-3.

Being used to other escape games that use complicated—and often convoluted—means to finding out a code, our brains were really doing more than they needed to. That is of course not to say that every puzzle in this summer camp was easy. Far from it!

I have to admit, when I first heard the name of this game my mind automatically went to thoughts that this was going to be a typical whodunnit (whether it be murder, missing persons, etc.) that we see a lot of.

You know, because escape room.

I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case and it was a truly unique theme that I haven’t really seen.

I really have to give some credit to our game master. She played her camp counselor character very well without any serious overacting. Her placement of being in the room without completely being in the room was perfect and she made comments and gave clues (in character of course) only when we asked. This is the second escape room I’ve played that has a character/game master in the room with you.

Being the theatre person that I am, let’s just say that the first one was a bit cringe-worthy with unnecessary, forced-feeling commentary included throughout.

Escape Goat is the total definition of a “family owned and operated” business. The owners are a married couple that were warm, friendly, and very knowledgeable (especially in theatrics). One of their daughters was our awesome game master, her boyfriend does tech for the venue, and their other daughters work there as well. They have no staff there outside of their own family! They created and designed every game themselves, from the puzzles to the decor. You don’t see many businesses like that anymore, especially in this industry—let alone ones that do it well.

Overall I had a really great experience. From start to finish I can honestly say we enjoyed ourselves and had fun. Escape Goat has only been open for a couple of months now, but I have a feeling they are well on their way to becoming one of the better escape venues the Central Florida area. I mean with a goat as your mascot, how can you not?

*Fun fact: If you’re looking for an added challenge, there is at least one hidden goat in the decor of each of their game rooms!

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Venue:  Escape Goat

Location: Winter Garden, Florida

Number of Games: 2

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 6 people

Group Type: Public  / You may be paired with strangers.

Cost: $26 per person