RATING: 2 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 22:45

We now see why so many prisoners attempted to escape The Rock.

In its 29 years of operation, there were 14 attempts to escape from Alcatraz prison involving 36 inmates, and all of them were unsuccessful.

Be one of the first to escape from the notorious prison!

The story here is light at best, but then again it is Alcatraz!  Being prisoners here, anyone can see why someone would want to get out.   This is the objective, to get out within the one hour window before the guard shift changes.

We got an inside tip from another inmate with connections on the outside.  There will be a lapse in surveillance on our cells during the shift change.  The tip said to get out of the cell, stop by the doctor’s office and sneak out when no one is looking.

Historically speaking, one of the largest challenges facing any would-be escapee was the swim across the frigid waters off the island.  Luckily for us there will be no aquatic parts of this escape game.

Due to this being an Alcatraz themed room, the standard prison fare applies here.  The brick walls are worn down and dirty, hanging ceiling lights that flicker on and off set the atmosphere, and the cold concrete floor reminds us this is not a fun place to be.

Escape from Alcatraz takes place across three distinct areas, the jail cell, the halls, and the doctor’s office.  Aside from the initial jail cell, the rest of the room leaves much to be desired in an immersive experience.  

The cell is equipped with everything we would expect, a locked gate, prison style bunk beds, an uncomfortable mattress and pillow.  At least it’s feeding time, since someone was nice enough to leave us a piece of hard tack bread to snack on during our stay.

In the hallway we can clearly see a guard sitting in his chair watching TV and playing cards.  The doctor’s office doesn’t give much else to the game aside from being another room.  There are a few haphazardly placed medical devices for whatever reason, but it does not make a lot of sense to be included.

For the most part, the room is bare, but with it’s nuances due to location.  Being in the basement level of the building, there are multiple air conditioners and trash cans collecting dropping water. While necessary to keep the humidity down, it seems extremely out of place.

While in prison, one must think like a prisoner.  Inside of the cell, prisoners start out handcuffed to the wall.  From there the environment comes in to play with how exactly to get out.  A few cleverly hidden objects and useful tools come in to play, with interesting actions taken to use them.

A downside of the use of tools is the manual dexterity portion of a puzzle.  One prisoner, potentially randomly chosen, will be the one to interact with said puzzle.  If they are not coordinated in using a tool, this can turn out to be a major time sink. Not only that, it turns in to an extremely frustrating moment of knowing what to do, but not having the dexterity to perform said action.

Once out of the cell, the game becomes a standard escape room in regards to puzzles. Due to the lack of scenic props in the room, the puzzles seem oddly placed, and don’t quite fit in to the storyworld that is created. 

Without logic leaps, the puzzle flow moves well, though quickly.  It’s not so much that there is a lack of things to do, it’s more that the steps to put together anything are so straightforward that it’s hard to fill up the time in the experience.

EscapeSF sets out to recreate one of San Francisco’s tourist draws, Alcatraz.  While the intent can be there, the attention to detail and lack of immersion stand out throughout the game.  The dummy guard sitting right outside our cell with monitors just doesn’t add up.  We walk right past him during our “escape”, among other odd details.  

Running on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum, experienced enthusiasts will find a lack of challenge when it comes to the tasks at hand.  The frustrating experience whilst using a tool actually took up majority of the time spent in the room, with the rest of the puzzles falling in to the very straightforward category.

At least we didn’t have to swim across the bay to get back in to town.

Show your support for Escape Authority and get social with us:

Venue: EscapeSF

Location: San Francisco, CA

Number of Games: 4

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 6 people

Group Type: Private  / You will not be paired with strangers.

Cost: $45 per person (a minimum of two people are required for booking, then prices vary for each additional player.)