RATING: 3 Keys          RESULT: Win           REMAINING: 23:00

Nobody likes a cheater… it’s time to stop Johnny Makko from swindling more unsuspecting gamblers out of their hard earned money!

“An infamous card shark (Johnny Makko) has been hustling everyone out of their money during poker night. You suspect some shady business going on, so find the deck of cards he always plays with before he comes back, or say goodbye to more of your dough.”

A little breaking & entering with the intent to commit some light larceny never hurt anyone… right?

It appears that Johnny knew someone would eventually try to gain access to his deck of cards, so in an effort to make that task more difficult he hid them behind layers of puzzles and challenges.

This Makko guy seems like a real shark.

Amazing Escape Room puts a decent effort into their sets, but this game certainly does not showcase movie quality designs.

Players enter The Apartment in a small kitchen. It is believable that Johnny’s foes have walked into an apartment setting, but it also definitely resembles a mid-tier escape room in some ways. The room is built well, and a few surprises are nicely hidden throughout the set.

Several aspects of the kitchen, such as a plexiglass covered pantry, look out of place. Awkward missteps in the design diminished the immersiveness of the game, reminding us that we weren’t actually in a kitchen.

The second half of The Apartment, Johnny Makko’s office, had a much different scenic ambiance to it. It was more believable than the kitchen, but it was still evident that we were in an escape room and not a real home. The sets weren’t quite good enough for us to suspend disbelief and really get into the story.

The puzzles in The Apartment stay mostly within the storyworld. For the first half of the room we weren’t tasked with anything that directly tied into the “Johnny Makko is a cheater” side of things, but the puzzles all worked well in the apartment’s kitchen setting.

As we progressed through The Apartment, the Johnny Makko storyline became more prevalent, and thus the puzzles more closely related to his card shark antics.

One fun challenge comes almost exactly halfway through The Apartment, yet it is not something that would realistically be in a house. This puzzle ended up being the most memorable of the experience due to the fun and interactive nature of the challenge, so we weren’t too upset that the mechanics of it felt strange.

There were a couple less memorable but still enjoyable puzzles to be solved. Several allowed our entire group to participate, which is something we like to see. Never once were we really challenged though as most of the puzzles were fairly basic and uninspired. Although they were easy, we enjoyed the variety of puzzles and the small ways in which they intertwined with the story of Johnny Makko.

One nice touch that is found at this and other Amazing Escape Room venues is that customers’ experience starts while they are waiting for the game to begin. The lobby has a fun little trail of lock boxes and super easy puzzles that acquaint players with different types of locks they may encounter in the games. This is a great way for first timers and experienced escape room fans alike to warm up their brains or familiarize themselves with some light puzzle solving tasks before they jump into the full adventure.

The Apartment is a fun room and would be excellent for first time escape room players. More experienced puzzlers will likely find this to be a breeze. We found Johnny’s deck of cards and enjoyed escaping his apartment, but it left us wanting just a little bit more.

Venue: Amazing Escape Room

Location: Freehold, NJ

Number of Games: 6

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 8 people

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

Cost: $28 per person