RATING: 3 Keys          RESULT:  Loss          REMAINING: X:XX

Turns out H H Holmes’s basement is filled with old Halloween decorations – just like most of ours.

During the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, criminal mastermind and first documented serial killer H.H. Holmes built and operated a labyrinth-style hotel on the corner of South Wallace & 63rd Street. It was designed as a killing trap, whereby his guests became murder victims – allegedly over 200. The basement of that hotel was where most of the killings, torture and burials took place. 

Do you have what it takes to match wits with the evil Doctor Holmes? The secrets of his dark and foreboding lair need to be discovered before you become his next medical experiment!

Chicago’s World’s Fair visitors find themselves trapped in the basement of the notorious H. H. Holmes after checking into a seemingly innocent hotel. Luckily, the sadistic serial killer is busy tending to other guests of his terrifying labyrinth and we’ve regained our consciousness. Teams have one hour to follow the clues that will eventually lead to the code needed to escape a grisly fate of acid filled containers.

Walking into the infamous basement of the so called Murder Castle, hotel guests will immediately see a skeleton tied down in one corner of the room, a big table near the center, a bookshelf filled with various glass jars, and a wall completely covered with different numbers. The excitement of the fantastic concept quickly goes away once captives realized that they are surrounded by Halloween decorations and some pretty cheap ones at that.

It’s hard to get lost in the narrative when the most interesting piece of decor is just a plastic skeleton. At D.O.A. Room Escape the GM is in the room the entire time which has its pros and cons. Our GM was very nice, stayed out of our way but also helped us keep on track and organized. If a hint was needed then they knew exactly what was already done in the room and where to help from there. The downside is that it kills any potential immersion that would be there it can be a little uncomfortable to have a random person just lurking about.

The second room is slightly more interesting, there are body parts everywhere but the space itself almost feels like somebody was trying to solve a case that they became obsessed with (which doesn’t exactly match the narrative).  There are a few jump scares sprinkled throughout that were, unfortunately, no more than just various Halloween store animatronics.

Puzzles here are a mixed bag at best.  There’s a fair amount of scavenger hunting with some riddles sprinkled throughout. It was obvious there was going to be a blacklight time wasting puzzle once teams notice an entire wall just filled with numbers and unfortunately that’s exactly what it was.

There was a time or two where a puzzle tiptoed the line of being a logic leap, which was disheartening. The worst part is that nothing made any sense in the story world.  Some random puzzles were given a vaguely serial killer themed make over and shoehorned into a lackluster world.

After finding all the items needed from the scavenger hunt (there isn’t a list of what needs to be found but various objects stick out like a sore thumb), there’s a list of riddles that would vaguely relate to the trinkets players discovered. Figuring out which riddle related to each item was surprisingly fun but when that becomes a highlight then that’s a problem.

DOA Room Escape has a fantastic concept, each of their games are inspired by various parts of Chicago’s history.  Other options include one themed to Al Capone, the Chicago Fire, and the Titanic (to stay on theme, it would’ve been great if they could’ve themed this room to the Eastland Disaster but that’s being nit-picky).

Sadly, that’s where the excitement ends.  The Basement feels like something somebody could make in their own basement.  With such a strong concept it was a letdown to actually play the room so this is one basement we would stay out of.

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Venue: D.O.A. Room Escapes

Location: Villa Park, Illinois

Number of Games: 4

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 12 people

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

Cost: $25 per person