Review: Brooklyn Escape Room

RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 20:00

Don’t go into the haunted house they say. You’re just going to get trapped again they say. Clearly they don’t know who I am… wait, we’re trapped? Oh.

Story

This is the house they warned you about, but you had to see it for yourself. Can you unravel its dark secret before it consumes you.

Outwardly, a simple but elegant story; a notoriously haunted old house at the end of the street is t he one everyone always talks about, but no one dares step foot inside. Naturally, being daring – or dumb (can’t it be both?) we aren’t one to heed that warning.

But it’s not until we enter the world of The Haunted that the story truly begins to materialize just like the spirits all around us. Turns out there’s something to that legend – and a ghost is trapped within these walls.

This tortured soul has not only lured us in, but quite literally trapped us inside – and not just in an escape game sense. Go ahead. Try unlocking the front door. I’ll wait.

See? I told you so. And now our only hope is to determine just what it is that keeps this spirit linked to the mortal realm and resolve it if we ever hope to find a way out from beyond these Haunted walls.

Scenic

The Haunted begins in a large master bedroom of the old house. Clearly in a state of disrepair, it’s instantly evident just how long it’s been since a living being stepped foot across its threshold before us.

We’ve been trapped in more than a few old haunted houses in our day, but there is something distinctly foreboding about this one. It really does check of all the boxes for what would make the perfect afterlife for a tortured spirit.

It’s dark, check. There’s cobwebs, check. And just for good measure, it’s full of old clocks that haven’t worked in ages, yet still occasionally chime just to transition an unnerving silence into something all the more haunting. Check, check and check.

There’s a certain elegance about this old house – juxtaposed against its clear sense of foreboding. It’s hauntingly beautiful.

Oh, and naturally it’s fully of several hidden chambers and secret passageways. But that’s for you to discover, if you’re feeling brave enough.

Puzzles

The Haunted sends us on a mission to directly interact with the spirit world. A combination of hidden objects, logical deductions and physical tasks come together to really bring this game to life… you know what I mean.

Brooklyn Escape Rooms truly brings things to the next level by integrating show action cues throughout – triggered by key puzzle steps in a way that both provide clarity and resolution to the task itself while also heavily furthering the spooky storyworld toward its ultimate climax.

You’ll truly find yourself interacting with a ghost- one who is playful yet controlling. It’s not going to let you leave until it gets what it wants from you – and if you should try to challenge that rule, you may face the thunder of its vengeance.

But follow the supernatural breadcrumb trail this spirit has left for you and you’ll uncover exactly what it is that has left it connected to the spirit world. Resolving that unfinished mortal business might just result in the ghost revealing itself to you in physical form to grant you safe passage through one of the most unexpected exits we’ve encountered to date.

Overall

The Haunted is truly that – a beautifully haunting story that casts us as its unsuspecting, and perhaps at first unwilling main characters. But it’s the more this ghost story unfolds that its inner beauty shines, providing a romantic, dare I say sweet spin on a haunted house that is sure to leave you feeling warm, fulfilled and good about yourself for your accomplishment.

Brooklyn Escape Room dips their toes into a darker world with this game, but does so gently in such a way that it remains completely appealing to a wider audience. Yes, it’s spooky, but at no point would we define The Haunting as scary. There are no actors, and there are no Halloween-style jump scares. What remains is a cinematic storyworld that feels like it could be the central narrative of a movie mystery.

It’s difficult to pick our favorite game at Brooklyn Escape Room; Each of its offerings are so drastically different styles of game. However, where Medieval Dungeon stands tall with its physical puzzles and Shelter R with its taboo-challenging tasks, The Haunted shines a light from the shadows on a storyworld immersion that surpasses the rest. It’s an experience that will haunt us for years to come.