Review: Escape Zone Long Island - Trouble in Paradise

RATING: 1 Key RESULT: Win REMAINING: 1:58

This deserted island game left much to be desired: we really did want to get out!

Story

During a research expedition on a tropical island, you are alerted that a major storm is coming. By the time you and your team reach the campground you discover you have missed the evacuation. While searching for safety, you discover a locked shelter with a mysterious note on the door. You have one hour to break into the shelter before the storm hits land!

Besides the game master’s description, there was absolutely no evidence of a story woven into the adventure. If it was not spelled out beforehand, the theme couldn’t possibly be surmised. Neither the scenery nor the puzzles related in any way to the storyworld.

It is likely that the makers of this game did not focus on immersing its players in a unique storyworld. Although the story explained in the brief paragraph posted on the company’s website was quite promising, very little of this potential actually translated to the gameplay.

Scenic

When entering a deserted island game, one would expect to see props that set the stage for the adventure to come. These props could potentially include palm trees, overgrown grassy patches, pristine sand, or any nautical decorations. Much to our chagrin, nothing of the sort was included in Trouble in Paradise. The only props in sight were lockboxes, cabinets, a few cheap-looking illustrations, and several out of place items which did not correlate whatsoever to the intended storyworld.

Above all, the single most confusing element of the scenery in this office building turned makeshift escape game is a gigantic ball pit, which takes up about a third of the very limited space. This is completely off-theme and does not make sense in conjunction with the storyworld. It is possible that the ball pit was intended to add an element of whimsy to the game. If this was the case, however, there existed no evidence to support this conjecture. There is simply nothing positive to say about the scenic design of Escape Zone Long Island’s Trouble in Paradise.

Puzzles

Many of Trouble in Paradise’s puzzles are nothing more than arcade games that require no logical reasoning whatsoever. Rather, they require extreme physical dexterity and fine motor skills, things that can prove very frustrating in an escape game. To begin, our game master stated that it would be wise to start by working on two puzzles. One was inspired by “Operation” and the other by the arcade game “Snake”. It would be hard to imagine any group ever completing either of these puzzles without a bypass, seeing as they were both highly tedious and extraordinarily difficult.

Shockingly, from this point forward the game was extraordinarily easy. The remaining puzzles followed the very simple formula: find four-digit code, enter code into lock, open box containing instructions to find the next four-digit code, repeat. Unfortunately, several locks were completely broken, some beyond repair. On several occasions, the game master was forced to enter the room to reset locks or explain what would have happened if a lock was working properly on.

Overall

It is always unfortunate when we leave a game feeling only disappointment, with absolutely nothing positive to say. While the game master was very friendly and understanding, and the lobby was interestingly designed, these were the only pluses we could pull from our experience, admittedly none of which have anything to do with Trouble In Paradise itself.

Had this been our first escape game experience, there likely would not have been a second. From a virtually nonexistent story to terribly basic scenery to extremely illogical and bothersome puzzle design, this escape venue is of the lowest quality.