RATING: 3 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 1:51

Like bread and butter or day and night, this room brings balance to a basic premise.

Yin and Yang. Black and White.The fact is that opposing forces actually compliment each other. Only together will you be able to escape this room. Are you ready?

The story is simple but powerful: opposites attract and actually balance one another. Translated to escape room terms, those who best work together and balance out each other’s strengths will succeed in escaping this black and white adventure.

The overreaching mission of Yin and Yang is to stop the clock before it reaches zero. To accomplish this, players must solve and overcome a series of mental challenges and physical tasks designed to delay you as long as possible from getting to the clock. Though the story is not complicated, Escape Artist has created an experience that will test your ability to work under pressure and well with others.

The scenic elements in Yin and Yang pretty much only have to follow one basic rule: be black or white. It is, after all, a classic color scheme and a no-brainer when it comes to decorating – pick anything black and white, and everything matches.

Everything from floor to ceiling and everything in between – even the furniture – is black or white. It has a bit of an Alice in Wonderland feel to it, due to the fact that things perceived in the room are not as they are typically seen in living color.

The walls in this single room adventure are checkered with black and white squares, while the décor consists of a variety of items appearing in both black and white throughout the space. There definitely is a feeling of balance and unity in the room thanks to the quantity and quality through which each color is represented.

Since the mission it just to get to the clock, it’s fairly simple to stay on track with the story when it comes to the challenges presented in this setting of opposites. To advance in the game, we had to pay close attention to detail in identifying similarities and differences between objects in the room.

Some puzzles are very obvious physical tasks, while others are more on the subtle, this-hurts-my-brain level of challenging. There is nothing too high-tech in the gameplay, but working together to identify patterns and devise solutions will help you reach your goal.

The mission is simple: to stop the clock before it reaches zero. Why not just unplug it, you ask? Did we mention it is secured in a clear lock box so that its glaring red digits can tease and taunt you the whole time? Of course, a countdown timer is a staple in any escape room, but in Yin and Yang there is the added pressure of having to not only beat the clock, but to also access and manually stop it before time runs out. When you do reach the end of the line of puzzles and challenges, we can say that it is definitely satisfying to stop that clock.

We had a lot of fun playing Yin and Yang, as it is an entertaining room despite its basic premise. It is a good example of a game done well when the goal is not to get too complicated with the story.

This is the third room we’ve played at Escape Artist, located in the charming downtown area of Concord near Charlotte, North Carolina. Although we enjoyed the others as well, we feel this one was a step even further in the right direction. The experience shows a dedication to continuously improving the level of offerings and raising the bar each time.

Overall, Yin and Yang is worth checking out for sure. Who knows? You might even find your chi while you’re there.

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Venue: Escape Artist

Location: Concord, NC

Number of Games: 4

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 8 people

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

Cost: $25 per person