Both rooms are located at their Melrose location, which includes other classic rooms such as Ghost Ship, Grandma’s Masterplan, and Hangover. The upstairs houses the original three rooms, while the downstairs is home to the new rooms, along with a few more that will open in the coming months (alas, they would not reveal the themes of said rooms yet!). But, let’s jump into the two we DID get to see! Traditionally, escape rooms require a group to “escape” from a said space within a certain amount of them, but both of the ones we played had a different objective in mind. For both, there was some sort of goal that had to be met before it was considered a success. These types of rooms are popping up more and more lately, and honestly, I think they are probably a little better, story-wise, then traditional “get out of here!” rooms. 

 

 

First up, we traveled to Transylvania to help combat the recent uptick in the vampire population. Once there, we were lead into a cemetery that clearly had more secrets than it was willing to give up easily. However, my team and I were up to the task and ready to take on Dracula himself. Right off the bat, this room hands you the tools needed to do just that…literally. Our Game Master gave us a vampire hunting kit (consisting of two wooden stakes and a cross), lanterns, and a book filled with useful vampire lore. All of these items came in handy, and were instrumental in our defeating the dark lord.

 

This room is absolutely gorgeous from top to bottom. As soon as you are lead into the first room, you immediately feel like you are actually in a graveyard. From there, things only enhance as you work toward defeating Dracula. I said this in my Titanic review, but 60Out really blows away most of their competition when it comes to set design and theming. You can really get lost in the design work for Dracula, and after the clock stopped ticking, I went back to truly admire their work. It is visually impressive, and fit the theme quite nicely. There are even some genuinely creepy moments that I wasn’t expecting, and it added to the scare factor overall. 

 

Not content with traditional lock and key puzzles, Dracula relies on a bunch of really cool technology to make up their puzzles. Many of these things I have never seen in a room before, so it was an interesting way to include technology, and yet, still keep the room on theme. Two in particular, in the very first section of this room, really stood out. I had a lot of fun playing with the assorted tools from the vampire hunting kit, and seeing what new ways to they would be incorporated next.

 

Overall, this was a great new addition to the 60Out roster. I was very impressed by not just the puzzle quality, but the overall progression of the room. There was plenty for my team of 5 to do, without feeling like we were stepping on each other’s toes. We managed to defeat Dracula in just under 49 minutes, and we left the room feeling incredibly accomplished. This one is a definite must play!

 

 

 

All is not well in Wonderland, and Alice has been locked away for a crime she didn’t commit! It’s up to her friends (us, mainly) to prove her innocence in a Wonderland court of law, and help get her out.

 

As whimsical as the books it comes from, Alice in Wonderland is a fun escape room designed for the entire family. Yet again, the set design of this room takes you to another place, as it is truly top notch. Everything you’d expect to find in Wonderland, from topsy turvy designs, to off-kilter angles, and even the homes of favorite characters are on display here.

 

Much like Dracula, Alice makes use of some interesting technology in its space in order to get you to complete puzzles. There were a few new elements that I quite enjoyed, but won’t talk about as to not spoil the surprises. However, there was also a pretty awesome “old-school” puzzle solution that required not a technological solution but a physical challenge that I absolutely enjoyed! In addition to that, the “doors” were another awesome stand out that whomever designed really should be commended for.

 

Since this room opened just a week before we attended it, there were some small bugs that were present. A puzzle malfunctioned and was not able to be reset, so our Game Master manually bypassed it to allow us to continue. Another puzzle was not reset correctly, so the reward was in plain site as opposed to hidden, which throw us off a little bit. The final “puzzle” requires a bit more coordination than some people may be used to, but it amounted to a fun little mini-game that was an interesting way to get to the end point.

 

However, at the end of the day, it was a lot of fun to do this room. This one was a blast, and definitely one I would recommend you to bring your kids to, because it’s definitely geared for everyone to get involved in it. Our team would have created the new record for the room, if not for the puzzle malfunction, but we still freed Alice in 37 minutes.

 

Of the two, I preferred Dracula more, if only because I tend to lean more toward the spooky side of things. That said, both are highly recommended. Thank you to 60Out for having us out to play both these rooms. While we were comped into both, that did not affect our review in anyway. Both rooms are a ton of fun, and definitely worth checking out!

 

For more information, and to book a visit, visit 60Out online at: https://www.60out.com