Who doesn’t love a summer camp? There are so many fun activities for you to do, like hiking, fishing, crafting, killing teenagers…oh, wait a second. That’s…uhh…that’s not normally a summertime activity, is it?

We visited Legacy Escape Rooms in Costa Mesa, CA this weekend to check out Cabin 13, which was a fun homage to a certain slasher film. The story of the room is that you’ve won a trip out to the cabin, but an homicidal maniac named Jason kidnapped you along the way. Locking you and your friends inside, he’s left clues as to the where, when, and how he will strike. Can you figure out his plan, and stop him before he gets you?

Cabin 13 does a great job of setting up the tension early. For the first time ever, I did a room without my usual team of escapees and went with some friends from work. The one caveat they had was it couldn’t be scary…so of course, I lied to them about the nature of this room. As soon as we were set to go in, and the blindfolds came out, they cursed my name. But you know if a room starts out by taking away your vision, it’s got to be good!

When we were able to remove our blindfolds, we were locked inside Cabin 13. Though we were all in the same room, we WERE separated into “smaller” rooms. However, we could all still communicate and see each other, which helped tone down the “scare” factor for my friends.

We all had to work together to not only get out of the individual rooms we were in, but also escape from Cabin 13 overall. I have to say, a lot of the puzzles seemed simple at first glance but wound up being cleverly complicated when it came down to it. This definitely upped the fun factor, as it took a bit of time to work things out in order to get the correct answer.

In fact, the puzzle to actually get out of the individual room I was locked in stumped me for far too long but was immensely satisfying once solved. For the most part, all the puzzles were pretty clever, dressing up the same type of puzzles we’ve seen before in a new light. Connecting the dots, and realizing that X helps with Y which leads to the answer for Z, made for a lot of great “aha!” moments for my team (and lead to some new escape room fans).

The horror theme of being in a cabin was also great, especially since it spoke to my love of Friday the 13th. Great sound effects (which I think I recognized from the recent F13 game) helped set the mood perfectly. There was even a great scare in there that we were NOT expecting. The overall design of the room was fun, too, giving it a rustic feel, and making us believe that we really WERE in some creepy cabin out in the woods with a maniac coming for us. Definitely my aesthetic.

The creepy vibe and great scare were pretty ironic given the fact that Julie Do, owner of Legacy Escape Rooms, told me a bit about how Cabin 13 was created.

“I’m a huge scaredy cat when it comes to horror films,” Julie told me. “But when horror and immersion are mixed together and creates an adrenaline pumping and fun experience with others – It’s the best time! And I’m all for it!”

Julie explained that she goes camping every year with her family and friends, and related how that translated into the room’s creation.

“Camping provides a similar experience as an escape room,” she said. “It’s dedicated time together, unplugged, playing games, thinking outside-the-box, and having fun! My goal for the experience at Legacy Escape Rooms and at CABIN 13 is similar – a great time together, thinking outside-the-box, and making fun memories together.”

Cabin 13 is the only room at the moment, however Julie teased that whatever is coming next it’s going to be “sweet.” How’s that for cryptic?!

We had a spooky good time at Cabin 13, and think you will too. If you’re interested in giving it a shot, be sure to book your stay at: https://www.legacyescaperooms.com/