“ There’s lots of places in the world you can gamify.”

Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen were young game masters working at a local escape room company over 12 years ago. They loved this “new” genre of entertainment, and asked the owners how they could get more involved in growing the business or designing new rooms. The owners replied with “There’s no growth in [escape rooms]. Also though, if you try to make your own company, I’ll sue you”.

These famous last words spurred Improbable Escapes co-founders Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen to quit and start their own company. While looking for locations, they mapped out all the known escape rooms in Canada at the time, and settled on the charming city of Kingston. They chose it primarily for its qualities as an escape room wasteland, because it didn’t have any notable existing escape rooms.

Today, they’ve certainly built out enough games to put Kingston, Ontario, Canada on the map of any escape room enthusiast. They have built and designed over forty different games and experiences, including escape rooms, outdoor escape rooms, large event “podium games,” and even a board game café. They also started a sister company called Visual Menace Creative that builds sets, props, and immersive activations for brands, film, television and music videos.

Emma Rochon joins us on REPOD to share her escape room journey in the industry. I was simply mind-blown by these two young women who built an escape room empire out of nothing but sheer determination and passion. I love stories where someone is told “no” and they proceed to prove nay-sayers wrong in the most epic way possible.

If you enjoyed this episode and you want to hear more from Emma, she will be speaking at this year’s Reality Escape Convention about deconstructing escape rooms, and how to literally think outside the box when it comes to designing interactive puzzle games.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG’s Playhouse, and Buzzshot. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

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Buzzshot

Buzzshot is proud to announce their new “all-in-one” Booking System designed from the ground up for one type of business, escape rooms.

Offering:

• Easy to use booking UI with no fees or hidden charges.
• Customer waiver capture
• Branded Team Photos
• Player Messaging
• Review Managment
• Automations
• Customer Surveys
• Broadcast Emails

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. FREE Trial Account with full features^* including SMS messaging, and ‘Buzzshot Bookings’ trial upon request. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

PG’s Playhouse Podcast

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG’s Playhouse recreates a fun game night with friends, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes!

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:00 Sponsor Break: RECON – The Reality Escape Convention
• 04:31 Origin Story and Lawsuits
• 07:53 Exploring Improbable Escapes’ Games
• 09:36 Unique Mechanics
• 12:18 Motherhood and Leadership
• 14:57 The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein
• 19:23 Down the Rabbit Hole
• 21:24 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 24:04 Outdoor Escape Rooms
• 26:43 Kingston Tourism and Expansion
• 32:28 Wonderland Board Game Cafe
• 34:48 Community and Sales Trends
• 38:19 Sponsor Break: Room Escape Artist Patreon – Bonus Episodes, Spoilers Club & More
• 40:45 Visual Menace Creative
• 46:20 Sponsor Break: PG’s Playhouse – Puzzles, Pals, and Trivia
• 47:51 Podium Games Explained
• 52:21 Designing Museum Installations
• 54:21 What Comes Next
• 59:23 Bonus Story: Unbirthday Party

Leave a Voicemail

Got a question or thought for the podcast? You can submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273).

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Improbable Escapes Website
• Visual Menace Website
• Chris Ramsay Solving an Improbable Escapes Puzzle
• Room Escape Artist Reviews
  • The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein
  • Neverland: Heist on the High Seas
  • Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission
  • The TriWizard Trials
  • Legend of the Mayan Temple
  • The Undersea Overthrow [Hivemind Review – Online Implementation]
  • Neverland: Heist on the High Seas [Hivemind Review- Online Implementation]
  • The Hot Chocolate Incident [Hivemind Review – Online Implementation]
  • Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission [Hivemind Review – Online Implementation]

About Emma Rochon

Instagram: @improbableescapeshq @improbableescapeswonderland @visualmenacecreative

Emma Rochon is co-owner of Improbable Escapes in Kingston, Ontario, one of Canada’s longest-running escape game companies. Having spent over a decade creating immersive entertainment, her lead design credits extend across 40+ projects ranging from traditional escape rooms, outdoor adventures, museum installations, remote games and more.

Support REPOD

• Subscribe to Patreon for bonus content.
• Please rate and review our podcast!

Thanks for listening!

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

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The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.

The post Gamify the World: Emma Rochon of Improbable Escapes (REPOD S11E2) appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Date Played: June 7, 2025

Team Size: 2-14; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $33.95 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration:  One person will need to crawl. There are stairs.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Three things stood out to me about Legend of the Mayan Temple.

1. It’s in remarkable shape for its age. It’s an older game that doesn’t feel older. Improbable Escapes really manages upkeep.
2. It doesn’t play like its age. It felt far more fresh than I ever would have expected for a game that’s pushing a decade old.
3. There’s a killer mechanical interaction in Legend of the Mayan Temple. I’m surprised that it is as reliable as it is.

There is a joy in playing a great escape room company’s earlier material. I get to see where they came from and what kinds of design decisions they were exploring earlier in their careers. After playing Legend of the Mayan Temple, I left with a clarity on Improbable Escapes’ approach to design. Their focus on building beautiful environments and packing the space with the most fun possible shined through, even from the beginning.

Beware that Legend of the Mayan Temple has some trickier puzzles, but they are all solvable. This game isn’t my first recommendation for Improbable Escapes, but it also gives me the confidence to say that anything in their game catalogue is worth checking out.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Indiana Jones fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• Challenging, classic escape room puzzles
• A well-kept up older game
• Some nifty analogue interaction design

Story

Our team of adventuring archeologists was on a quest for the lost cup of the king, an artifact that had been missing for more than a thousand years.

Setting

When I played Legend of the Mayan Temple, it was 8 years old. While this set wasn’t up to the same standards as Improbable Escapes’ newer games, it was both remarkably elegant for an older game, and so well maintained. Most escape room companies do not have one game that is built to this standard.

Gameplay

Improbable Escapes’ Legend of the Mayan Temple was a classic escape room with a higher level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

 Legend of the Mayan Temple looked fantastic, especially for an 8 year old game. It was well-maintained.

 The puzzles were good, classic escape room puzzles that generally solved cleanly.

 One wooden prop fit too snuggly (possibly due to humidity?) This made a perfectly solvable puzzle feel far more challenging than warranted.

 Improbable Escapes made interesting use of a crawlspace.

 Legend of the Mayan Temple had a strong transition between act 1 and act 2.

 The second act didn’t do a great job of conveying what it wanted us to accomplish. A bit more clue structure would have gone a long way.

/ While still fair, one late-game puzzle slid the difficulty level up higher than was necessary.

 The final puzzle was pretty damn cool. I remain surprised that it works so reliably.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is located at Improbable Escapes HQ (303 Bagot Street, Suite 16B)
• There are paid parking lots and street parking in the area.

Book your hour with Improbable Escapes’ Legend of the Mayan Temple, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes comped our tickets for this game.

The post Improbable Escapes – Legend of the Mayan Temple [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Date Played: June 7, 2025

Team Size: 3-14; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $33.95 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: The game is located downstairs in the building.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

I’m always happy to descend into a magic school filled with stone walls, dark wood, and magic wands. The TriWizard Trials hit all the right nostalgia buttons for me.

The TriWizard Trials made the magic feel magical. When we performed spells correctly or tapped our wands the right way, the set and props reacted. The puzzles were fun to solve.

There were opportunities to improve the feedback from puzzles, especially in the middle act of the game. We wasted a lot of time not realizing we’d already beasted a challenge.

However, The TriWizard Trials built up to a finale in a beautiful set that required well-timed teamwork and reacted well to our magic, ending on a high note.

Improbable Escapes has two locations in Kingston, Ontario. While the Wonderland (West End) location houses their newer games, the HQ location has five more games and is conveniently located in the adorable, walkable downtown area of Kingston. We wish we’d had more time to spend exploring this part of town and playing more of the escape rooms at this location. And while we didn’t play them all, I am confident that The TriWizard Trials is a great choice, especially for anyone excited about magic school vibes.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Harry Potter fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• To feel a bit like you’re at Hogwarts
• Fun, magical puzzles

Story

We couldn’t believe that Wizzle Wozzle’s Academy of Wizardry had accepted our application. The only thing standing between us and the most prestigious magic school in the world was their entrance exam: The TriWizard Trials.

Setting

We descended down stairs to The TriWizard Trials. The set felt like the wizard school you’d expect from pop-culture depictions. It had stone walls adorned with crests and large framed portraits. We were immediately intrigued by magical artifacts.

Gameplay

Improbable Escapes’ The TriWizard Trials was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing and solving puzzles, including a fair bit of communicating and coordinating with teammates.

Analysis

 The gamemaster who greeted us and led us to the escape game was in character the whole time. It felt like they belonged at this wizard school. They perfectly set the tone for the experience.

 I was a Harry Potter fan back in my teenage years. Stepping into the set gave me a ping of nostalgia for that world that I spent so much time in through the books. The TriWizard Trials had the stone walls, dark wood, looming portraits, and magical props that I expected. It felt right.

 My favorite early interactions made use of the magical props. We loved finding a concealed magical staff, and how it was revealed.

 We weren’t always clear what a solved puzzle revealed or unlocked. This was especially confusing when we did multiple actions simultaneously. If something happened, we had to backtrack to make sure we understood cause and effect, and didn’t lose the thread of play.

 The TriWizard Trials didn’t always give adequate confirmation when a puzzle had been solved. We would have appreciated a more obvious solve state, or puzzles that “turned off” once completed. We spent a lot of effort solving one puzzle multiple times because we hadn’t realized that we completed it correctly on our first attempt.

 The finale set glowed beautifully. It was distinct from the previous sets, but felt very much of the world. It also played really well. First we bested a more challenging, team based puzzle. Then we took on an easier, but still active and whole-team inclusive boss battle.

 Any time I play a magic-school themed escape room, I want a wand, and I want it to matter. The TriWizard Trials delivered on this with thematic, functional wands that once introduced, continued to be important to interacting with the world.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is located at Improbable Escapes HQ (303 Bagot Street, Suite 16B)
• There are paid parking lots and street parking in the area.

Book your hour with Improbable Escapes’ The TriWizard Trials, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes comped our tickets for this game.

The post Improbable Escapes – The TriWizard Trials [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Fairy boat

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Date Played: June 7, 2025

Team Size: 2-14; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $33.95 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: There was a staircase and some more challenging terrain that at least one person must traverse. There was sand on the floor in one area.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Neverland: Heist on the High Seas was an ocean-themed puzzle adventure. While it wasn’t a massive game, it felt bigger than it was because Improbable Escapes made abundant use of verticality. The set wasn’t huge, but it was detailed. There was always something to look at and enjoy.

Another element that made this game feel big was its extensive use of teamwork to solve puzzles; Neverland really wanted us to collaborate. We often found ourselves spread across the set, working together to solve the puzzles.

My knock against Neverland was that I wanted something more from the ending. Everything in this game felt big, and the ending didn’t quite measure up. That said, the journey to the ending was fantastic. The gameplay flowed well and the puzzles were fun to solve.

The most interesting game at Improbable Escapes’ Wonderland location was The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein. However, if you’ve made your way to Kingston and you’re already in the building (which also includes an adorable game store and cafe!), Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission and Neverland: Heist on the High Seas should be on your itinerary as well.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Peter Pan fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• A beautiful, adventurous set
• Strong, classic escape room puzzle play

Story

Captured by Captain Hook and locked away in the brig of his ship, we had to break out, commandeer the ship in the night, and navigate our way to Neverland… or walk the plank.

Setting

Our adventure began within the brig of a pirate ship, and both the brig and the ship looked great. The spaces were loaded with details, and spanned two floors. Every direction had something worth looking at.

Gameplay

Improbable Escapes’ Neverland: Heist on the High Seas was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

/ Improbable Escapes started all their experiences outside of the room with a beautiful, projection-based storytelling technique. From there, a gamemaster led us to each experience, and set the scene for us. Across our experiences at Improbable Escapes, the gamemaster’s intro varied in terms of how in-character it was. We felt the Neverland: Heist on the High Seas, especially, could have been elevated by a more dramatic character-led opener.

 We were immediately taken with the set, which had verticality that added a lot of excitement to the experience. The attention to detail further augmented it. We could also explore different nooks of the set, some of which had distinctive vibes, but were clearly part of the same world.

/ We loved Tinkerbell, who made a dramatic entrance early in the game, paying homage to the source material and adding magic to the game world. That said, with some tweaks to lighting and sound, she could be even more impactful.

 Most of the puzzles worked best with multiple teammates collaborating and sharing information. This made the puzzles feel even bigger, as solving them traversed a lot of the set. As an added bonus, collaboration made the solves feel satisfying to the team as whole.

 We had a ball with large set pieces that gave fun audio feedback.

 One challenge didn’t provide enough feedback, and we ended up redoing a weighty puzzle that was already solved correctly.

 The most challenging puzzles had considerate affordances. For example, one puzzle saved what we had completed correctly when we were forced to repeat it.

 / As a puzzle-driven experience, Neverland: Heist on the High Seas flowed well and was fun to solve. That said, the gamespace opened up early, and from that point on, it was a relatively flat experience of puzzle solves, lacking the especially high highs that come from new discovery, reveals, narrative turns, or a grand finale.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is located at Improbable Escapes Wonderland (500 Gardiners Road, Unit 2A).
• There are paid parking lots and street parking in the area.

Book your hour with Improbable Escapes’ Neverland: Heist on the High Seas, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes comped our tickets for this game.

The post Improbable Escapes – Neverland: Heist on the High Seas [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

One apple to rule them all.

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Date Played: June 7, 2025

Team Size: 2-14; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $33.95 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: There are some steps within the game, but not all players need participate in that part.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Way back during COVID lockdown, we played a ton of escape rooms virtually… and every once in a while we saw a game that made me think, “damn… I really want to see that one in real life.” Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission had left an indelible mark on my memory back then, and I am thrilled to report that it was just as beautiful and fun as I had hoped it would be in real life.

Improbable Escapes built an elegant and beautiful set, and took us on a journey that felt like a blend of Snow White meets Lord of the Rings.

Above all else, Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission was fun. We were always moving, constantly doing, and the game was regularly asking us to do different things. When I left, I didn’t feel emotionally transformed by Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission… I just felt like I had had a wonderful time, and that was more than enough. I loved this game.

I recognize that Kingston, Ontario, is out of the way for most people. Just know that this lovely town is there for you to visit, and within it is a truly fun escape room company that I will eagerly revisit.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Lord of the Rings fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• A beautiful, adventurous set
• Strong, classic escape room puzzle play
• Playful interaction design

Story

A year ago we Seven Dwarves had helped Snow White defeat the evil Queen. Now her minions were seeking to use her poison apple to reignite her reign. We had to dig deep to bury their hopes of power.

Setting

Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission was beautifully constructed. The dwarf’s cottage was a joy to look at and explore. Subsequent spaces were also intriguing and elegant.

Gameplay

Improbable Escapes’ Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, light physical challenges, and puzzling.

Analysis

 The set looked great. It felt like a cross between a fairy tale and The Lord of the Rings. It was a fun world to explore, and it had been well maintained.

 We loved the introduction to this game. The animation was excellent.

 The gameplay was well signposted. We could quickly determine which props and cluing went together. Our mental energy was spent in all the right places, meaning the puzzles had satisfying payoffs.

 Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission had the perfect difficulty curve: the puzzles got increasingly challenging as the game progressed, but then it culminated an a high-energy, low-complexity boss battle.

 There was a veneer of story. It appeared at the beginning and came back at the end… but in the middle, Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission presented standard, thematic escape room gameplay. There was narrative progression, but this didn’t come through in the puzzles themselves.

 / Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission presented us with a choice, and we wished we’d had more clarity on the consequences of our actions.

 There was an opportunity to enhance the audio throughout the game. The sound puzzle was so quiet that we didn’t realize it was a sound puzzle. We would have liked a more dynamic soundscape for the experience.

 We picked up momentum as we progressed through the sets. We especially liked the puzzles in the third act, which looked great and solved satisfyingly, making use of larger props and set pieces. We also enjoyed the end-game sequence, which was so different from the challenges that had come before it.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is located at Improbable Escapes Wonderland (500 Gardiners Road, Unit 2A).
• There are paid parking lots and street parking in the area.

Book your hour with Improbable Escapes’ Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes comped our tickets for this game.

The post Improbable Escapes – Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

“If you don’t know who the monster in your family is, it’s probably you.”

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Date Played: June 7, 2025

Team Size: 3-8; we recommend 3-5

Duration: 75 minutes

Price: $36.95 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: We didn’t notice any specific accessibility concerns.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

“In my years of playing escape rooms, I’ve never experienced a game that built up as much momentum as The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein. Improbable Escapes set out to have players solve one puzzle per minute, and while I don’t know exactly how many I solved, the progression felt rapid and exciting throughout the game.”

REA Reaction

This was something new. I had never seen a game quite like The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein. The designers behind Improbable Escapes told me that the core goal of the game was to have players solving one puzzle per minute. While I cannot claim to have counted, I believe that they more or less did what they set out to do.

Set within a rundown gothic mansion, we whipped through puzzles at an alarming rate, pausing only to get a bit of backstory from voiceover and animation. I found the cadence of the game mesmerizing. It was a constant stream of identifying what to do, and rapid accomplishment.

The irony of The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein is that the puzzles that I have the most critique of were the ones that demanded that we slow down a bit. When speed is the point, anything felt like we were doing it at normal speed felt slightly off.

Overall, I loved The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein. It had a magnificent set, loads of content, and some fantastic interaction design. I didn’t have a way of imagining what an escape room would feel like if it was all gas and no brakes… and now I do. And I enjoyed it so much. This is Improbable Escapes’ latest game and it really does feel like the pinnacle of what they have been building towards: beautiful games filled with fun things to do inside of them.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Best for players with at least some experience
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• So many fun, puzzles (probably more puzzles per minute than we’ve ever seen)
• A beautiful set
• Strong interaction design

Story

Long thought abandoned, strange noises and lights have been coming from the decaying mansion of Franklin N Stein. While the villagers were sharpening their pitchforks and lighting their torches, we set off to see if we could unravel the truth hidden within the walls of that old home.

Setting

The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein had a beautifully rundown set, evoking the abandoned mansion that we were exploring. The set was filled with stations that each had their own path of puzzles. Some of these stations were more straightforward, while others had more complex interactions.

Gameplay

Improbable Escapes’ The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein was an energetic escape room with a high volume of easy and moderate difficulty puzzles.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

It wasn’t immediately apparent how fast-paced the gameplay would be, but this escape room did a good job of immediately teaching us how it wanted to be played. For the volume of content, it was well-organized. It was abundantly clear what information went with which props.

 We were continuously moving through The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein. It was a non-stop, high energy experience.

 In act one, each puzzle station centered on one character. The video interludes gave us a moment to pause and ground each character. A segment at the conclusion of act one (that we were initially dubious of, I’ll admit), further reinforced the characters and the purpose of our actions.

 In the first room, many of the puzzles could be solved alone, and it would be possible for one teammate to steamroll the rest of the team. The puzzles relied on different skill sets, however, so a complete takeover would probably be unlikely, but it’s still possible. That risk is somewhat mitigated by the interludes that helped keep everyone following the progress of the room, whether or not they’d solved any given puzzle.

 The transition sequence was rough around the edges. To start, minor light leakage undermined it, and a heavy door slowed momentum. Then the space felt underutilized. It was somewhere between a scene and a passthrough, and we were unsure which it wanted to be.

 There was opportunity for a more dynamic soundscape and enhanced audio quality.

 In the second act, the puzzles were more complex, but we were ready to dive into them. Each puzzle station was now an intriguing mechanism that we’d have to figure out how to use, and then how to master. Furthermore, teamwork was now essential. The difficulty curve worked well.

The mechanisms were a lot of fun to interact with. The props were big and chonky. We enjoyed a visual reveal.

 There was a bit of unevenness to the puzzles. In the first act, one puzzle sounded harder than the others, and it wasn’t particularly fun to try multiple times. In the second act, a puzzle appeared to involve collecting a set when it was something else entirely.

 The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein didn’t take itself seriously. Improbable Escapes made amusing choices for the solves leading into their final boss battle.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is located at Improbable Escapes Wonderland (500 Gardiners Road, Unit 2A).
• There are paid parking lots and street parking in the area.

Book your hour with Improbable Escapes’ The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes comped our tickets for this game.

The post Improbable Escapes – The Mysterious Miseries of Franklin N. Stein [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Format

Style of Play:

• Adaptation of an in-person game
• Avatar controlled by the players
• Web-based inventory system

Who is it For?

• Players who can’t travel to Ontario
• Players who want a remote Zoom escape room experience with far-flung friends

Required Equipment: computer with an internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: $31.95 CAD per person, with a minimum of $95.85 CAD per team

Booking: book online for a specific time

Description

This is a standard avatar-based remote game, where the players can see a physical set and instruct the host to interact with it. A website provided closeups of puzzle components to aid in solving.

Tammy McLeod’s Reaction

I am so delighted that Zoom games have not gone extinct. I miss being able to play with far-flung friends! This was an online offering of an in-person game. While the physical space looked well decorated and was probably lovely in person, I am most thrilled that the online game support was thoughtfully designed and well put together. Our game host was skillful at presenting the puzzle elements and the companion website had all the important information we needed.

Brett Kuehner’s Reaction

• + Storyline was simple but clear, and our tasks in the game fit the story
• + Sets looked good, even via camera. They were nice enough that I wish I could have been there in person (which has been true with all of the Improbable Escapes remote games that I’ve played)
• + The host was friendly and did a good job of following our instructions and showing us what we needed to see
• ? The host was there mostly to be our eyes and hands, and not to be a major character in the story. This meant the puzzles were central, but there was less opportunity to goof off with the host.
• + Puzzles were fun and worked well remotely, using a website to provide closeups of important components
• ? Puzzles were on the simpler side, which may or may not be to your taste
• – During videoclips some audio was hard to hear, but fortunately there were subtitles for most of it
• ? Overall it was solid and I enjoyed spending time with my friends, but it lacked the kind of spark that the best remote games have.

Joel Smileypeacefun Reaction

In The Undersea Overthrow we entered a submarine trying to discover the lost city of Atlantis and its treasures. It’s a race against our former boss, who wants to steal the artifacts rather than gift them to a museum.

At its best, yet again Improbable Escape delivered an immersive game with some fun interactions and a cute set design. The puzzles as well as the story flowed nicely. Thanks to an expanded inventory system, we could always keep track of our tasks.

At its worst, we saw videos where the audio was inaudible. Even though they tried to adapt the game to an online format, some important details were hard to see or understand unless they were pointed out to us. The gamemaster interactions have always been at a high level with Improbable Escape. Our guide was nice and helpful, yet not as over-the-top attentive as I previously experienced with their hosts.

Livestreamed games have flown off most people’s radar as folks started to travel again. It’s great to see that this company still enables people (who live so far away that they won’t show up at their real-life locations anytime soon) to play their experiences.

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Neverland: Heist on the High Seas is a livestreamed adaptation of an in-person escape room, by Improbable Escapes in Kingston, ON.

Format

Style of Play:

• Adaptation of an in-person game (can be played IRL)
• Avatar controlled by the players
• Web-based inventory system

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 3-4

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: $28.25 CAD per player

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

This an avatar-led escape game with a kid-friendly theme and puzzles.

There is an inventory website where you see photos of the room and puzzles. Occasionally you type a password into the website to reveal more photos. Other than that, the livestream is through Zoom, as usual.

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Cindi S’ Reaction

Within the first few minutes of Neverland: Heist on the High Seas, I knew this game was going to be special! A delightful adventure from start to finish, Neverland: Heist on the High Seas offered unique puzzles, cool surprises, and creative effects in a space that I would have loved to explore in person. The game is family-friendly and no doubt kids would have a blast in this room. The kid in me enjoyed the playfulness of the puzzles, even if they were mostly straightforward. A couple of tactile puzzles worked fine virtually, but they would have been more fun to solve in person. Nevertheless, Neverland: Heist on the High Seas let me hang out in a storybook world for a while, and I didn’t really want to leave at the end.

Theresa W’s Reaction

I didn’t think Improbable Escapes could beat the joy portrayed through their previous games (The Hot Chocolate Incident and Seven Dwarves Mining Mission), yet they blasted through my expectations and designed an absolutely adorable experience. Neverland: Heist on the High Seas was another game I would have loved to play in person, yet the adaptation was wonderful while being enhanced for the platform. All of their avatars are top-notch. They are the perfect neutral avatar – not incredibly stupid so the players have to explicitly state everything, but fun and engaging while not solving puzzles for you. I really enjoyed all of their puzzles and design decisions while going digital; the inventory didn’t take away from the gameplay in the slightest. If you’re going to be in the area any time in the next year or two, save this one to play in person. If you have no intentions of that, this is a delightful online avatar game!

Matthew Stein’s Reaction

Consistent with the other two online games I’ve played from Improbable Escapes, Neverland: Heist on the High Seas features impeccable set design, a genial and articulate avatar, and smooth gameplay. As with the Seven Dwarves Mining Mission, I wish I could have experienced this immersive environment in person, but the game was very thoughtfully adapted for online play and I am equally happy to have played this rendition. Our avatar was an absolute joy to interact with, and while she didn’t play a character, she had plenty of character. Her descriptions of her surroundings were crystal clear and at times a bit too helpful for our experienced team, though never in a way that lessened the experience. I love Improbable Escape’s approach to an “inventory system;” instead of providing 360-degree room images, which often take away from actually paying attention to the live feed of the room, they have a few static images of important parts of the room. There was no need for a dynamic online inventory because the gameplay doesn’t involve significant inventory buildup. Above all, every element of this game experience was beautiful – from a professionally-produced animated intro video to slick website artwork to an in-world illustrated map of each room to the rooms themselves, which were alluring, magical, and perfectly lit.

Joel Smileypeacefun Reaction

Our friend had been captured by the notorious Captain Hook, but we were here to help.

At its best, it was clear from the very first puzzle how much passion went into this game. I loved the set design, even though I only experienced it digitally. The game had great reveals and diverse puzzles that truly fit the scenery. They had such a smart use of tech enhancing the whimsical theme. The gamemaster matched that with being nice and high energy.

At its worst, within the inventory webpage, certain pictures were already grouped. While this helps you to navigate the website, it takes away an essential part of figuring out which clues belong to which puzzle. Also, there was one puzzle that, for me, did not translate well into the online format; details were pretty small and hard to differentiate.

We were led through such a fun and gorgeous looking experience that I never wanted it to end.

Disclosure: Improbable Escapes provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.

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The Hot Chocolate Incident is a digital avatar-led escape game, designed for livestream play, created by Improbable Escapes in Kingston, ON.

Format

Style of Play: digital avatar-led escape game, designed for livestream play

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, pen and paper, scissors

Recommended Team Size: 2-5

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: $25 CAD per player, plus tax.

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

The Hot Chocolate Incident is an avatar-led game hosted in Zoom with a separate website interface for maps, close-up photos, and helpful diagrams. The avatar interacts with a physical space, but the game was designed specifically for online play.

You’ve been recruited to help Jingles the Elf (your in-room avatar) help save Christmas by remotely solving puzzles in Santa’s Workshop.

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Cara Mandel’s Reaction

This was so dang cute!! Seriously. If you’re at all a fan of Christmas or Santa Claus or elves or just charming holiday fun, then do yourself a favor and play The Hot Chocolate Incident. Our team was smiling the whole time. The game was designed for avatar play and contained some adorable moments that were well suited for the format of Zoom video. I really enjoy when online games make good use of their medium rather than trying to work around it. This game leaned into the limitations of virtual play to delightful effect. Our elf avatar was adorable and cheery and kept our holiday spirits high throughout the game. This family-friendly game is a must-play seasonal treat, in my humble opinion.

Theresa Piazza’s Reaction

The Hot Chocolate Incident is a cute, Christmas-themed escape room that would be great for kids and families, or experienced escape room players looking for holiday themed puzzling. Overall, the gameplay was delightful. As a player you have most of the information you need to solve the room’s puzzles up front, so the game relies on you not skipping ahead and opening web pages you aren’t trying to solve yet. The in-game avatar played the role of an elf very well, and the space was well themed, allowing players to really believe they were in Santa’s Workshop. If you’re looking for something to do with family or new escape room players this holiday season, I recommend booking The Hot Chocolate Incident.

Matthew Stein’s Reaction

The Hot Chocolate Incident is the definition of adorable, and it’s a fantastic family-friendly holiday game. After being enthralled by Improbable Escape’s magical set design aesthetic in the remote adaptations of their in-person games (albeit with significant FOMO for not being physically immersed in those sets) it was satisfying to see an equally high level of visual world building applied to this remote exclusive, with a set and interactions designed carefully around housing a remote avatar. And what an avatar it was! Our elf-atar remained fully committed to an amusing character throughout, and this was one case in which the bumbling avatar trope not only worked, but actually drove the narrative forward. The gameplay was quite easy and straightforward – accessible for all ages and audiences – and it was cutely themed and well integrated in the physical environment, making it also very fun for anyone.

This game made a few notable design choices I want to call out as I think the mentality they embody would be of use to many other remote escape games.

• Rather than cluttering the space with physical padlocks – a common aesthetic which requires meticulous inventory-keeping and often inhibits narrative – The Hot Chocolate Incident used a single interface for inputting almost all puzzle solutions. This streamlined the game’s structure and solution input flow in positive ways.
• A sequence of search puzzles was built around mini ahas and an understanding of props visible around the room, not just lucky observation of randomly hidden objects. This approach is especially helpful for remote games, where the fun of in-person searching is often lost.
• The avatar created an effective illusion that the game contained much more tech and automation than I suspect was actually built out – a wise use of resources for a set that players won’t actually be (mis)handling directly.

Fro’s Reaction

This game was adorable and wholesome and offered several jolly moments sure to get kids and adults alike into the holiday spirit. The standouts for me were a giant set piece that served as the focal point for our game, and our delightful avatar who played their part to perfection. I give this one points for originality with the story line and creative use of some classic toys. While it would have been fun to play this game in person, I think it wonderfully sums up a year where holiday magic still remains, even if our traditional ways of celebrating and connecting with each other look a little different.

Tammy McLeod’s Reaction

This game is delightful to look at, fun to play, and chock-full of Christmas cheer. The puzzles are well designed to fit the theme, and are refreshingly creative and cute. This game is also very family-friendly, with engaging interfaces, straightforward puzzles, and adorably over-the-top acting from the avatar.

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Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission is digital adaptation of an escape game created by Improbable Escapes in Kingston, ON.

Format

Style of Play: digital adaptation of a real-life escape game

Required Equipment: computer with an internet connection

You’re encouraged to play on two different computers (or with two monitors): one screen for the camera, the other for the inventory. This was effective.

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: $74.99+HST CAD (approximately $54 USD) flat rate for 1-5 players. $10+HST per additional player beyond 5.

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

This was an avatar-based escape room. A gamemaster followed our instructions in a livestream as we guided her through an adapted real-life escape room. There was a companion website inventory, which contained high-quality photographs of the room and key items within it.

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Andrew Reynolds’ Reaction

Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission was a playful fairy tale romp that focused on the “dwarfs” part of the “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” story. It was played as a live remote game, in which we connected via video chat and controlled the webcam-enabled gamemaster as they solved the puzzles in our place. In addition to the gamemaster’s camera, there was a web interface that provided detailed pictures of the room to aid in puzzle solving and in keeping track of remaining puzzles. The GM handled this information very well, making sure early in the game to refer us to it to help solve a very visual puzzle that the webcam alone might have made frustrating.

In the end, the most critical thing I can say about Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission is that I wish I had the opportunity to play it in person. The set was well put together and felt very charming and homey. I played with a group of seven people (one player per dwarf, of course) who had a great range of experience; for two of them it was their very first escape room! Everyone loved it, which is exceptional in that seven is a big crowd for a room in-person, let alone one presented over video. There were enough puzzles with different challenge levels that I would recommend this at any time – but if you live in the area, it might be worth the wait to play it in person.

Richard Burns’ Reaction

Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission is a very well-done game. The puzzles are on-theme and the decor in the rooms is fantastic. The puzzles are on the easier side, but the close-up pictures provided really help the game’s online playability. Improbable Escape’s inventory system is excellent. Parallel puzzle solving is available throughout the game allowing more players to feel engaged. A detailed overhead view of each room helps online players better understand the space and the physical relationships between game elements.

This is one of the highest-quality and most fun online adaptations that I have come across so far. If you are unlikely to visit Improbable Escapes in person, I recommend booking Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission online version for a fun escape room experience at home.

Sarah Mendez’s Reaction

What a whimsical delight for my first live virtual experience! Although I reallllllly wanted to directly interact with the adorable set, the room translated well to online play. As a somewhat self-conscious player, I was anxious about living vicariously through a gamemaster, but Liz-the-GM immediately made us feel at ease, carefully orienting us without spoiling discoveries. The puzzles were creative if not challenging, and it was easy to keep track of the room’s elements thanks to the memorable objects, lovely set design, and ample supplemental resources. This remote adventure is indeed a worthy activity…unless you can physically get to the room instead!

Theresa W’s Reaction

Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission was a game that I really wish I could have played in person, but it translated flawlessly into the virtual format. This game had lots of charm through the props and interactions. Improbable Escapes’ use of online resources including images of the room, key items, and interactive locks made Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission play incredibly well online. Our gamemaster was wonderful, and added quite a lot to the experience. I would absolutely play another online game with Improbable Escapes in the future.

David Spira’s Reaction

I feel so conflicted about Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission.

This was a legitimately great avatar game. I don’t really have any complaints about the implementation or the game itself.

However, I am kind of sad that I played Seven Dwarfs: Mining Mission online. Improbable Escapes has long been on my list of companies to visit, and when I eventually get there, I’m bummed that I won’t be able to play this game in real life.

If you live far from Ontario, Canada, I’ll strongly recommend playing this. If you live closer to Improbable Escapes… maybe wait for the real deal to reopen… then go play.

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