The Heist

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Jigsaw was the second escape room company we visited in Ottawa, and they’re somewhat of a scrappy underdog to Escape Manor’s market-dominating presence. Nevertheless, they did a great job of entertaining us with a fun and enjoyable experience. Their location is a little out of the way, but once you find them they have a pleasant lobby with space to sit and relax. The staff were very friendly and did a great job of making us feel welcome. They also have a smallish games room tucked away around the corner outfitted with a foosball table and a small selection of board games in case you get there early and have a little time to kill.

The Heist is a crime-themed room, and the story here is that you’re part of a crime syndicate who have made off with a large haul of diamonds, but unfortunately your partner double-crossed you so now you’re breaking into his safe house to steal them back. The room quality is decent; it’s a smaller room with not too many frills, but what’s there is solid and well-built and looks reasonably convincing. The immersion is likewise decent; the puzzles fit the theme well and do a good job of reminding you of your mission as you progress though the game. Similarly the props are solid and authentic and consist of the kinds of things you might reasonably expect to find or use when breaking into a safe house.

Unfortunately, despite integrating well into the theme, the puzzles are one of the weaker parts of this room. On entering the room, the first impression of everyone in our group was “wow, there are a lot of locks”. Fortunately there’s a good amount of variety in the clues and puzzles that you have to solve to unlock the locks, but all the same the room gives off a bit of an old school, first-generation vibe. In addition, although there are several different types of locks, there are some types that are repeated, so there will be occasions where you come up with an solution and the only way to know where it goes is to try it in a couple different places. On the plus side, they get bonus points for having a very unique type of puzzle which was a first for me, and they did a good job integrating one or two high-tech components.

Overall, The Heist is a decent, solid room without a huge amount of “wow” factor but nevertheless an enjoyable challenge. We’d recommend giving it a try should you happen to be looking for a good escape room experience in the Ottawa area. Can you escape with the diamonds? Only one way to find out!