The Kidnapping

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The Kidnapping was our 3rd and final room at Breakout in Rochester. Full disclosure: Our group was definitely trying not to compare the experience to our previous two rooms (Casino and Museum Heist) but we can’t necessarily guarantee it didn’t play a role in our hearts, minds, and experiences. Having said that, we seemed to still enjoy the things we noted in our pre-game experience in the other rooms. The opening video was interesting (more on that later), the staff were incredibly kind and gracious, and the customer experience was obviously the top priority! Some things that could be improved would be the need for more visible signage for the building and office location, and perhaps even making some refreshments and/or snacks available in the lobby.

One reason we enjoyed this room as we got ready to enter was the use of… blindfolds! We’re BIG fans of blindfolds being used before you enter a room because it breaks the transition between the ‘outer (real) world’ and the ‘inner (immersive) world’. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, it’s a great feeling of removing your blindfold and ‘waking up’ in a new environment you now have to orient yourself to. We wish more companies would recognize the need to start people on the right foot this way… The funny thing here is they also had a neat video that none of us could see because we were told to keep our blindfolds on until after the video ended.

Anyways, the room quality itself was pretty good. No visible wires, no revealing seams in the walls, and solid building materials used in the set design. There’s a few props we would have liked to see changed (from plastic, low quality rubber) to something better, but nothing major. The more notable observations include the lack of floor space (there were a few items taking up large amounts of floor space) and the need to make sure things like flashlights were fully charged. Once again, for a smaller room we were quite impressed with how good the overall room quality was.

Immersion is always one of those areas that’s quite subjective. People will generally ‘feel’ immersed based on their personal preferences, interaction with specific puzzles, and/or combination of other factors… and some simply won’t experience these things and therefore feel disconnected. Our team was somewhat divided on how much we felt connected to the theme and story of this room. Whereas some of us had misgivings about the story being a bit old, rehashed, and predictable, others felt the atmosphere was authentic and they felt connected to what was happening. We all agreed the first five minutes of the room were the most immersive when we were handcuffed, blindfolded, and simply led into the room not knowing what to expect (again a great transition makes for a great start!)

The puzzles in The Kidnapping were fairly average. Nothing about them was particularly horrible nor wonderful which, depending on your perspective, could be either a plus or minus. There were no leaps in logic, no flaws in execution, and there were a few creative ideas we liked. At the same time, we felt a couple items were out of place, didn’t fit with the story, and in one case didn’t function as well as we would’ve liked. Without giving too much away, there’s one part where we all had to wait several minutes because we couldn’t continue until one person finished their task which was fairly long… Because of this, we wish there were a few more inclusive and/or team building puzzles that required a collective effort. The puzzle path is semi-open/linear however which means at most points in time more than one person can be working on something which is nice to see…

And the question people ask the most… was it fun and would we recommend this room? If you follow our reviews, you should probably know by now we never give black and white answers, and all things need to be put into context… This room is fun, but will appeal more to certain people. Those who are new to escape rooms and those who haven’t done several other escape-the-killer-themed rooms will enjoy The Kidnapping a lot! We also feel this room is ideal for smaller groups who don’t mind being in close quarters while working independently from one another. Hardcore enthusiasts, larger groups, and those who have previously done several similarly themed rooms may want to opt for another room at Breakout because they won’t find as much novelty here. Whether you choose this, or another room at Breakout Rochester however, we know you’ll enjoy the overall atmosphere and interaction with the staff so don’t be afraid to go check them out!

We want to hear your thoughts! Be sure to comment in the section below or send us a message via ERA’s email, Facebook, or Twitter… As always, happy escaping!