Trudeau Towers

• What People Say

What people say... Leave your rating

Sort by: Most recent Top score Most helpful Worst score

Be the first to leave a review.

Verified

{{{ review.rating_title }}}

{{{review.rating_comment | nl2br}}}

Show more

{{ pageNumber+1 }}

Leave your rating

ERA’s most recent out of town trip started at Lockdown Ottawa, an escape room company located on the East side of the city away from the hectic streets of downtown and the parliament buildings. We arrived to find a good amount of parking, a decent sign that can be seen before turning, and a warm welcome at the door. The lobby was a bit small but there were enough seats for a mid-sized group of 3-5 people to wait, along with some games and music to keep the atmosphere fun and playful. We were taken to the staging area where an interesting video revealed the backstory, along with the obligatory safety rules. We felt it wasn’t the best in video quality but it did put a smile on our faces which is evidence for a good start. Our ‘concierge’ then arrived and took us to our room…

As we looked around we marvelled at how impressively clean and well built the room was. There weren’t any exposed wires or obvious seams in walls that stood out. We were particularly impressed with the great integration of tech into the room alongside some mechanical components. The decor quality did drop noticeably further along in the game, with some unfinished sections and a couple unfortunately placed “do not touch” notices. On the flip side the props were well constructed leaving us with a positive impression of the overall quality. This lead to a seamless flow in immersion which was great to experience. You can tell the room designers have an extensive background as enthusiasts because it was the little details that impressed us and kept us engaged at all times. The story did fall a little into the ‘pre-game heavy / mid-game light’ model that is common for most rooms, but there was an obvious attempt to keep us reminded of the scenario at all times which we appreciated. The real joy for us however was the intentional use of all spaces at all times and how the puzzles integrated with the experience. There was definitely a creative flow that came through in this room and kept us engaged… We also have to say for the record, we loved the ambient music! Those who end up staying at Trudeau Towers need to keep their ears attentive because it makes for a fun time!

So if the room quality and the immersion are close to top notch, what about the puzzles? Yup, we enjoyed them too! Most of the puzzles were fairly straight forward with no leaps in logic, but there was also enough challenge for beginner to moderately experienced players. Again there was one clever use of tech within the room, but we won’t spoil the surprise. There were a few moments we felt like the puzzles could have been better presented, but this was easily covered by the puzzle strengths such as required teamwork, communication, and multiple-space usage. The ERA team coined the term “unpacking” to describe how a room starts, and how it uses space to reveal lots more than meets the eye by the end of the game… if a room “unpacks well” there should be a perfectly normal and clean room at the beginning of the game, and a ton of hidden puzzles and doors at the end of the game scattered all about leaving little trace of how the room originally looked. Trudeau Towers definitely unpacks well!

So do we recommend Trudeau Towers? Yes! Would we say it’s for everyone however? Well… no, those with mobility issues may want to avoid this room. Aside from that, this room is a great choice for all ages and all experience level groups. We would suggest limiting your group size for 2-4 people depending on how much engagement with the puzzles and what level of difficulty you want. We’re excited to see what the Lockdown Ottawa team has in store moving forward…

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!