It’s a Doggy Dog World

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Is there anything better than playing with a dog? Well apparently it can be just as fun to be a dog! We arrived at the easily accessible ESCapades LA building and partook in the many games and activities in the lobby reflecting our nostalgic childhood (Lite Brite? Yes, please!). The place caters to the family-friendly escapers and has large rooms for parties with plans to build more escape rooms. They did not have snacks or drinks however, which we found quite odd for this young genre. Parking may be paid to a meter for convenience and to tie in the theme there is a Dog Haus restaurant right across the street. Lockers and restroom visits were provided before our cheerful Game Master explained the rules and background story for the room “It’s a Doggy Dog World.”

“You are dogs and you’ve lost your lucky red ball!” You have a limited amount of time to get your ball back from the nefarious mailman before your owners return. As we entered the room we immediately noticed the furniture and its contents were scaled to a larger size to create the illusion that we were a small dog. The giant prop pieces had a decent attention to detail but the setting itself felt a little bare. It was exciting though. The concept of being a dog and doing dog-like tasks to complete puzzles was very fresh and fun. Having said this there were a few glaring issues that broke the immersion. Some puzzles and compartments had exposed wires and mechanics that reminded you this was just a game. In addition to this there were sections that changed the scaling of the environment, constantly modifying perspective in order for a door or puzzle to work. It was also odd that we were given a walky-talky to ask for hints when we were supposed to be dogs.

This mostly lockless room had a great variety of unique puzzles that tied in with the dog theme. It was clever and contained a lot of personal touches to reveal clues and solutions in unexpected ways. However we feel there should have been more puzzles that tapped into what a dog does to fully immerse and expand upon this concept. Another issue was the amount of scavenging involved in escaping this room successfully. At a certain point it started to feel tedious in collecting these items. The puzzles were fairly linear and logical for the majority of the room but took some leaps of logic in the latter parts. That aside, what made the puzzles special was the willingness to experiment with new ideas and concepts, which is why we enjoyed ourselves so much.

Our team eventually found the red ball after a memorable finale and completed the room within time. The Game Master proceeded to walk through the solutions for the puzzles and then took a team photo of us with props from the room. This room is great for all ages and even better for those who love pets. Our experience with ESCapades LA and their rooms has been an enlightening one. Although the room has some faults, the cheerful and creative energy this group exerts prove they are not afraid to try new concepts in order to keep this game fresh and enjoyable. We are very excited for the possibilities and potential this company can produce in the future.