Chaos Effect

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There are a lot of game designers in the world who make a lot of promises. Amidst all the video games, board games, and escape games you’ll sometimes hear them boast “Your decisions matter!” but more often than not, only a few games manage to actually follow through on that promise.

Chaos Effect, a “Level 2 Game” at Trapped, is one of those few.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet – there are still pre-room basics we should cover. While Trapped is a world-wide franchise, Trapped Mississauga is the only location we know of that showcases some incredibly, beautiful, hand-painted murals in its lobby. The seating in the lobby can comfortably fit about two trillion people (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration with just couches and roaming space for about two dozen people). With Trapped’s location being in a plaza there’s also plenty of parking. Aside from that, Trapped Mississauga has all the escape lobby classics: lockers for phones and bags, friendly staff, drinks for sale, and a party room for events.
Because it’s a franchise, you can also get a membership card for all Trapped locations if you share their promotional video on social media. The card gets you 10% off the games, a free drink at the end of the session, PLUS a free game on your birthday. There’s also a levelled point system so you can increase your benefits as you play their games.
Upon entering the room blindfolded, you will be briefed on two strange, but very important, rules: First, all members of the group must stay together at all times; and second, you can’t take anything from any room you leave. When we first heard these rules, we thought they sounded gimmicky, and a bad way of slowing people down in an average escape room…
The only thing is, Chaos Effect is NOT your average escape room!

Unlike most rooms, we weren’t told the story of the game. We weren’t even told that the goal of the game! We were told that we had to discover both the story and the goal of the game inside the room. And as we progressed, we also discovered the reason the two strange rules were implemented; and boy were we blown away!
The unique story and game structure really makes Chaos Effect stand out amongst its peers. It’s so uniquely immersive that even simple and thematic props added to the wonderful complexity of the story. Chaos Effect changed as it responded to our choices in a smooth, natural, and multi-layered way. There was also some great integration of technology and media in the room. The integration of these two elements added an incredible ambiance which provided us with an even better experience. Besides the storyline, the structure of the game makes it replayable with multiple endings for you to discover. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure type of game, but only if your group is savvy enough to unlock the all the endings.
The puzzles in the room were also very thematic. The difficulty level of the puzzles was a bit higher than the other rooms at Trapped, but we soon discovered these weren’t the central focus of Chaos Effect. There were fewer puzzles than in the other rooms, because discovery of the over-arching story IS the puzzle. The iPad given to us for hints (as with all games at Trapped) is still available in this room, but since the goal is a bit more abstract, it won’t help you too much unraveling the mystery.
We’d recommend having at least one member of your group being comfortable with basic algebra, although a calculator is provided for large numbers. You’ll be given 70 minutes to play the game, but if your experience was anything like ours, it won’t be nearly enough! You’ll want to keep playing to experience the multiple endings and secrets hidden within Chaos Effect.