The Basement

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People Magazine recently wrote an article on Angelina Jolie’s mom-of-the-year-worthy birthday outing. What was said outing? None other than escape room superstar venue THE BASEMENT, a series of four cohesive stories about a cannibal serial killer who has imprisoned you in his puzzle-filled domain.

Here, we will discuss Chapter 1, appropriately called “The Basement” (which later leads to chapters The Study, The Elevator Shaft, and The Courtyard, which we have reviewed glowingly).

The adventure began with a sleek and creepy waiting area where we were greeted with great customer service and moody horror vibes (which you can commemorate with merchandise, some of which can only be bought if you actually win). The pre-game was solid and set up the high level of production value to come.

The lobby led to a small room where we were treated to a cinematic video of narrative setup, then given a (clean) cloth sack to cover our heads with as we were led into a locked cage in a bloody, freaky basement.

It’s your job to escape said basement before it fills with deadly gas.

The room was of top notch quality and well kept. All locks and mechanisms worked really well and there were no issues. Immersion was wonderful – the atmosphere was creepy and everything went with the storyline.

Unlike many escape rooms, there was no option to ask for hints. Instead, an interactive gimmick (that we won’t spoil) provided aid in fun ways.

It consisted of a vast, chaotic “funnel room” (aka non-linear, allowing our group to poke at many tasks at once until a singular solve won the whole thing) of an above-average challenge level. This is a large room that, if you so desire, can benefit from a larger group. Conversely, there are so many challenges at once that large groups may dilute the vital need to communicate (communication is deeply important here).

It’s really up to you to decide which strategy is correct: split off and work on different things at different times or focus energy on each complex challenge. The puzzles were hard, but not so hard that it’s too difficult to escape. The intellectual challenges were all fair and logical, despite some brain benders. There were enough puzzles to keep stressfully busy and several minds were needed at once to really discover and unify the subtle clues.

The Basement isn’t as loaded with the shockingly high tech gags and groundbreaking gimmicks as the other three rooms, but it’s an above average experience for sure.

There are a few BIG surprises (some immersive, others entertainingly super disgusting) that we wish we could mention without spoiling the grand experience. Alas, let’s keep it a secret and just tell you to find out for yourself (psst… that means go find out for yourself!)

Come prepared for a bit of a scare factor, to have lots of fun and don’t be afraid to go into the dark…