The Masterpiece

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We had the pleasure of visiting one of Buffalo’s newest escape room companies, Enigma Escape Rooms. It’s conveniently located in the heart of downtown right by the theatre district and police station providing the perfect environment for adventure. We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we parked the car and walked to their street front entrance which was easily visible. As we walked into the lobby there was a couch, some decorations on the wall, and a carpet… pretty barren in the style of an art gallery. Uh oh, this was starting to not look good… wait, why is everyone crowded around the carpet laughing? Oh wow, the carpet is a collection of visual puzzles – fun! We couldn’t resist… we took 5-10 minutes to compulsively solve all the puzzles before we even got acquainted with our hosts… it’s the new start of our first impression. What seemed worrisome at the beginning was now becoming light-hearted and got us excited. Our hosts were very much the same. They were incredibly kind, nice, and even told us how they designed the custom carpet as a neat icebreaker. Pretty impressive! …Ok ok, there weren’t any refreshments or snacks, there wasn’t a lot to do in the lobby, the room intro is only text on a clipboard, and the parking is limited to city streets, but overall we were happy and upbeat thanks to a clever icebreaker and warm welcome! But enough about mood swings, let’s get to that room… tally ho!

The room quality of The Masterpiece was wonderful and provided almost everything we look for. The building materials were solid, the props and furniture were appropriate for the theme, and aside from one small camera wire in the corner we didn’t have any visual distractions. If there were to be any improvements here it might be with one small latch that didn’t work regularly as designed. Aside from that, this is a pretty darn good room for quality!

The immersive atmosphere follows much of what we experience with the building quality. And FINALLY we get to see the rare sightings of a room that properly develops its story THROUGH the room and not just in a snippet of text at the beginning and end of the experience! When a room properly uses their puzzles, clues, and atmosphere to develop a story it makes all the difference. The only thing missing here would be the feeling of increased anxiety or joy as the room progressed. We enjoyed the story and the atmosphere was authentic, but we would’ve liked a bit more suspense and urgency to accomplish our tasks and get out! All in all no complaints however as this room was spot on with its story development and consistent theme.

If the room quality is great, and the immersion is just as great, then we can only call the puzzles in this room excellent! There was a great selection of puzzles that had our team collaborating and working independently throughout. What really stood out was how puzzles built upon information gained from other puzzles! There was also a semi-linear/open path of puzzles which allowed most of us to be engaged at most times. The addition of a teamwork puzzle, or a bit more ‘wow’ factor in the puzzles would be the icing on the cake, but again, no complaints here because we really enjoyed what we saw!

Do we recommend this room? Was it fun? A very big YES answers both of those questions for The Masterpiece! It’s rare we get to experience rooms with such a great balance of all things. Was it the best we’ve ever seen for individual categories of room quality, immersion, or puzzles? No, but here’s the great thing about The Masterpiece… it doesn’t need to be! The strength of this room comes from no details being sacrificed to try and impress in one particular area. The pre-room experience may unfortunately lower the overall score a little bit, but don’t let that fool you, it’s a must try for all beginners, enthusiasts, and ideal group sizes of 3-6 players. We’re really looking forward to seeing what Enigma Escape Rooms comes up with next!