Rating: 2/10
Theme/Ambiance – 2/10
Puzzles – 1/10
Difficulty – 6/10
Excitement/Fun – 2/10

Location: San Jose, CA
Company: PanIQ Escape Room
Website: https://paniqescaperoom.com/

PanIQ Escape Room has been around in the San Jose for a long time. Many of their escape rooms would be considered part of the first generation type. Perfect Crime was one of the more recent ones I had done because I wanted to give it a try. The room did not age well at all unfortunately. The premise is that you are investigators tasked with solving the mystery of murder of an aristocrat.

It may be due to the theme, but the decorations were lackluster. The story was uninspiring as we were just thrown into the room and that was it – no introduction at all. One of the main puzzles that stopped us from progressing did not even work and when we alerted the game masters, the communication device was shotty and led to them entering the escape room just to let us know the puzzle was broken. Once the room “ended,” there was no real in game indicator letting us know that it ended. The door was opened and that was it. The experience was not great at all and I would not recommend this room to anyone.

Rating: 4/10
Theme/Ambiance – 6/10
Puzzles – 2/10
Difficulty – 8/10
Excitement/Fun – 4/10

Location: San Jose, CA
Company: PanIQ Escape Room
Website: https://paniqescaperoom.com/

PanIQ Escape Room has been around for a long time, so a lot of their escape rooms are of the older generation. Wild West was the first escape room I had ever done from this company. As you can surmise from the name, you are in the Wild West! You find yourself locked in jail, so it is up to you to find you way out to the outside world!

Wild West is a very cutely decorated escape room, staying true to to the theme. The puzzles do not look out of place at all. My main issue with this escape room was that some of the puzzles did not work as intended. It could have been due to a variety of reasons, but it is most likely being due to this being an older room and upkeep was not as good as it should have been. Unfortunately that ruined a lot of the experience because some puzzles became more difficult than it should be since it did not work. I wanted to love the room due to the theme sadly. Lots of cute props.

This was the first escape room I had ever done from Off the Couch Games. It is one of their older rooms so it does not age as well compared to newer escape rooms unfortunately. The premise is that engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla has passed away and left his Inheritance to anyone that could unravel the secrets of his latest invention. Of course that is going to be you!

The theme and ambiance was okay and it largely was due to the nature of the story that it couldn’t have been more unique. The puzzles were more on the difficult side, so I do not think it was easy at all. Compared to modern escape rooms, this room could use some work to improve their experience.

What it comes down to is whether or not you find puzzles or experience more important for escape rooms. This room has puzzle difficulty, but is not story-driven or theme ambiance. If you want to try out escape rooms at this company, I would recommend trying one of their other rooms.

Rating: 6/10
Theme/Ambiance – 7/10
Puzzles – 7/10
Difficulty – 7/10
Excitement/Fun – 5/10

Location: Santa Clara, CA
Company: Off the Couch Games
Website: https://www.offthecouchgames.com/

Off the Couch Games has one of the most well decorated escape rooms I have done. That being said, I find the experience very important when ranking escape rooms. This theme is none other than King Arthur’s realm! It is up to you to become the new champions and you must travel to Castle Camelot to rise up! The fantasy-like theme is something I gravitate towards.

The theme design from the rooms to the puzzles were exceptional and well-detailed. Off the Couch Games did a wonderful job here! My only complaint is that the story-telling experience felt a bit dry to me compared to other escape rooms and it something that I find really important for a good escape room. The puzzles were fairly complex, but could be more engaging.

I would recommend this escape room if you find theme and decorations important in a escape room. If you are looking for more of an experience.. I do find this room a bit lackluster.

Rating: 6/10
Theme/Ambiance – 6/10
Puzzles – 6/10
Difficulty – 5/10
Excitement/Fun – 6/10

Location: San Jose, CA
Company: Omescape
Website: https://omescape.us/sanjose/

This escape room is one of Omescape’s older rooms in the San Jose location. The premise is that you find yourself in Joker’s Asylum, which was created by the Joker and his doctor. One way or another Joker escaped the asylum and it is up to you unravel his mysteries by exploring what he left behind.

I am generally a huge sucker for anything related to the Batman franchise, so of course I had to try this escape room when I saw the theme. Unfortunately, because this is an older escape room the technology is not there versus what the potential could be for modern day escape rooms. Not say that the room was not greatly decorated or puzzles were irrelevantly themed. It is just that this escape room does not age well sadly, even at the time when I did do this escape room.

Overall, this escape room is okay. If you are a fan of the theme, I say go for it. However, this would be a pass on my must-do escape room recommendations list.

Rating: 6.5/10
Theme/Ambiance – 5.5/10
Puzzles – 7/10
Difficulty – 5.5/10
Excitement/Fun – 7/10

Location: San Jose, CA
Company: Cubicescape
Website: https://www.cubicescape.us/index.html

Cubicescape is a company with popular imported escape rooms from other places of the world. It’s pretty exciting getting a chance to try them out in a town near you! My friends and I booked Room 2214 for our escape room experience and came into it knowing nothing about the plot or the theme.

In all honesty, this escape room is a pretty low production room, but the fault lies in the setting of the escape room. As you can deduce from the name, you will be in a hotel room. There is not much you can do about the setting, but this escape room has little triggers and puzzles that make the best of the situation which I found surprising and enjoyable. The story-telling is also well done. You are guided in an adventure where the experience carries your evaluation versus the setting.

Without giving too much away, I only have good things to say about this escape room because I did personally enjoy the story experience. Unfortunately the setting can use some work, but it is still worth a playthrough!

Rating: 7/10
Theme/Ambiance – 7/10
Puzzles – 6.5/10
Difficulty – 7.5/10
Excitement/Fun – 6.5/10

Location: San Jose, CA
Company: EDscapade Games
Website: https://www.edscapadegames.com/

EDscapade Games is fairly new and especially after all these lockdowns from COVID-19, it was must try! So it was time to crawl out of our cave and give their games a go! They currently have a decent selection of escape room games with the majority being horror. Being the huge scaredy-cat that I am, I will probably not partake in the horror themes. Luckily for me they have B.o.X. or Battle Of Xu’Qua for people like me. 🙂

This fantasy themed escape room had a very adorable vibe where I did feel like I was transferred to a true fantasy-like setting. The hosts were inspiring and I appreciate the influence their roles played for the game itself. I am a huge nerd so the setting and theme was something I thoroughly enjoyed. They have wide selection of puzzles all fitting to the theme. The puzzles are by no means simple and I would say they fall into the more difficult spectrum when compared to other escape rooms. When I say difficult, I do not mean unfair either because there are plenty of rooms out there where the puzzles are “difficult’ and it is due to them making it unfair.

The theme carried through the entire room with a nice surprise. Overall I really enjoyed the room and I would recommend to those that really enjoy fantasy-like settings. I like the company and am very supportive for what’s to come in the future!