Omescape : Joker's Asylum

	7501 Woodbine Ave Unit 7 Markham, ON L3R 2W1
	60 Minutes
	5-10 players
	$28.20 per person – student/social media discount
	Unlimited hints
	Omescape
	905 695-9556

           

Today, I'm going to do my first review of the Omescape escape room series (finally) as their newest room has finally launched! Omescape is still by far the favourite for me and my team out of them all. It would only be fitting for the first review to be on our first room there - Joker's Asylum! I remember this room very clearly as this was the first time we went to a bigger escape room facility. I have to say Omescape was probably the place that got us all addicted, given the fact that we finished all their rooms within 3 months. Alright, let's begin!

Pre-Room Experience: I have to be honest, I don't remember if finding the facility was difficult to find or not as this was way back in early 2016. However, I do remember walking into Omescape and thinking "wow". Omescape is very different from your typical escape rooms facility. They're also a board game cafe so it's a lot more crowded with people on weekends. They also have bubble tea which in my opinion is a win, because EVERYTIME after a room we're dying in thirst. Omescape is very spacious, but depending on which day you visit it can get quite crowded (i.e. weekends). They even have video games for you to play, but I believe those were extra charge. The staff were super friendly and I love how they remembered us by our second visit.

Room Quality: As mentioned before, this experience was one of our newer escape experiences. We weren't expecting much and we also weren't prepare as much. Before entering this room we did have prior knowledge on escape rooms, but compared to now it was quite beginner level. Joker's Asylum is supposedly their hardest room, and of course we always end up challenging the hardest rooms and failing haha. Before entering the room, we were split into two teams. I remember once I entered the room it was incredible! Everything within the room was super high quality! Being the beginner I was, I was mind blown and instantly fell in love. Even today, I still tell people Joker's Asylum is one of my top favourite rooms because everything about it was just "wow". The props in this room was very nicely used. You can tell they spent A LOT of time figuring out what prop went where. The quality of the room was high tech for sure.

Puzzle Design: Being completely honest on this one, we struggled pretty hard in this room haha. I'm not sure if it was because this was our very first "high tech" room or we were just slow that day, but the puzzle were a challenge for us. I wonder if we were to go back with our mindset of escape rooms now if we would find it as hard haha. I mean on their site it does say difficulty level is 5/5. I wouldn't say the room was impossible though, we just needed a lot more help than we did. This room definitely wasn't just lockboxes.  Each puzzle was tied to each other and you really needed to think outside the box to solve each one. Team work was the KEY in this room.  Definitely a room with great high tech puzzles that kept us entertained throughout the whole experience. 

Overall:  The overall experience was mind blowing.  Just typing out this review makes me really want to go back into that room and redo it haha.  The room was really fun and had us all moving around. I think I loved this room so much because the theme of it somewhat gave me a vibe of Alice in Wonderland on a twist haha. The use of props and tech in this room was perfect. Although we were all beginners entering this room, I think it really brought up our expectations and our addictions for escape rooms. If you're around the area I would definitely recommend this room!

Happy Escaping!