Unlockables: The Informant & The Escape (San Diego, CA)

This post was written by Mio! The Unlockables is a relatively new set of rooms in San Diego with a very friendly owner/operator who is himself very well versed in playing escape rooms (+100 rooms). He actually took over part of the space from a previous operator so his own "The Escape" room was added in addition to the existing "Informant Room". As a result, the Informant Room makes for a pretty good introduction room for beginners, but will likely be a breeze for more advanced players. Even though it was your typical investigate a murder scene setting, it still was an above average game. "The Escape" room, on the other hand, is a great deal more immersive and challenging – one that our crew enjoyed a lot and kept us well occupied.

I’m going to focus on "The Escape" room in this review but be sure to try out the Informant if you’re just beginning. The story is as follows:

"You are invited to one of the most prestigious parties at a Mansion in San Diego. Beautiful people and drinks are plenty, and there is no shortage to the endless amount of entertainment around you. The host invites you to join them in their VIP area, but once you get there you get a sinking feeling that something is not right. You and your friends have been kidnapped…

Why you? You don’t know. All you know is that you need to find a way out and escape your captors. You weren’t the only ones they’ve kidnapped, some of the captives before you left clues to help anyone else who gets caught by this group to help them out. It’s up to you to figure out these clues and escape before you find out what they want from you… Are you Unlockable?"

The Escape room is a great interpretation on the serial killer theme – and as the operators tell you, communication is key, especially for smaller groups (we had 4). It was a split room so beware of this in case some players are not comfortable with being alone in a room. There were very few locks and almost all the puzzles were original (although somewhat low-tech), with varying degrees of difficulty. The room did have some fairly cool other technology so you definitely didn’t feel like you were in a gen 1 room. Overall, this room is definitely one we would suggest – and have a chat with the owner for some great advice on other local and nation-wide escape rooms!

Pros: Nice decor and fun puzzles (The Escape), Quick and easy (Informant)
Cons: Starting rooms are not all equally fun (The Escape), Quick and easy :) (Informant)

• Set/room design: Great! 
• Technology/automation: Gen-1.5 room (fairly low tech but varied puzzles)
• Difficulty:  "The Escape" is for experienced players, "Informant" for beginners, 
• Price: $28-35/person,  depending on the room (rooms are kept private for group bookings) 
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Overall Rating: The Escape ★★★★, The Informant ★★★

See their website here: http://areyouunlockable.com/