Dare To Escape: X-Child (Tempe, AZ)

"X-Men we need you"

Date To Escape, not to be confused with the nearby "Dare 2 Escape" company, has three rooms in Tempe, not far from MindSpark. We played one game at this location, "X-Child" and for some reason I thought it would be about some little girl's haunted spirit which wasn't the case. It was actually more of a play off of "X-Men" and kids with superpowers. From their site:

X-Child
"Telepathy Acclimation Program, or TAP, was a programme set up to train potential human telepaths. Children who showed telepathic potential were sent to Station Zero, a facility located deep in Mojave Desert for training.

You were one of the children who was sent to this facility. Officially, TAP’s function was “to evaluate telepathic abilities so an understanding of this phenomenon could be compiled.” In reality, they did physical and psychological experiments on you and other children.

The facility was closed down, and your memories of the place is hazy. After years of searching, you and a group of TAP victims were finally able to locate the now-abandoned facility.

Some old systems are still active though. As soon as you enter the facility, it goes into a lockdown..."

North Valley Escape Room: Escape From Alcatraz & The Great Outdoors (Anthem, AZ)

One of Best Escape Room Locations in the Phoenix area!

North Valley Escape Rooms is located 33 miles north of downtown Phoenix in the city of Anthem. This was the first place that we visited on our trip to Phoenix and weren't quite sure what to expect given it was pretty far out in a little town of 30,000 people. When we entered the establishment, we were greeted by three employees who were energetic and friendly, a perfect way to start an escape room!

There were five games at this location and we were able to play two of them,"Escape From Alcatraz" and "The Great Outdoors". We have played a good number of prison/Alcatraz types of rooms so it generally takes something different for us to get excited but there was enough buzz from other enthusiasts for us to book the room. We also hadn't played an outdoorsy themed game so it was nice to mix things up. Although we didn't get to play their newest game, "The Legend Of The 7th Stone", we took a peek at their set which was beautiful and seemed to have a good mix of tech integration. From their site:

Escape From Alcatraz
"Get prepared for the ultimate in escape room experiences! With almost 2000 square feet of puzzles and clues, Escape from Alcatraz is certain to WOW and amaze even the most experienced escape room enthusiasts. What could be better? How about 75 minutes to complete!

Your crimes have brought you to The Rock to serve your time. A life sentence in this dark hole is not an option. Escape is your only choice. Do you have what it takes to escape The Rock?

The Great Outdoors
Your all-inclusive camping trip at Fall Mountain Campground is confirmed! No need to pack your camping gear... the Fall Mountain Campground is all inclusive. When tragedy strikes, will you have what it takes to escape? Survive the trip and live to tell the tale!

LA Dragon Studios: Knights Of The Round Table (Van Nuys, CA)

Written by Matt Neal: As a seasoned veteran of escape rooms, when I see a new room pop up that touts being “family friendly” and “great for all ages” I get a little nervous. I know that experienced enthusiasts do not make up the bulk of the market and targeting newcomers and families makes a lot of financial sense, but in my experience, the rooms that result just don’t scratch my itch for a challenging, exciting experience. Likewise, the rooms that offer a challenging, exciting experience to those that have ran out of fingers and toes to count rooms on can leave those exploring an escape room for the first time with a frustrating experience, never getting to taste success. Rarely does a room offer an experience that is accessible to those that have never heard of an escape room, a playfulness to be within reach of children, and enough fun and excitement to have the experienced walk out with just as big of a smile. LA Dragon Studios offers just that. They have one of the first games from Israel to make its way to the United States and if this is a sign of what’s to come, I can’t wait to see more. From their website:

"In this adventure, you are sent into Camelot on an epic quest. Explore the castle, find the hidden clues and become a Knight! 

We want you to have the fun, there's no limitation on hints, no pressure, it’s about your experience and your story."

This experience is about letting you into their world to play around and that allows for a positive experience for a much broader audience. For someone that’s done a lot of rooms, saving Camelot wasn’t particularly difficult, but it didn’t need to be. There’s so much to see and do, enough to play with and take in, that there is something here for the experienced. I only wish that this was how my first escape room would have been.