Escape Room Review– Escape Waukesha: The Quest for El Dorado
Unlike many Milwaukee escape rooms, Escape Waukesha changes out its escape rooms every couple of years. “The Alice in Wonderland” room is now gone, and replaced with ‘The Quest for El Dorado.” Personally, I think this one is a step up in quality.
The premise of this room is to enter the rainforest, head towards a cave, and find a lost city of gold in one hour, before another expedition beats you to it. The game is divided into three rooms, one larger one representing the rainforest, a smaller room in a temple, and another smaller area that serves the treasure room.
The old “Alice in Wonderland” room was looking a little bit frayed by the time my friends and I played it, with some of the Disney decals starting to peel off here and there, and the first room feeling more like a decorated bit of office space than a fictional world. The two temple rooms of "El Dorado" are particularly immersive, however, though the initial temple room is a bit dark. The opening room with the rainforest motif requires sharp observation, and care must be taken to scrutinize every object thoroughly– never forget to check the bottoms and all sides of each item to see if there is some hidden message taped to it. Some of the puzzles require careful attention to subtle details, but nothing was too overwhelming. Working in a group of four, we managed to solve all of the problems with minimal to moderate difficulty. You just need to be prepared to take a creative or intellectual leap from time to time.
The next two room’s puzzles were challenging enough to get you thinking, but not nearly enough to be frustrating. The final room was by far the easiest to complete, but the last puzzle was fun to complete and watch being completed.
Of the three current rooms at Escape Waukesha, I would say that “Captured,” a pirate-themed one, is the best-designed and best overall experience, save for one portal that requires stooping or crawling. “The Quest for El Dorado” is a reasonably close second. It requires very little physical dexterity, the puzzles are fair and 85% clear, the art design’s very nice, and it’s suitable for family and groups of older children. It’s definitely worth your time if you’re in the area.
–Chris Chan
Chris Chan’s book The Autistic Sleuth, written with the professional guidance of his mother Dr. Patricia Meyer Chan, was released on September 19th! His book on the Columbo killers, Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers, was released on September 24th! He is the author of the Funderburke and Kaiming novels Ghosting My Friend and She Ruined Our Lives and Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History, released by Level Best Books. He is also the author of the comedic novels Sherlock’s Secretary and Nessie’s Nemesis, published by MX Publishing, as was his anthology Of Course He Pushed Him and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories Volumes 1 & 2. His Agatha-nominated book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books. His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there). It is also available in a Kindle edition.
