Ironically, the castle’s dungeon has one of the most torturous puzzles of the entire adventure. Also, there is a riddle hidden in the room that verges dangerously close to requiring a bit of outside knowledge, which is one of the biggest cardinal sins of escape rooms. Inside the castle’s quarters, there is a physical puzzle that uses a weak magnet – so weak that it’s almost unusable. Therefore, it takes some force to budge open even when the player has properly unlocked it. Also, the door to the castle drags the ground – it wasn’t cut to proper size. This causes needless aggravation and some guess work. One of the first tasks doesn’t have any clear indication as to whether or not it has been correctly solved. It is a linear game, so the maximum capacity of six players would have some people sitting idle. The adventure requires you to find a magic lamp, a poisoned apple, and Cinderella’s slipper. Once Upon a Time’s greatest weakness is its lack of intuitive and creative puzzles. The floor is made of a hard rock, and the room, again, has an overall worn and dirty feeling. A wooden pillory is in the center of the room to restrain any prisoners, and there are a couple other wooden devices resting along the walls. The adventure ends in the dungeon of Rumpelstiltskin’s castle. Other than those few items, the space is sparsely decorated. There is a non-functional spin wheel resting in the corner and a low-hanging chandelier dangling above a trapdoor. The floors are made of wood, and it looks like he has not dusted in awhile – the set is needlessly dirty feeling. Rumpelstiltskin is a short man, so his castle’s quarters have similarly short ceilings. The entrance to the kingdom has some impressive masonry work and a lion head fountain. The centerpiece of the forest is a sword lodged into a stone – paying tribute to King Arthur. Scattered throughout the trees, there are many colorful mushrooms. The walls simply have painted pictures of trees to give the impression that the forest is much larger. There are several realistic looking trees with initials carved into them. This fairy tale adventure starts in the forest outside of the castle. It never quite lives up to what a fairy tale should be. Instead, Once Upon a Time feels ordinary, worn, and frustrating. The kingdom must regain peace before its cursed for eternity.Ī fairy tale should feel magical, whimsical, and happy. One must gain entry to the castle, solve the trickster’s riddles, and obtain control of the three missing artifacts. Throughout the adventure, there are references to many popular tales – King Arthur, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Cinderella. Once Upon a Time starts in the forest outside of Rumpelstiltskin’s castle. Brave adventurers are called upon to break into Rumpelstiltskin’s castle and find the missing artifacts and stop him before it’s too late! The evidence points to Rumpelstiltskin being the culprit and rumors have circulated that he is trying to enact a curse on all the land. Trouble is brewing in the kingdom as treasured magical items have gone missing. Once Upon a Time, Rumpelstiltskin lived in a not so magical fairy tale. But I left this location with my faith in humanity restored, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.RATING: 2 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 0:52 So no, I didn’t actually play any of the game, but my friends did praise the puzzles quite immensely. I sat there for the entire hour we had until I realized the location was closing and I would’ve been trapped there lest I break free of my lucid trance. When we made it into the room, I was so dumbfounded by the design of this new, rich, lively, immersive, life-changing environment, I sat criss-cross applesauce and, drooling, stared mesmerized at my surroundings. 2 seconds my Gamemaster Louis was briefing my group taking great care to give us every piece of information we would need on our journey, without lessening any of the fun for our group, in fact, his prestigious, elevated humor made our time even more superior. Needless to say, the staff here are beyond saints. When I walked inside the golden doors of this god-given establishment, I was showered with kind-hearted words of welcome and swift recognition of my arrival. When I woke up yesterday morning, I had no idea I was in for the time of my life.
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