Escape room "Chapter 3: The Study" by The Basement in Los Angeles

My group did The Basement & The Study and we left both rooms very disappointed.

Let me begin by saying that we were extremely excited to do these rooms and we had heard so many good things about it. Long story short we don't think we will ever be coming back to this establishment.

Study: The puzzles in the room were fairly basic but then they just became big leaps in logic. There is no direction to this room, and the hint system is at the discretion of the in-room actor, who only hinted 2 things in the room for us. Other than that she would just start yelling directly in our faces, talk about verbal abuse... We will admit that one of our players did break a rule by tossing a pillow in the room which ended up making contact with the actors arm. After which we were all reprimanded over the loud speaker which left a sour mood for all of us for the rest of the room. Do not put your actors in positions where there is no visibility and there is a possibly of them get hurt. An easy way to fix this would be to add a low red hue illuminating the space, that way both the actor and the customers have at least some visibility of what is happening. Frightened people will always have exaggerated reactions to elements unknown, so try to make those elements known.

In the rules they are very clear about not climbing on any of the furniture however that is quickly thrown out the window as one of the puzzles requires interaction with some furniture. This had us all very confused as why we deliberately had to break a rule in order to solve the room. Also, throw all sense of safety out the window when you enter this room because you have to do some things that go completely against common sense and better judgement, again there is no direction telling you to do the task you just have to think of the unsafe action and do it yourself.

The final puzzle that we got to was "off by a hair" as we were told by our game master at the end. This is always frustrating as literally a few millimeters can make the puzzle not work. This could be fixed by adding larger sensors or even making notches so that there are set amounts that triggers can hit. One of the most awkward parts about the end of the game was when the game master entered and asked us "So how did your lovely actor do in the room?". It's not an audition, she's already got the role you shouldn't need your customers to give feedback on them while they are in still in the room with you. Because to be honest who is really going to say something bad to the actor when they are right there in the room with you: like "Yeah well you see she could have done a lot more instead of just standing in the corner and yelling at us".

Onto the pillow thing: Our player realized their mistake and apologized for their reactions but the way the Game Master handled it was unacceptable and unprofessional. She walked us out the lobby, sat us down while she reprimanded all of us about our actions for about 5 minutes saying that she needed a "verbal confirmation" from our player that they would "behave properly" in the room and that she could have just kicked us out without a refund. Honestly we probably would have been better off with that so that we didn't have to experience not only 1 but 2 terrible rooms.

We all put that whole issue aside and we were now ready for the next room with hopes it would be so much better, spoiler alert, we were wrong, it was even worse. We were brought with our group & 4 other randoms into the waiting area where the game master yet again called us out for the pillow thing by saying "don't throw anything at the actors or anything crazy like that" while looking directly at us. Seriously?! You already spent time treating us like children and scolding us after the player apologized for their actions, be done with it and move on.

The Basement: The entry style to the room was pointless & unnecessary, I guess it adds to the theming & immersion? Felt like a waste to me. The Basement has even less direction than the Study does. Be prepared to turn the whole room upside down in search for things. The flashlights were legitimately falling apart & were horrendously weak. The puzzles were a stretch, some of the visual clues were hard to differentiate: imagine 3 of the exact same locks with a 3 try limit on them. (For both rooms) When we feel like we are struggling we should be able to ask for a clue, it shouldn't be up to the actors to decide if we need it. Oh and in the room was an image of our player who tossed the pillow with the words "PILLOW THROWER" on it. Again, with the taunts & belittlement, are you kidding me. Not a way to make us feel comfortable or welcome anymore.

Wish I could give this place 0 stars. Only reason I give 1 star is for the decor and windows in the Study but even then it was very sparse.

Based on our experience I wouldn't be surprised if they try to not let you escape so that you come back and spend another $40 on it.

With actors Chapter 3: The Study

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Chapter 4: The Courtyard

Chapter 2: The Elevator Shaft

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