No, no. That’s not a mistake — I meant to write “part 2” in the title even though there is no part 1 post. This was my second attempt at this room. The first attempt was 2024 as part of a group of five.
The setup is this: You and at least three other friends are camping in Montana, for some reason. You become lost, find a cabin, and decide the cabin is the best place to break into to be safe from bear attacks. Because you are probably a group of people who have never watched a horror movie.
Okay, the first attempt: it was fine! We almost got halfway! I say that very proudly. Listen, there are, like, 50 puzzles* to solve in the first proper room, which is after the 20 puzzles* you must figure out to break into the cabin.
The second attempt with a group of four: better. KT and I were part of the first attempt, and I fully believed (mmm, 74% believed) that we would nail it this time. (Even though many months had passed and we agreed that we only had a vague memory of the puzzles.) I suggested that we bring notebooks and don’t be too proud about asking for hints.
We knocked out the break-in like a finger snap. We immediately went to divide and conquer the initial puzzles, and I was immediately hung up on one about animal identification.
Listen. The likelihood I can easily identify animals is the same as the likelihood that I am camping (without my car) in Montana.
I also messed up on a puzzle that involved basic math. That really cost us several minutes.
Listen. I still don’t know how I passed any of my math classes — I have to assume I wasn’t allowed to be left behind or something.
Regardless of my personal failings, we still got quite far! I’m so certain if we had 15 more minutes, we could have escaped! I have no idea how people escape within the hour without having done it at least once before.
So don’t be surprised if there’s a part 3.
*alright, this is an exaggeration (maybe)
Quick overview: A minimum of four players is required. The difficulty is Very Hard. I’m sure there’s some escape room expert out there who could solo this and smash it, but for the rest of us mere escape room mortals, four is a necessary requirement. The puzzles (that we experienced) are a good amount of challenging, but I am seriously impressed with any group that can escape this their first time. Bring a notebook! There are a couple of jump scares but nothing truly visually scary.