A Dream of New York: 'Great Gotham Challenge' Sends Players Across the City

No Proscenium: When I’m reviewing an escape room, the puzzles and the aesthetics are both secondary to me. What they’re both in service of is the fantasy. This marriage of all elements, puzzles, theming, and intangible qualities, all serve to create a mood, an adventure that the player is transported on. One of my favorite escape rooms I’ve played in the past few years, a rinky-dink Thomas Crowne Affair room in Athens, lacked sorely in decor and featured some baffling puzzle choices. However, with a few key components, like the fact that you had to use actual lockpicks to break into the room, the fantasy of being an international art thief lands spectacularly.