Claustrophobia

Listen, I love escape rooms. In fact, I’m completely addicted. So listen to me clearly when I say this: these fools are amateurs.
There’s too many average people setting these things up now, so that means that there are too many average experiences, and Ottawa is now seeing its explosion in these thing like other cities have.
I’ll keep it short and sweet:
— The front door to the building wasn’t opening, and neither was the buzzer. I had to find and call their office phone, and then got in a mini spat with the woman at the front desk who insisted that the door was just fine. When I again explained, she lovingly (read: condescendingly) explained to me how to use a door. Yadda yadda yadda she eventually presses her buzz-​in button and — imagine! — the door magically opens so that we can come in and give them our money.
— They obviously just set up. «Front desk» is a table in the middle of a room with shitty carpet.
— The «lobby» is gross and cheap. It looks like some worn-​out ikea-​meets-​Zellers showroom
— The room was good — at first. And then it all unravelled…
a) A lock or prop malfunctioned within 5 minutes and fell off the box. We weren’t sure if it was supposed to be intentional
b) In their haste, laziness, or lack of dilgence they didn’t set the room up properly and left a crucial lock completely UNLOCKED. This burnt a hell of a lot of our time because the narrative was completely broken
c) The narrative made absolutely no sense, not at all, not whatsoever. It’s just an assortment of rooms that have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The only connection they have is that there’s locks separating them. It made absolutely no sense, and I’m pretty sure you could get an equal experience walking around some storage facility in Kanata.
The worst part is that we were so perplexed by all of their failures (thinking they were part of the puzzle), that we had to ask for a hint (I’m a purist and I hate asking for hints). When she came in, she remarked that «Woah, you guys are really far ahead!» No, honey, you guys just didn’t set the room up properly, and I bit my tongue instead of instructing her how to use a door.
No concern from her part. She removed the broken props, and when we were «done», there was no offer to compensate us for a complete waste of money.
Stay away from these amateur monkeys. I, too, can put a bunch of locks on crap that I buy on ebay, and then forget to lock them. There are people out there that can actually make good escape rooms, and it’s not these fools.

First of all, I’m claustrophobic. Second, I was dragged here as part of a dreaded «team-​building» activity with my company. You can only imagine the charming attitude I had upon entering the «hostel.» I was all «What kind of SAW III bull$h#& is this!!!» And then the other, less obnoxious people with me started looking for clues. And we found some. And we talked and argued and laughed at each other. And suddenly, much to my dismay, I realized I was kind of having fun. And eventually we got out of the really too-​hot and smallish room and then we ESCAPED! We were ridiculously proud of ourselves and it took a full 44 mins even with the geniuses I was lucky enough to have on my team. Way fun. WAY.

Before we got there, we were all pretty tired and unmotivated to go play. When we parked right across from it, we were not able to find it and it was only after getting out of the car that we noticed a tiny little door that said: «claustrophobia».
When we went inside, the whole place was very clean and comfortable. We were ushered to a living room to wait.
Then, a lady came by and explained to us what we were supposed to do. Afterwards, we were split into 2 groups (a group of 3 and a group of 2) and we were locked in 2 separate rooms and we had to communicate through a little window.
Once inside, I was surprised that the «bunker» was actually just a normal room with supplies that you’d find in a bunker. So everything was very clean and spacious. When you actually start trying to escape, time flies! We all had a blast and before we knew it, we escaped!
They asked us to pay after we finished playing, which I think is very kind of them. If you escape before the hour’s up, you get your picture in the hall of fame (aka facebook)!
I’d definitely recommend this place. Great place to build leadership skills practice teamwork!

I have played two escape games here. The first time, my family and I were unsuccessful in The Hostel. About a month later, we played in The Lab and we did successfully escape.
We all had to work together and it was neat because one of us would pick up on clues that someone else missed. You certainly have to think outside of the box.
The host is super nice and accommodating.
The time allowed is much better to work with. You get an hour as oppose to the typical 45 minutes at other escape places. The cost is on a per group rate as oppose to a per person rate.
They have a third room that just opened and a fourth opening later in the summer.

I really wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from my recent experience at Claustrophobia, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. The premise of the experience is that you’re locked in a room for an hour and have to find clues to solve the puzzles in the room, that will allow you to unlock things, which will help you find the key to open the door.
There’s just enough stuff in the room to keep you guessing, but not so much that you’re overwhelmed and wondering about every little thing. The biggest flaw that I see with the place is that it’s not soundproofed at all, so it kind of ruins the experience a bit when you can hear other teams arriving/​leaving or escaping right outside the door.
The cost is approximately $ 22/​person, which I think it pretty fair for the experience. If you’re having fun and getting somewhere with the puzzles, then it feels like it’s worth the money. We managed to get out with just a few minutes to spare, so that was a pretty great accomplishment, since apparently only 13% of people make it out of the room before the hour is up.
I would definitely go back and try the other room they have, and they said that a third one is in the works.