Our last day in Houston found us back with Strangebird Immersive‘s Haley and Cameron. We spent the almost the entire day eating, geeking out about escapes, venting about escapes, and playing a couple of escapes. It was a great, relaxed way to end our trip. Despite not getting to play Man From Beyond, it was so wonderful to meet these fine folks and hang out.

She did not bring candles to meet us though.

Canadian Bumpkin Status: 50%

Now I know from several sources that giant cockroaches are just a thing in Houston. I still do not approve of them and squeal like crazy, but I somewhat accept they are here.

I tried some southern US Mexican food! It was yummy!

We want to have southern accents. We probably sound horribly offensive.

I have been saying beignets a lot…

The Escapes!

It was great to have Haley and Cameron to tour us around today. Not just because they know the area, but because they know more about the escape community in and around Houston.

We started at Escape Again in Sugar Land (no, it’s not a town made my Willy Wonka) and played their Hike room. It was a fun mid-tier room. It followed the trends of other rooms we have seen here: okay set, standard puzzles that did not always make complete sense but were still enjoyable, and plenty of locks to open. Overall there was a good flow though. There was one really neat environmental element I have not yet seen in any escape room. That’s always exciting!

We got to chat with the owners after and it was evident they are aiming to make each room bigger and better than the last. It’s always great to see owners passionate about learning lessons and applying those lessons to future projects. When we saw the new rooms they were building it was evident they were trying to make things as immersive as they could.

It was also nice to see owners getting along. Haley and Cameron greeted the owners like old friends and we all sat around and talked shop for half an hour before a birthday party came through. It’s encouraging to see this kind of collaboration going on in the industry. Owners gain everything by helping each other. I look forward to hearing of Escape Again’s progress.

The second room of the day was Houston Escape Room. We played a room called Grandma’s Code Breaker. This almost felt like a throwback to some of the earlier games we played years ago. It was pretty low tech. There were a lot of combo locks. Weirdest of all, our GM was in the room! We have not experienced that in years. He was really good at fading into the background though. I practically forgot he was there.

It was a cute room but nothing incredibly special. It did make me realize though that most of the games we played in the southern US have a LOT of puzzles, way more than we are used to. I wonder if that is a local trend or if it’s a product of the public system and bigger group sizes.

I could investigate further, but…I have to get up for a plan in….ugh…four hours…it’s time for sleep. Thank you so much for joining us on our adventures. I have had so much fun but look forward to my own bed and some salad. Stay tuned for my final thoughts on this whirlwind trip. I can’t guarantee I’ll be awake enough to write it in the next day.