I did Dig yeaterday, and it turns out that group I was talking about earlier, after being told fifty times what it was, FINALLY realized what it was and went to Despicable Me. (Whew!) So I went in with a group of people who knew what they were getting into. Krusty the Clown looked at us and said, "Fine, they look clean. Come on in." We tried to get out but Sideshow Bob rigged the puzzles to make sure we would never leave. It was rough but we figured out how to get out about a day later, which is why I waited so long to post this.
Okay, that's not what happened. I got SUPER busy but I did go with a group that was able to communicate well. Here's what I thought of Dig...
Apparently I'm going to be in the minority when I say this, but I thought the experience was meh. I left feeling unsatisfied. The big reason for that was because I've done the Purge: Breakout and the Basement last year; both of which had FAR better production value and, while clock was ticking, created the uncomfortable premunution of, "Oh fudge, I'm going to DIE if I don't solve this!" In both cases, I felt completely emmersed in the settings established. Here in dig, there was none of that. While the puzzles were cleverly set up, there was no music and, worst of all, no ceiling. The TV screen showcasing the hints I thought was lame. That REALLY took me out of it. I felt like they could have been far more creative with that sort of getup. There was no mood and no high stakes established that would have really driven the experience.
Now I'm not bitter that I didn't make it. If I had made it, my review would be the same. You might comment on my review by saying, "C'mon Freak, the experience lasted less than a week. What do you expect?" Purge Breakout lasted longer, but that was a far better promotional attraction than what this offered. Nothing about it prompted me to want to watch the show. I don't think it would have killed them to at least add a cloth ceiling, some stock music, and a prerecorded narration giving hints or something. Just those three simple things would have done wonders. I felt like I was immersed more in an amatureish iPhone game than an actual escape room setting.
So yeah, that's my overall review of the experience. I guess for something that doesn't even last a week it...didn't work on me to promote the show. I feel like there was a lot to be improved. Again, this has a VERY short run so that's all moot by now. All of what I wrote was mery an opinion on what I thought about it and shouldn't be the "end all, be all" factor in checking this out. Apparently everyone else likes it, but I will bet its because they haven't done any escape rooms. I'd say its worth checking out to satisfy your curiosity, but if you live a ways from Uni, its not worth it. If you can, check out the Basement in Sylmar. MUCH better than this and its open year-round! Bottom line: if you haven't done any Escape Room attractions, you'll end up liking it. If you've done other ones, you'll probably leave unsatisfied.
At least I do have apin and a picture for the memory.
