My friend is dead.

It was unexpected, and really outside the realm of his personality. But, he is gone. Being the good friend that I am, I agree to head to his apartment to go through his things, try to sort out the story while I still can. But as the property manager leads me and my friends to his room, he gets a phone call. The police are on their way. They do not want anyone in or out before they get there, and they won’t be done for a few hours.

“You can wait until later, maybe 7 or so,” says the manager. “Or, if you can be really quick, in and out, I can let you in now.” Of course, we opt for that option. He unlocks the door, and we make our way in.

“I’m just going to lock this door,” he says, smiling. “You guys be careful in here.” And with that, the door closes, and we are locked in Bill Occam’s apartment with only an hour to find out what we can about his death. But the Evil Genius has other plans for us…

ook, I’m not going to lie. Long time readers to the site know how much we love escape rooms. We’ve done well over 30 in the last year, so sometimes things start to get a little repetitive. Puzzles from each room meld together, they all seem the same. Some room themes blend into the next, making it difficult to tell them about. While most are enjoyable, some are just cookie cutter examples of the last.

However, I assure you that Evil Genius Escape Rooms is not like that. It is like nothing else you’ve done before, and escape room aficionados will be thrilled to see how amazingly complex and well-done these rooms are.

Evil Genius has done something that I am not sure has been done before: their rooms all tell one, singular story. While others are in the process of doing that, Evil Genius is the first to pull it off, and pull it off spectacularly.

We played Chapter 1, Occam’s Apartment, and Chapter 2, Norcross Art Gallery, back to back, and I have to tell you, there is no other way I would have rather have it. You would think that perhaps there is a break between the rooms, a bit of a breather to collect your thoughts. But no. This is a full on experience, giving you two hours to complete both rooms, and to pull you deeper into this story.

But let’s back up a bit, and talk about how this piece opened with the property manager. After signing your waivers and getting the rundown of the rules, your game master leaves and tells you to wait for the property manager. And low and behold, a few minutes later, he appears, leading you back to the apartment.

While simple, this is an incredibly effectively way to bring you into the story right off the bat, immersing you into the world of the Evil Genius. He provides a bit of exposition for you, and also asks you some questions, making you think on your feet about how you know Detective Bill Occam. And once you are inside the apartment, you’re locked into the story.

Chapter 1 takes place entirely within Occam’s Apartment, and leads you down the rabbit hole of his journey trying to find the titular ‘evil genius.’ While things aren’t entirely clear at first, the more you search, the clearer the story becomes. How Occam and the Evil Genius got tangled together is an interesting tale…and how YOU are drawn into the story makes it even better. While the identity and motives of this Evil Genius are not yet known, he does make appearances throughout, and is the catalyst for the rest of your journey. He has an awesome Moriarty-vibe to him, making him likeable AND kind of an asshole at the same time.

However, once you get to the final puzzle of the apartment, the stakes are upped. I won’t spoil it, but SOMETHING happens where it compels you to finish the final puzzle faster, getting your heart pumping, and your anxiety high. It was pretty incredible, and the story takes an awesome turn.

But, once you escape the apartment, you aren’t given much of a reprieve. Instead, a phone call from a new player in the story leads right into the next part, Chapter 2, in the art gallery. Yet another beautifully designed room, this one was almost a stark contrast of the last. While the apartment was dark, and almost dingy at times, the gallery is bright and cheery. Yes, the Evil Genius HAS made it sinister, but it made for a good interplay between the two.

I have to say, the puzzles overall in BOTH rooms were incredibly well done. While some had us wracking our brains for the solution, they all had logical answers that we were able to work out as a team to figure out. There are some clever uses of technology in both rooms as well. Sometimes, a puzzle forces a team member to take a moment to breath and listen, which is usually unheard of in the fast paced, high stakes atmosphere of an escape room. Kudos to the Evil Genius team for creating some pretty clever stuff, and making good use of the thematic environments to play into the story.

One of the great things about these rooms, especially in keeping my team pumped and on their toes, with the background music. This is an aspect that often gets overlooked in most other rooms, but at Evil Genius, it was pretty incredible. Of course, at times, it faded from the forefront of my mind, as I was deep in puzzle solving. But hearing Patrick Fye’s incredible, original score change as we got further along, it truly made for a dynamic experience. Especially at the end of Chapter 1, the music changed made my heart race even more. I know you’re trying to solve puzzles, but definitely keep an ear out for the music, as it is incredible.

Though we did the two hour, back-to-back, experience, if you are not quite ready for that, you can also do the rooms one at a time. However, I feel as if most of our readers will get more out of it if you did both at once, making for an incredible storytelling experience.

Evil Genius Escape Room quickly shot up to one of my favorite escape room experiences, and one that I am looking forward to move of. While they only have two chapters currently available, they are already in the process of creating more to complete the story of the Evil Genius (they are already teasing Chapter 3’s morgue on their site). We made it out from both rooms with just over 33 minutes left, and we all had an absolute blast doing so!

Escape room fanatics will surely enjoy what they have to offer, and fans of great storytelling will get a kick out of it, too. I definitely recommend checking them out.

For more information, visit them online at: http://www.evilgeniusescaperooms.com