Escape Room Review: ‘The Playground’

The Attractions Magazine team was invited out to play The Escape Game Orlando’s award-winning game, “The Playground.” In “The Playground,” our team found ourselves in the role of fourth graders on the last day of school, in danger with, apparently, a large number of our assignments left undone. Not only did we need to finish everything in sixty minutes in order to avoid summer school, we also had to finish in time to face the fifth graders in an epic kickball tournament.

To begin, the basic premise and environs were quite refreshing compared to the usual themes and situations we tend to see over and over. There were stakes beyond just “open the last door and leave,” and a school-based location we had yet to see before, among the many Sherlock Holmes and science labs that are so common.

As with many escape rooms, a large amount of suspension of disbelief is required as to why the puzzles and solutions are the way they are, but “The Playground” actually leaned into this with a wink and a nod from the very beginning. We swear some of those fifth graders in the opening video had full beards.

The room featured a fairly open-ended design with fewer bottlenecks, ideal for a larger group and/or a group with varied abilities and interests.  Without spoiling the puzzles, we enjoyed the variety and several of the surprising moments in the room, all the way up to the final reveal.

Our team of six, which had a mixture of very experienced players and relatively newer players, was able to escape with 17:00 minutes to spare, with only a nudge or two from the game master.

Based on the size of the room and the open nature of many of the puzzles, we felt six was a good number of players, and any more would have seen many players with nothing to do, and would have definitely left the starting room feeling very cramped. 

The website states “The Playground” can support up to twelve people, though we felt this would have been way too many players.  Allowing high numbers of players seems to be common at The Escape Game, the last room we did, which was much smaller and was suggested for up to eight people, but we were already feeling a little tight with six.

All told, we had a really enjoyable time solving “The Playground.” This was easily the strongest room we’ve experienced at The Escape Game Orlando. None of the challenges felt unfair or unsatisfying, and our team remained engaged till the very end.

If you’re looking for a rewarding way to release your inner child, we definitely recommend you check out “The Playground.”

“The Playground” is currently available to play at The Escape Game Orlando and The Escape Game locations across America.

For more information or to book tickets visit TheEscapeGame.com or theescapegame.com/orlando.