The problem with my obsession of escape games, is that eventually puzzle themes and patterns start to reveal or repeat themselves, and rooms start feeling easy.

You go into an escape room wanting to succeed but you also don’t want to solve the puzzles too easily and quickly!

One time, we got out of a room in just 25 minutes and when you’re paying $25 for a 25-minute game, that can kind of devalue the experience.

Mike was on a 7-game winning streak too, so escape room egos were getting pretty high lol. It was about time we were knocked off our pedestals a bit – and the Royal Fortune room at The X-Realm (12060 Jasper Ave downtown) was just the room to do it!

Have you tried The X-Realm escape game downtown? 12006 Jasper Avenue.

Co-owner Leon invited me and some friends down to try The X-Realm over the weekend.

It’s actually been on our list of rooms to try for awhile now (it opened back in March) but with so many rooms popping up in Edmonton in the last year (and for me – a return to old favourites to introduce more people to the escape game world), we just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

Inside The X-Realm at 12060 Jasper Avenue.

The Royal Fortune room is pirate/treasure themed and according to Leon and co-owner Soar, one of their most difficult rooms.

We’d agree!

I felt like our team was on the right track for a lot of the puzzles but we lacked follow-through.

We also anticipated puzzles were supposed to be a certain way (that we had become accustomed to after playing other rooms) when in fact The X-Realm puzzles were not that way at all!

The X-Realm’s games hallway is loooong!

The flow of the room and puzzles made a lot of sense – it all tied together and you could tell they were really well thought-out, which we appreciated.

I loved the set design and room atmosphere – the music was perfect for the theme.

This room was particularly dark and we had just one flashlight that you needed to hold a button in order to light so that wasn’t the most user friendly.

To be honest, I really felt stupid about a lot of the puzzles lol – and we really only progressed thanks to hints (you get two officially, but they were generous enough to give us a third hint too. Even then, we still failed to get out in time lol).

Also unlike other rooms, you get an hour to escape at The X-Realm (instead of 45 minutes), which can really help make a difference (how many times have you done an escape room and said “if we only had 5 more minutes!”)

The X-Realm co-owner Leon talking to Brittney about different escape game styles.

Leon and Soar were working on opening The X-Realm for about a year and a half before they finally were able to get it open (and in that time, a bunch of other rooms popped up). They got the idea after trying escape rooms all over Asia and in different places across Canada.

Leon said it’s crazy how in its infancy, the puzzles/rooms in Asia were so simple (but still fun) and how since then, escape puzzle standards have gotten so high. We really have some great ones here in Edmonton.

Good try team!

Overall, we all loved the Royal Fortune room at The X-Realm!

We thought the staff at The X-Realm were wonderful. They were super friendly and I liked how they delivered the hints – not just flat out giving us an answer but asking what we had discovered and what we thought we needed to do.

Each time we asked for a hint, it turned out we were actually on the right path but we just couldn’t tie it all together without that extra bit of help!

Two of the friends we went with had never done an escape room before and were actually the best at solving puzzles in this room – which might suggest that being exposed to too many escape rooms is actually a disadvantage because you start overthinking puzzles or thinking puzzles will be a certain way that you’re used to when it’s completely different.

The X-Realm’s puzzles definitely had a different style than ones we’ve tried at other Edmonton escape games so that was nice and refreshing. And good set design is so important to feel truly immersed in the game. I thought the set-up for the Royal Fortunate room was great.

There are so many awesome escape rooms in our city now, you can add The X-Realm to that list! Feel free to tweet or Facebook me if you’re trying to decide what rooms to try. We’re looking forward to heading back to try their other rooms! Currently they have 4, but they have space for 6 in total (it’s quite a large space even though it doesn’t look that big on the outside).

Lamya and Jason (of #YEG Escape Game Round-up) have tried all of the rooms at The X-Realm and gave them really positive reviews!

We also have friends who tried a room at The X-Realm when it first opened and they said it wasn’t the best experience (it wasn’t the same room that we tried though). I wonder if that was just due to initial opening kinks still needing to be worked out.

Our experience though was fantastic, but I encourage you to come to your own conclusions – try The X-Realm out and hopefully – try it free by winning a pair of passes through the giveaway below!

Giveaway time! Enter to win passes to try The X-Realm.

** GIVEAWAY **

ENTER TO WIN ONE OF 3 PAIRS OF PASSES TO TRY THE X-REALM ESCAPE GAME!
(Valued at $50 each)

Here are the different ways you can enter this contest (make sure you check off what you’ve done through the Rafflecopter widget below in order to qualify!)

• Leave a comment on this blog post telling me which room you’d most like to try at The X-Realm! (See a list of their rooms and their descriptions here).
  Note: You MUST leave a comment in order to be eligible for the prize! All other ways to enter will get you additional/bonus entries and improve your chances of winning, but you won’t be eligible unless you leave a blog comment first.

• Tweet this message: I want to try an escape room at @the_xrealm #yegdt! Hope I win @lindork’s giveaway. http://bit.ly/290ktAQ #yeg #yegescape

• Follow @The_XRealm on Twitter

• Follow me @lindork on Twitter

• Like The X-Realm Facebook Page – The X-Realm

• Like my Facebook Page – Lindork – Linda Hoang

Note: If the Rafflecopter widget isn’t loading, just let me know what you did for entries in the comments!

I’ll randomly select 3 winners after the contest closes on July 4, 2016. 

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So have you tried The X-Realm?

What did you think?!

What are your favourite rooms in Edmonton?

Linda

Follow @lindork

Disclaimer: I will always provide my 100% honest opinion on this blog. The X-Realm invited me and a group of friends to try one of their rooms. They also let me run a giveaway for readers! This has no impact on opinions stated in this post (I’m always honest!)