Review: Moriarty’s Manor, MindFox, San Diego
Fun Factor 8
MindFox Escape
Los Angeles - 7404 Trade Street, San Diego, CA 92121
Date we played was June 6, 2024
Booking size 3 to 8; We recommend 3 to 6
Game time: 60 minutes
Objective: Save Sherlock! Sneak your way through Moriarty’s Manor and save Sherlock
Difficulty: Advanced
MindFox Escape’s Moriarty’s Manor is a fun room and we recommend it! It really shines with a large number and wide variety of puzzles - many of which are non-linear. We generally recommend a larger team size for a non-linear room as there is more for everyone to do without bottlenecking. The game mechanics permit a term of two to play - which is what we did - but we were really busy and working hard to power through a world of diverse puzzles and set pieces that MindFox laid out for us.
Moriarty’s Manor as the name suggest is part of the large world of Sherlock Holmes themed escape rooms. The Sherlock theme is a good one for escape rooms as it allows for puzzles to be laid out to test our detective skills.
What makes this room particularly enjoyable is the wide array of puzzle solving techniques and the immersive integration of the set and props. We even had one puzzle which used a solving technique that we haven’t seen before - and that’s always a treat.
We also enjoyed the generous amount of tactile manipulation necessary to solve the puzzles. MindFox also gave us several opportunity for cooperative puzzles…one in particular towards the end employed a particularly large and impressive set piece…that I was doubtful would work as intended…but it did. Big congrats for MindFox for crafting this large piece which must be played by at least two cooperating teammates…but it could be used by as many as four players. The set piece was responsive and well-crafted to require a reasonable (not too high) amount of precision which made it challenging but oh so satisfying to complete.
Several puzzle required color-identifying skills and as I am a mildly colorblind there was one puzzle where I initally gave Laura the wrong input…but we quickly figured out where I went wrong.
image: unsplash.com
We found all of the puzzles fun and well-clued - some are a bit advanced for a less-experienced team…so we don’t recommend you make this your first escape room. We recommend MindFox Black & White room at this location for a fun room with an intermediate level of difficulty.
We had fun - we recommend Moriarty's Manor!