Peanuts In My Pocket

We played our last escape room at the end of November 2024. We stopped in part due to my recent health challenges but also because of the holidays and other obligations. We finally gave it another go with a visit to Mission Escape Games at the Anaheim Garden Walk mall to play The Darkest Hour.

There is a psychopath on the loose, and you’ve been kidnapped! The killer likes to toy with his victims and has left to make preparations… Escape within the hour or become the next victims!

This was our second game at Mission Escape Games. We had previously escaped The Hydeout back in June with just my wife, our young grandson, and me. We enjoyed that first experience enough to return, but this time, we played as a team of four: my wife and me, plus my son and his wife.

My wife and I played 12 escape rooms last year, bringing our total to around 20 or 22. My son and his wife are in the 15 to 20 range. Together, we make a scary-good team of escape room geeks. While we had fun today, we also found some areas that could be improved.

We recently started an escape room tier list: S-tier for the best, A-tier for solid rooms, B-tier for those with room to improve, and C-tier for the bad experiences, with a special C-tier(F) for the absolute worst. The Darkest Hour landed in the B-tier.

One issue was the room’s self-advertised medium complexity level. We all agreed it felt easy. The puzzles didn’t require much thinking, following a straightforward “search, find code, open lock” method with only a few minor challenges along the way. Some puzzles were confusing, but not in a way that made sense—they were inconsistent. It bothered us enough that we had to talk it out afterward just to get it out of our system.

The low-light motif was overdone. It became frustrating and unnecessary over time. Perhaps solving a puzzle could have turned on the lights at some point? That would have made for a more dynamic experience.

The kinetic puzzles were too simplistic. I love a good kinetic challenge, but there should be some actual skill involved. Otherwise, it’s just another way to open a lock and feels a bit dull.

That said, there were things we enjoyed. Without giving away spoilers, the room’s design was fitting for the theme, and some of the key puzzles were perfectly placed. We were entertained, laughing at our misfortunes, and genuinely feeling the pressure of escaping a serial killer’s lair.

We used two clues—both were our fault. Given a little more time, we probably would have solved at least one of them. The second clue played directly into a few of our biases, making it a perfect way to trip up our team.

We also made a mistake in our approach. Normally, one of us acts as the organizer, keeping the team on task. The darkness threw us off, and most of us fell into search mode without ever regrouping. Had we stuck to our usual strategy, we could have shaved 15 minutes off our time. A frustrating mistake, but that’s why we do a post-game review after each escape room—so we don’t forget what to do better next time.

I’d recommend The Darkest Hour as a good room for beginners, best played with a group of four. The space is small enough that I felt cramped at times. You could bring a party of six, but they’d better be close friends. The cost was $38 per person, which is about standard for escape rooms in the area.

We solved 11 of 12 rooms last year. Our goal for 2025 is to play another 12—but this time, we want to escape all of them. Wish us luck!