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January 2024 by James L.
Our first time doing this. It was a blast for the whole family. George was very helpful and friendly. Will definitely try all other themes soon
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January 2024 by Katrina L.
I have passed this location sooo many times and was never interested because it looked so small and underwhelming but our son said "let's go to an escape room" so we looked at reviews and booked a same evening appointment for 5 with ease. All the Reviews are correct and this place is so awesome!!!! I wish the room was 2 hours because we were having sooooo much fun! The area is safe, and when you walk in you will be taken to one of the back rooms. The esthetics of the room were so awesome and well crafted. We did the Vampire Slayer for beginners since it was our first time and I'd recommend beginner if it's your first time because it was a good challenge for the 5 of us adults. I can't say enough how much fun this was! We will be back to try another room. I can't wait!
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December 2023 by Evon B.
Super fun , my sun and his friends had a great time , very friendly staff , definitely recommend
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December 2023 by Michelle L.
This is the second room our duo has played at this location - we did Wanted: Dead or Alive way back in 2019 (previously reviewed) and since then we had been wanting to come back for another game - actually, this particular game, because of the Christmas theme. So we were very happy when the chance came for us to play Back in Time's Operation: Santa's List at their Del Amo Fashion Center location this past Christmas 2023. As it was with Wanted: Dead or Alive, we had a great time, especially since we're now more, ahem, experienced!Back in Time Escape Rooms at their 21800 Hawthorne Blvd., #311, Torrance, CA 90503 location has plenty of parking, and since it is by Dick's Sporting Goods, it was very easy to find (as ever, with good escape rooms, that is our first task!) We were there slightly early, so there was time to sample the Christmas goodies at the store right in front and check out the puzzle store across from the escape room. Have to love the thematic group of the businesses!Ours was the first game of the day, and our gamemaster was Victoria. Once we confirmed that we did not need to use the restroom - it was the mall's restroom - we got started with getting through the portal, where we were shown a short video, very professionally done, that got us in the right mindset for the 45-minute game. We were a little taken aback that it was shorter than our regular games, because we usually need a lot of help - experience is useless when you are lazy or just have not had enough sleep, haha - but it worked out GREAT. We managed to sort Santa out, just the two of us, in 34:31, and - tada! - DID SO WITHOUT ASKING FOR A CLUE!Our task was super-simple: just get Santa to take our team member off the Naughty List and back onto the Nice List. We loved the personalization integrated into the game - we really felt like it was OUR game, and the room was minimally decorated but cosy and within theme. There were not many red herrings at all, and we used almost everything that was laid out in the room to help us. The ambient lighting and unobtrusive themed piped music added to the atmosphere, and we loved that the puzzles, although straightforward, themed and solvable even when lushed on eggnog and mulled wine, required us to draw on our own Christmas experiences.Operation Santa's List is a wonderful room for two people and very family-friendly. There were only three locks, and although we considered it quite high-tech, it was not obviously so: you don't realise how much tech is involved in getting the room to work, for example. This is a great starter game (especially for date night!) and a perfect game to warm up in-between games - it's been a whole six weeks since our last game!We thought it was great value for money - there is no price you can put on how clever we left the 45-minute game that we managed to beat with no clues and 10 minutes to spare! Victoria was terrific as gamemaster, and the photos she took were super, and very quickly sent. Although we could not take photos in the room, props and signs were available, and the best part was that we were able to take a quick shot of our time and the personalization. In short, Operation: Santa's List more than fulfilled our expectations, for a room that we've waited to play for four years, it was still fresh, still a lot of fun, and still as charming for the season! Can't wait to do The Heist Before Christmas!
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November 2023 by Diana B.
We did The Heist escape room. The rooms were staged well with many items and the clues were very helpful. We laughed, worked together and got through it nicely. We highly recommend this and other rooms!
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November 2023 by Jana M.
This was our first escape room experience in real life. We'd done a virtual one during the pandemic. It was just us two in the "Twas the Heist Before Christmas" experience. The virtual one we did before was based on 3-4 films and I had seen them all so that helped. Neither of us had seen the film and still we were able to escape! Since it was just the two of us, it probably took more time. I think there's one point where having five people would have made things so much quicker. Three people would have have speeded things up since we couldn't cover all of the room fast enough.Of course, since it was our first time, we needed hints and sometimes, the hints came just as we figured it out.Key issues here are, you will need to take notes (there is a notepad available so make someone the secretary). You need to be quiet to listen for things opening or unlocking. You need to listen to each other and try everyone's ideas quickly (because there's no downside to being wrong). You also should not come on an empty stomach! The whole room smelled like a lovely batch of gingerbread cookies had just been baked and at the end I was so hungry for a good gingerbread cookie. We has so much fun.
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November 2023 by Eri E.
This was my first escape room. I went in blind and didn't know what to expect. Our group ended up selecting the Hattori Hanzo room. I liked the theming to this place. I like the touch of immersion that you're going through time. I liked how the room was decorated. Since this was my first time, the puzzles were at the right kind of level for a beginner but each challenge and puzzle kept getting more and more challenging. We did have a technical difficulty during our experience, but staff was able to fix it not ruining our experience.I don't want to spoil this particular room but if this is your first time, I highly recommend the Hattori Hanzo room. Definitely a group and shared experience!And parking was easy to find!
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November 2023 by Eri B
Super fun! We had so much fun together! The room and story was extremely well made and exciting! This room was really beginner friendly, a few of us haven't done an escape room before. Our party of 7 only used 1 hint but it was still pretty challenging!You get a 15% discount if you rebook another before you leave the door! Going for intermediate Blackbeard next!
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October 2023 by Erika B.
Super fun! We had so much fun together! The room and story was extremely well made and exciting! This room was really beginner friendly, a few of us haven't done an escape room before. Our party of 7 only used 1 hint but it was still pretty challenging! You get a 15% discount if you rebook another before you leave the door! Going for intermediate Blackbeard next!
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September 2023 by Bethany Baudhuin
Room was well enough designed and had decent puzzles, but we were out in under 30 minutes with limited challenge - it was pretty disappointing. Maybe some of their other rooms are better but the Salem Witch one was rated 3/5 "keys" difficulty and was a joke.... worth maybe $20 a person for a half hour room but definitely not a full hour experience.
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August 2023 by Robyn M.
Completed the Salem Witch Trials escape room in just under 55 minutes with my teenage niece. ERs are our new thing, this is the first one we solved. We're 1-1! This was our first time trying this company. We enjoyed it. I'd consider the Salem Witch room to be a beginner/novice level challenge, and it requires at least 2 people to complete. Its great for newbies. The young lady that got us all set up was super nice and helpful. Were planning to return to test our wits on one of the more challenging rooms. We're also considering bringing the younger kids for the Pirate themed room which is hosted at the Del Amo mall. Staff says that one is family friendly and very popular with the younger kids (as well as the Santa room during the holidays).
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August 2023 by Mateo T
Super fun experience! The host provided excellent service, the place was clean and organized and overall it was a great first time for us. We'll be back for sure!
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June 2023 by Vannak Suos
It was a great experience, the staff was great! First time doing the vr escape room, and it's definitely a new experience if that's what you are looking for. We finished the game, definitely.
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May 2023 by Daphne J.
I've gone here twice and each time was a great time! First time was during a work event and second time I took my family. The booking process was super easy, you can see what room is available at what date/time and you can make payments and book your spot all online. There's also descriptions and level of difficulty on the rooms that they offer so, for my family I picked an easy one: The Salem Witch HuntThe location is at this older, sketchy looking plaza so parking wasn't an issue. Upon entry, we were greeted by one of the staff members and he explained the rules and offered to have us use their lockers. I noticed that at the lobby, there's signs that you can hold for a picture after you're done with your mission.After that, we were sent to this TV room that explains the objective of your mission then proceeded to our escape room.Not going to disclose specific information about the room itself but it was a great experience where my family managed to escape about 10 min before the time limit! To be fair, we did ask for a lot of hints haha!One of the workers took our picture and had it emailed to us. I believe that there's a deal where if you book with them again on the spot, you get a 15% discount, which is good to know for anyone who loves doing this for a hobby!
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January 2023 by Kimberly
Highly recommended, if you like puzzles. I bring friends and family here to shake things up. Also it's a good date idea or team building.
