Exit Canada

I've been dying to try out one of these Escape Room facilities for quite some time now. I'm an avid fan of the online games that I play on my phone, such as Tales from Monkey Island, Lost City, The Legend of Grisly Manor, Ruby Escape Loft, and The Box. Now here was an opportunity to play one of these games in REAL LIFE!!? Yes please!

For those not familiar, these games involve being locked in some sort of room and having to use clues to find your way out. Example: you might find a key in a drawer, and then come across a locked box somewhere else in the room and the key might unlock that box, and then inside that box might be a riddle that you have to solve in order to get to the next clue, and so on...

We chose to go to Exit Canada, as it is one of the more popular ones. They have several locations in the Lower Mainland, so we chose to do the one on West Broadway. They have different rooms you can choose from each with their own distinctive theme: Circus, Egypt, Illusions, Transylvania, and the more advanced Butcher Shop. We decided to go vampire and do Transylvania.

First of all, it is NOT scary. These games are NOT SUPPOSED to be scary. Nothing will jump out at you, and if they do, then that's a twist on the genre, but normally, scare tactics are NOT COOL. And I say that because I HATE BEING SCARED. So I was glad when the host reassured me that nothing will jump out at you, especially considering you're roaming around in the dark.

The setting was perfect. It had enough decoration to make you feel like you were in a different atmosphere, but it wasn't too busy that you were confused by what might be a clue and what might not. Basically, pay attention to EVERYTHING in the room. I had an awesome time, and I highly recommend it.

(We did fail on our first try, but ended up paying half price to continue on and finish things off. First off, 45 mins is way too short to be able to finish these games. But I guess it's a business and if they gave a full hour, people might actually be able to finish and they wouldn't make as much money.)


There were a few flaws in our game. For instance, there was a chess set with a chess piece missing, and we thought it was our duty to find it. When we called for a hint (you're allowed maximum 2), they came in to help and said that there should have been a chess piece there. So, we basically wasted time looking for a chess piece that should have already been there, which was not our fault that it was missing. It would have been nice to have some time ADDED BACK for their mistake. Also, when we called for another hint, the person who came in DID NOT KNOW what to tell us and had to call for back-up. Ummm, shouldn't you know these games inside out, especially if people are relying on you to give a hint? I ended up figuring the thing out on my own, which again, was a waste of a hint considering the person did not have one to give us. So, it was a bit of a gong show in that respect, but overall, it's a fantastic experience and I can't wait to go back and try some of the other rooms out, and even try out some of the other Escape Room games in town!