This was my second visit to Rubix (now Crimson Codes), and my wife’s third visit. Crimson Codes is a bit of an old-school escape venue that caters to the fringe group that wants to solve very complex puzzles and is less interested in the polished experience. However, their puzzles frequently cross the line from being difficult to being too abstract for anyone but the puzzle creator to solve.
This story is great and to be clear, the puzzles do fit in with the theme of the room but the progression is not logical and, as mentioned, the puzzles are not necessarily hard – it’s the concepts that are too close to the maker’s personal experiences and thought processes and don’t translate well to a game people play for entertainment. No doubt, if the maker wanted to actually lock you up and give you riddles to escape, these would be great. You would, after all, have years to figure them out – if you’re lucky. But for us, the scoring took a major hit here.
The spaces are generally well thought out but the further you get into the experience the less effort went into making it immersive. Do not touch stickers begin to appear everywhere and you end up going from the feeling of being in front of your new home, to being back in an escape room in Hamilton. There is little ambiance to keep the experience convincing.
Unfortunately, this ends up being one of those experiences where you just want it to end. You don’t want to solve the puzzles anymore. You don’t want to be in a fake bedroom anymore. You don’t want another hint and you don’t want more time.
If you’d like to try this room out, your experience may differ from ours. We did prefer Hollow Point Inn to Home Sweet Home.