With the weather outside far from pleasant, it’s good to have some indoor adventures to fall back upon. Escape rooms can be a great way of tackling boredom while bonding with friends and challenging your mind, making them a very fun winter activity.
Located at Yonge and Gould, Roundabout Canada is a very convenient spot for Ryerson students seeking a bit of entertainment. What makes Roundabout stand out the most is their set design. The rooms are big, with multiple sections to unlock and enter into, including secret passages and unexpected challenges. The attention to detail and realistic construction makes the rooms feel exciting and immersive. Final Destination 2.0 in particular is not to be missed. It features a delightfully life-like replica of the inside of a passenger plane, and the entire experience is very well designed. Least impressive is The Ninja, which feels a lot less real than the other rooms and has a much weaker story, but the puzzles are still entertaining, and the secret room is very cleverly hidden. I did find that some of the puzzles at Roundabout tend to be complicated and unfortunately tedious at times, but the room designs make the experience so immersive that it’s easy to forgive these shortcomings.
The Riddle Room, located at Yonge and Wellesley, is another escape room worth a visit. Though the rooms are not as big or meticulously designed as Roundabout, I’ve found their puzzles to be, for the most part, more enjoyable, with a creative use of space and lighting and very well crafted narratives. While the Castle room is greatly underwhelming, Luci’s Room and Missing Anatomy are certainly worth a visit. What makes the Riddle Room unique is that it also doubles as a board game (and video game) cafe. There’s a comfortable, cozy atmosphere, a solid assortment of games, tasty coffee and a good selection of other drinks and snacks. There’s no cover fee, and it’s free if you book an escape room, otherwise they just ask you to buy a drink, making it a more affordable option for a board game cafe than places like Snakes and Lattes. Keep in mind that the place is fairly small, and does tend to fill up on weekends.
So if you’re looking to bring some excitement into a winter hangout with friends, Roundabout Canada and the Riddle Room are conveniently located options that are definitely worth a try.
