Escape rooms have been one of my go-to pastime activities, and in Los Angeles, there are hundreds of escape rooms with more popping up almost every week. In the throng of all the “escape rooms,” there’s one notion that stays the same, you need to “escape” within 60 minutes. But in the neighborhood of Koreatown, there is a room that aims to change that.
Hidden behind a discreet, unmarked black door is ‘Stash House’, a 90-minute experience that draws you into the underworld of crime. When our group arrived at the Stash House, we were greeted by our game master, who immediately jumps into character. He makes you feel like you’re meeting up to buy some type of contraband and he’s testing you to see if you’re even worthy of entering his place.
Stash House is a crime story and our group has entered the apartment that belongs to a very reputable drug kingpin named Ray Jones. Ray has a business opportunity for our group – find all the drugs in the apartment and flush them down the toilet because in 90 minutes the cops will be busting down the door.
The design of Stash House hits the concept right on the head. When you enter you really feel like you’re in the apartment of a drug dealer who’s made some serious money for himself. The living room is fitted with black leather couches, and the walls are decorated with classic hip hop album covers, photos of historical criminals, and of course the notorious Scarface movie poster. The dining room houses a gaudy glass table and the shelves are decorated with memorabilia of Los Angeles sports team. Of course, no stash house wouldn’t be complete without a stripper pole in the living room. Throughout the room, you’ll also find some hidden gems that really round out the decor of a proper stash house.
Where this escape room really comes to fruition is in the puzzle design. The room, for the most part, is non-linear. The first few puzzles that you encounter can be done in no specific order, so breaking up into groups is highly recommended. A few of the puzzles that you start off with are simple, which is done purposely to get your group moving along, but then you suddenly run into a few more puzzles that require a little bit more brain power. This is where working in groups of two or three really helps out. One puzzle that we came across really stumped us as a team, so much so that it required us to switch a few times to get fresh eyes on the puzzle. As your group makes its way around the room solving these puzzles, one thing to keep in mind is paying attention to the detail. Even if you think it’s the smallest of details, it’s best you still make a note of it. This is what our group neglected to do and it made things a little bit harder for us. The room can have subtle hints that can help you solve puzzles at a much quicker pace.
Stash House is the brainchild of two Hollywood writers who have an affinity for escape rooms. They wanted to create something that was more than just a room with a simple theme and wanted to bring an entire immersive story that reached far beyond the room you were standing in. Before Stash House even opened its doors, the creators launched an interactive and immersive experience they called ‘Street Baptism,’ which served as a prelude. There’s no other escape room that I know of that wants to bring you such a comprehensive story that plays out like a Hollywood movie, and it’s there to make sure Stash House brings you the best experience possible when you’re in their room.
Stash House runs games Wednesday through Sunday. Book your experience at www.stashhou.se.
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