"Great Scott!"

overview

Great Scott - Biff’s at it again! He’s stolen Doc Brown’s newest time travel device to sabotage the timeline for his gain. Follow Doc’s clues to find the prototype, track down Biff and save the day before you’re outatime.

Gonna be honest with you here. I've never seen Back to the Future. I just know it's about time travel. However, BTTF Outatime does a fantastic job at bringing me into the story and making me immediately understand what all the hype is about. In fact, one of the strongest aspects of this game is the story, using multiple on-screen actors to deliver a full plotline from start to finish. It might not be movie worthy, but it's much more solid than the majority of rooms out there.

quick stats

gameplay time: ~60 minutes

recommended team size: 3-5 players

difficulty: 1/5 (we'll discuss this later)

scare level: 1/5

location: Orlando, FL

website: 

considerations: -fog and strobe lights are used -at least one player will have to kneel/crawl -a very loud sound plays in the last main room of the game

scenery

Spanning 8 rooms, each new reveal, well, revealed another stunningly crafted room. As you go through the past, each room stands out in its own way. One of the best features of this game is discovering a whole new space, for yourself, so I'm not going to spoil what any of the rooms were, but I was particularly impressed by the second room and the last room. 

Each room is big enough to hold the maximum capacity of 6 people. This is one of the few times where the max occupancy is actually correct. We played with 6 people, and there was always room to move around and help solve a puzzle. The intricate Universal detail combined with the generous amount of space makes for a great experience. I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I had watched the movie; the game is jam-packed with references around every corner. To top it all off, there are beautiful transitions between each space, and the first room is a tribute to the old BTTF ride at Universal. This game was built with the fans in mind. 

puzzles

Here's the interesting part of this company. They have a very different system, one I would heavily compare to 5 Wits. This game spans 8 rooms, with four groups playing at any given time, similar to 5 Wits and their system. The groups are separated by a room each, acting as a buffer (so you'll have groups in room 1, 3, 5, and 7, all playing at the same time). This allows for groups to have a full experience through 8 rooms, without bumping into other groups, while also minimizing the time between groups entering. It's the best of both worlds. 

Also similar to 5 Wits, there's no locks, and essentially no free moving objects, to ensure the room is identical for every new group that walks in. The plot does center around one moving object, but you carry it with you throughout all the rooms. 

Now we get into the puzzles. Like 5 Wits, all the puzzles are relatively easy. Unlike 5 Wits, Great Movie Escape has a different formula. Both of their rooms are on a scoring system, BTTF having 15 available points, while Jurassic World has 20. Each of those points represents a solved puzzle. What does this mean? Well, BTTF has 1 to 3 puzzles in each room. However, you can't access the second puzzle, say, if you haven't solved the first one, and because you have a limited time in each room, whatever you don't solve will remain unsolved forever, and you can't get that point back. According to a staff member, the average score was about 4 to 6. We scored a 13, and apparently narrowly missed the other two. Make of that what you will. 

The puzzles themselves were creative, fun, and on theme. They had the perfect balance of figuring out what to do versus doing it, both sides having challenge to them. There was an overarching main puzzle to most rooms, and with the exception of a couple rooms, they made logical sense and were fun to complete. Some felt more like games than puzzles, but more often than not, it just added to the mood of the experience. The creators knew they were doing something different, and made something incredibly unique. 

pros and cons

pro: jam-packed with references around every corner!

con: one of the rooms could have definitely benefitted with some more cluing. We thought it was broken for most of our time in there. 

pro: the main character, Niko, was energetic, funny, and adorable, and Christopher Lloyd reprised his role as Doc Brown, making for some very memorable moments.

con: if there's one thing I don't like about Universal, it's that they make sounds way louder than they need to be. There's an incredibly, unnecessarily loud one at the end that lasts for about half a second. It's short, but man, it's loud. 

pro: there's a rotary phone. Who doesn't love to dial a rotary phone?

pro/con: the first room's main challenge seemed impossible to us. With a bit more practice and communication, it might be possible, but it's incredibly hard, a stark contrast to the rest of the puzzles. 

pro: Great Movie Escape knew exactly how the butterfly effect worked, and implemented this into one of the rooms with great success.

con: One of the puzzles was essentially trial and error the entire way through. 

pro: the transition between each room never got old. It worked simply and effectively. 

pro: Great Movie Escape has multiple bars in their lobby, with signature drinks. They're considered some of the best drinks in the whole park. 

con: This place has 2.1 stars, all of which are people who didn't know what to expect. People. Come on. 

con: on their website, they list that BTTF has 8 rooms. While this is true, one of the rooms is the introduction room, and the other is to wrap up the story. In neither of these rooms do you solve puzzles.

pro: Niko clues us when necessary, and we were never given a clue too early or late. This is especially impressive when you consider the fact that Niko is a recording, and the game is run by computers. 

overall

Universal's Great Movie Escape is another one of those companies that's pushing the boundaries of escape rooms. Their point system is a very unique one, and multiple puzzles ensures that everyone has a different experience. In fact, Universal teased that there are alternative puzzles to the ones we saw, encouraging even more replayability. With beautiful transitions through intricate sets, BTTF fans and newbies (myself) alike will enjoy this adventure through time. Just make sure to cover your ears after saving the day, or else your eardrums will be beyond repair. 

rating

9/10