Christmas in August: A Review of The Satirical Miracle Escape Room

Christmas activities are fun in December. But sometimes, in the middle of a hot August, like we had this year, Christmas activities can be even more fun. One great Christmas or anytime activity is The Satirical Miracle escape room from The Escape Ventures.

The Escape Ventures is an escape room. Located in Waterford Lakes, the unassuming storefront has a small waiting room where you check in, pick your team name, and strategize. When it’s your turn, they’ll bring you back, give you a locker where you can leave your stuff, and tell you the rules (including any safety guidelines – for example, they asked us to use gloves when lifting certain items). They will also give you a quick tutorial on each of the locks that you’ll encounter, which is always helpful. Then you go into the escape room.

Of the three escape rooms, Satirical Miracle is both the most kid-friendly, and the easiest. There are two other rooms. One takes place almost completely in the dark, which may be too intense for children. The other is a fraternity-themed room, which does have some elements of drinking and some humor that may not be appropriate for all ages. There is also a new room coming later this year that will be harder than Satirical Miracle, but easier than the other two. At this time, there is no other information publicly available about it.

Satirical Miracle has a simple storyline. Granny needs to bring in all of her fall decorations and prepare for Christmas. That means putting out all of her Christmas decorations outside the house and preparing for a party inside it. Throughout the escape room, a narration runs, with a grandfatherly voice describing actions and also providing hints.

I have done a few escape rooms and I enjoy puzzles so I knew vaguely what to expect. I also went in ready to take a bit of a back seat and let the kids take the lead. The puzzles were a bit of a challenge – some of them even for me – but there were activities that every child could help with. The puzzles and activities kept everyone engaged and each person in our group, including the 6 year old, was able to participate. We went in with 5 people and there were enough puzzles for everyone to solve some and be involved. In particular, I liked that the puzzles did not all need to be solved in one order, so we were able to break into two groups and solve our own puzzles.

How did my kids like it? They both asked when we could go back and try one of the harder rooms (though the 6 year old specified not the one in the dark). Groups go back on their own (each room starts at a different time), and you have the room to yourself. That made us all feel more safe doing this activity, while we try to avoid groups indoors.

The Satirical Miracle is a room for up to 6 people. I recommend at least 2 adults for lifting some of the heavier objects (nothing was over 15 pounds but some things were a bit big) and to handle some of the more fragile items.

It was definitely a great way to spend an hour with the kids.