RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: *not timed
Does anyone have a reliable way to break a centuries old Witch’s curse? Asking for a friend. OK FINE WE’RE THE FRIEND. PLEASE SEND HELP!
ESCAPE BLAIR WITCH is an immersive, multi-room escape experience that brings to life Lionsgate’s iconic blockbuster film franchise, Blair Witch. Players begin their journey at the Burkittsville Ranger’s Station, nestled in the Black Hills Forest, on a hunt for information into the disappearance of a few local college students. Do you believe in the stories about the Blair Witch? Was there an accident in the woods or did something far more sinister take place?
The legend of the Blair Witch has lived on through whispers for several centuries. As the story goes, back in 1785, a woman named Elly Kedward was accused of witchcraft and banished from from the small Maryland town of Blair. An angry mob dragged her into the Black Hills Forest and tied her to a tree where she was left to die of exposure. The following year, each of the children who accused her vanished without a trace, and soon after, others began to follow. The remaining locals fled from the town, leaving Blair abandoned.
It’s believed that today, the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland stands on the land that was once Blair – land that many still believe is cursed by the Witch. The Black Hills Forest is off limits – especially after dark – yet that’s done little to stop curious teenagers from sneaking in to see for themselves if the stories are true. One by one these groups cross into the woods, and none are ever seen again.
Each day the legend seems to grow more famous – or infamous – attracting more curious souls to the Black Hills. The Burkettsville Ranger Station has enlisted a new team of recruits in hopes of securing the area and protecting the public from the dangers – whatever they may be. Unfortunately no training they could provide will prepare for the supernatural terror that lies just beyond the Ranger’s Station, deep in the woods, in the old house that many swear does not exist.
Sometimes ‘legends’ are a justification for fears too great to face. Or sometimes, they’re just real.
The world of Escape Blair Witch exists between two jarringly different locales: the Burkettsville Ranger Station and the Witch’s house lost deep in the woods. They could not be more different.
The Station is a fairly small, uninspired place, made to feel even more plain by its lack of any sort of background music or ambient sound effects for most of its duration. Part of it feels more like a sort of welcome center exhibit for visiting campers, and separated from that is the office of the Park Sheriff himself. Beyond a mounted crest of the Burkettsville Sheriff’s Department on one wall, there’s little that would tie this to any particular place, and even less that evokes the mood of the iconic Blair Witch film.
It’s beyond the Ranger’s Station where the true experience of Escape Blair Witch – and all of the next level theatrics we’ve come to expect from Egan Escape Productions really begins. Once it starts, it kicks immediately kicks into high gear without ever slowing down. The Black Hills Forest surrounds would-be recruits, its towering pine trees disappearing into the blackness of a cursed perpetual night. The only illumination comes from occasional violent flashes of lightning; the sun is not coming up.
Surrounded by the endless forest is a large old house, crumbling in disrepair thanks to the elements… or the curse? Its door creaking open offers no solace to new ranger recruits. Inside, with the door slammed shut, the house barely stands, stripped of its paint by centuries of water damage, as if reclaimed by the earth itself with roots and vines intertwining across every visible surface.
Physical, atmospheric, and perhaps even supernatural effects bring the many rooms of this horrifying house to life in a way sure to create goosebumps for even the bravest of recruits. Leave the Ranger Station behind; this is the world of Blair Witch, brought to authentic life like never before.
Similar to the stark juxtaposition of two seemingly competing worlds of scenic, Escape Blair Witch’s puzzles also begin with a bit of a rocky start. Several of the early tasks left around the Station had our team of experienced recruits confused about where to even begin. Despite being armed with a trusty radio to call the Sheriff if help was needed, for an extended period of time we received no replies. While we can’t say for certain, we’d speculate this is not a common occurrence, and perhaps our group just happened to arrive for training when another local college student was proclaimed missing. Either way, it did create a bit of a frustrating first impression.
Once lost in the woods, however, everything changed. Tasks became clear, logical and intuitive, always constantly being locked in their thematic focus. The mood quickly shifted to one of the most immersive horror adventures we’ve yet seen. There’s certainly an irony to feeling like our curse was lifted because we entered the Blair Witch’s house.
The final two-thirds of Blair Witch Escape are a pure cinematic masterclass, where each puzzle evokes the tone of an authentic action rangers might take to ward off the evil spirit in real life. These tasks are further amplified in their urgency and gravity by an incredibly skilled, improvisational live actor who foolishly entered the woods in search of their own missing sister. But can even the smartest recruits solve the ultimate puzzle: find a way to banish the blackened soul of the legendary Blair Witch once and for all?
Escape Blair Witch differs from traditional escape games in that it’s structured with a progressive flow – meaning that players are always moving forward as other groups begin the experience behind them, with their paths never crossing. In the past, we’ve had mixed experiences with this type of flow, as sometimes it can cause more seasoned groups to need to wait for the next door to open, or cause more novice players to be pushed forward, perhaps without even completing a puzzle at all. We’re happy to report that in the case of Escape Blair Witch, the timing of this progressive flow played out seamlessly, leaving us never waiting or being rushed forward. Our small team had such a consistent experience throughout that we would have never guessed there were other groups of ranger recruits lost in the Black Forest Hills.
Escape Blair Witch, at times toward the start, feels like two competing games. The tones – and intuitiveness of the puzzles involved – between the Ranger’s Station and in the Witch’s house range dramatically. But here’s the thing – although we found the Ranger’s Station to be a bit rough around the edges, everything that followed in the woods and Witch’s House – a vast majority of the game – is undoubtably excellent. We found ourselves wishing that the experience of Escape Blair Witch could just start in the woods, even if it meant being a bit shorter. In truth, if it could, it would instantly elevate Escape Blair Witch to our highest 6 Keys status. But even as is, there’s no question that far more of this current experience rests squarely on that incredible side.
Once Escape Blair Witch really gains its momentum there’s no curse that could derail it. The storyworld becomes engaging, intense, genuinely frightening, and every action would-be rangers take builds toward its cinematic climax. Stepping through the screen into the Blair Witch’s house firsthand is the stuff nightmares are made of, and thanks to the creative ambitions of Egan Escape Productions, those nightmares are now real.
We do have a few other pre-planning bits of advice for future park rangers who fancy themselves brave enough to join a search party through the Burkettsville woods: Escape Blair Witch is a very popular game structured for public bookings – meaning you can, and almost assuredly will be paired with strangers. It carries a total group size of up to eight players, which could be a lot to manage clear communication with if the majority of them are strangers. Luckily, Escape Blair Witch does offer a private booking option, which they label a “VIP ticket.”
To make your experience private will require you to bring a minimum group size of four people, and the ticket price will be a bit higher for the perk. We cannot stress enough how highly we recommend you splurge for this VIP experience. The thrilling level of immersion found in the Blair Witch’s horrifying house is so good that it’s worth the extra cost to guarantee you receive the highest possible quality of experience from them.
Lastly, Escape Blair Witch is truly is a hybrid attraction that blends escape game puzzles with immersive theater character interactions. For the uninitiated, the most important rule of immersive theater is that you’ll get from it what you put into it. What that means is that the more you’re willing to suspend disbelief, accept that the storyworld and its characters are real and interact with them as such, the more authentic and memorable your time in it will be. This very much applies to Escape Blair Witch. Play along with the actors and your experience in the Black Forest Hills will rise to a whole other level.
Now if you need us, we’ll be facing the nearest corner. If you’re foolish enough to follow us in, whatever you do, DON’T LOOK.
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Venue: Escape Blair Witch
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Number of Games: 2
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 minutes
Capacity: 8 people
Group Type: Public or Private / You may or may not be paired with strangers depending on your choice of ticket type. (Private upgrade requires a minimum of 4 people.)
Cost: $45.99 – $55.99 per person depending on date and time selected. Groups of 4+ may upgrade to a private experience for an additional $20 per person. Specially priced combo tickets are also available when bundling Escape Blair Witch with The Official SAW Escape, located at the same venue.
We thank Egan Escape Productions for inviting us to play this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, that in no way impacts the opinion included within this review.
