Are you a fan of excess locks in escape rooms? How about directional locks with just too many directions? Hidden blacklight writing that’s just… everywhere? Maybe even crawling, just for the sake of crawling? Well, if you are, then we have the perfect escape room for you. The 13^th Basement by Exit Game OC. Trust us, this is unlike any escape room you’ve ever done before.

The 13^th Basement is the first escape room by Exit Game OC in Anaheim, CA. Running about an hour long, this game is a parody experience of other horror escape rooms as well as films. Thus, it is themed as horror and the sets definitely scream horror, but the content itself is far more tongue in cheek than frighteningly scary.

Based on the name, it’s clear that other escape rooms and haunted experiences inspired 13th Basement, like The Basement in Sylmar, 13th Gate Haunted House in Baton Rouge, LA & 13th Hour Haunted House in Wharton, NJ. A twisted serial killer (the fantastic Chad Lindberg) has kidnapped you and your team and the only way for you to prove yourself is to escape. If you cheat, if you stand on anything, and especially, if you fail, then he will kill you. It’s your standard storyline that has been a through-line of The Basement with Edward Tandy and even the Saw franchise with Jigsaw, but here, it’s just fun. It’s Scary Movie to Scream.

Like any film, The 13^th Basement builds in intensity, in scope, and in gore. Participants wear blindfolds, and the overall group is split up to start, requiring teams to work together in order to escape. But as the groups rejoin, more and more teamwork is required, and the sets get larger and more impressive. While the theme isn’t overly scary, the rooms are full of gore. Dirty bathrooms transform into Saw-inspired meat factories and torture rooms. All of these sets work wonderfully in a horror room, but here, it’s just fun to see what lies beyond the next door.

Some of this fun is derived from the fact that The 13^th Basement allows you to keep your phones in the room. This is the first escape room I’ve seen where this is an option. Usually owners ensure that flashlights, notes, and googling is prohibited in their rooms, but here, photos are encouraged. We were hesitant, but we even used our flashlight in one area and were told it was encouraged after we escaped. So please, take notes on some of the more difficult puzzles, and take advantage of social-media-friendly photo spots.

Another strength of The 13^th Basement is the fact that communication is key here. Oftentimes, dominant players can take control of a room, ensuring that more timid players don’t get to interact. Yet, here, Exit Game OC has ensured that all players have a role. There’s numerous puzzles where three or more players must work together with very strong communication to move forward. I warn you, some of the puzzles are frustrating if your communication is lacking, so make sure your relationships are on good terms before entering.

As for the puzzles, they are smart, funny, and full of surprises. Exit Game OC capitalizes on your knowledge of other escape rooms to subvert expectations. While we won’t spoil any of the puzzles, we will say that when you expect to do something—or not to do something— Exit Game OC will do exactly the opposite, or amplifying it ten fold. If you like blacklight, there’s a ton of it. If you like directional locks, there’s a puzzle with more than ten different directions. If you like keys, there’s a ton of those too. They parody the things we don’t like to perfection, and then innovate on puzzles we do.

Finally, The 13^th Basement is the best wheelchair accessible escape room we’ve seen. There’s absolutely no stairs and most of the puzzles are designed to be easily solved while in a wheelchair. The puzzles can be adapted to fit a person in a wheelchair or changed to accommodate entire ADA groups.

Ultimately, The 13^th Basement by Exit Game OC is a perfect addition to the escape room niche of Southern California. It does something completely novel by parodying the horror-centric experiences of this area. Yet, it’s done artfully, with respect, with great sets, and with some clever puzzles. We are really excited to see what comes from Exit Game OC in the future, as this is easily one of our favorite new companies in the immersive and puzzle realm. Horror and humor just go so damn well together.

For more information on Exit Game OC and the 13th Basement, check out their website, Facebook, and Instagram.For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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The 13th Basement is an escape room in Anaheim CA by Exit Game OC.