Between two game-changing venues, only one can emerge as the icon. 

overview

Welcome to the Competition series. Today, we pit two cutting edge venues against each other to see which is truly the top of the top. Level99 and Boda Borg push the limits on escape game design with their challenges and mini puzzles in a massive complex. But which one is better? That depends on your style, but that won't stop us from giving you an answer anyway. 

Our categories for today's competition:

• Scenery

• Puzzles/Challenges

• Lobby/Space

• Player Experience

• Replayability

So, are you ready to discover the true king of this genre?

category 1: scenery

The scenery for both of these is decently strong. They use the resources they're given to make a cool themed environment (but they don't overdo it- you're spending 2 minutes in those rooms). 

Boda Borg is a rather interesting case. Some of the rooms look okay, and some of the rooms have scenic design that rivals some of the best companies in the world. You really don't know what you're getting into until you do. Some rooms definitely need the decoration, because it's all about the room, and some don't, simply because the point of the room is parkour. When the rooms look good, though, they look GOOD. Potions, Alcatraz, and Platoon are particularly well crafted, and look amazing. 

Level99, on the other hand, is more reliable when it comes to scenery. All of their rooms have polished, high quality decorations. It often feels similarly thematic to that of a casino - it looks very pretty, but isn't genuine - it's artificial. Either way, the rooms look compelling, and because all the rooms feel of similar quality, Level99 barely takes the edge on this one. Sometimes, reliability is better than diverse quality. 

Winner: Level99

category 2: puzzles/challenges

The challenges in both of these venues are very untraditional. Due to the very short time players spend in the space, physical challenges are easier to pull off, and puzzles have to be crafted at a perfect complexity to allow players to reasonably(ish) solve them in time. 

Level99's challenges are a lot more obvious than Boda Borg's. The challenges are decently fun, and the rooms usually compliment what you're doing. The physical challenges are significantly better than the mental ones, though. Often, the mental puzzles involve something unreasonable, or trial and error. I have yet to find a mental challenge at Level99 that I genuinely enjoy coming back to. Some of the best challenges in Level99 are Ninja Dojo, Pirate's Plank, and 8-Bit Lava. Guess what? They're all physical. 

With Boda Borg, the playing field completely changes. Boda Borg is significantly harder than Level99, and it often isn't immediately clear what you're supposed to do. The multiple rooms have really allowed Boda Borg to refine their challenge design, and it shows - pretty much every single Quest at Boda Borg is fun to play (other than Quiz Show, which should burn in hell). The mental puzzles are well clued and well designed, and offer a satisfying solve. But the real star of the show is the physical Quests, which are on another level. The rooms don't even need theming to send players off on an intimate, epic adventure. There's some specific Quests where it just feels like you're the only ones in the entire world, and for that, Boda Borg easily sweeps Level99 away. 

Winner: Boda Borg

category 3: lobby/space

Both of the venue's lobbies are spacious, and allow for rest, food, and water. However, they've gone about this in multiple different ways. 

Level99's lobby (if you can call it that) is spacious and well decorated. The rooms are the star, but they're only one part of this massive world. Lots of free space allows for high quantities of groups, open-air challenges (called Arenas) can be found in multiple places, beautiful art adorns every surface, and there's an entire restaurant and bar tucked into a wall. The bright colors are always nice to look at, and it's a fun, spacious environment with everything you need. 

Boda Borg's lobby is an average escape room lobby, complete with couches, tables, and a small cafe (there used to be an all you can eat taco bar, but they got rid of it). It's also quite spacious, and serves as a nice place to wait for your Questing time, rest after playing, or sit there and wait for your children (if your bones are too frail to go in yourself). The actual space while Questing, however, tells a different story. Boda Borg's Quests are located in the basement, and the only space outside of the Quests are many gray sterile hallways with yellow and black tape on the doors. It gives a menacing vibe, something I'm quite a fan of. Unfortunately, this does mean that there's no room outside of the Quests. If Boda Borg is crowded, it can be hard to navigate its narrow halls, and for those reasons, this point is going to Level99. 

Winner: Level99

category 4: player experience

Player experience may be one of the most important categories, ever. Games have to be fun in order to work. But which of these two venues has a better experience?

Level99 has 

Winner: Boda Borg

category 5: replayability

Winner: Boda Borg

results

ULTIMATE WINNER: BODA BORG