I Survived The Only Murders In The Building Escape Room
The $50 immersive experience has so many Season 4 Easter eggs.
Another mystery needs to be solved at the Arconia — but this time around, there’s no killer involved.
An all-new Only Murders in the Building escape room just arrived in Los Angeles, California. Season 4 takes the murder mystery trio of Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short) to Hollywood for an Only Murders in the Building movie, so it only feels right for the new experience to bring their themed activation out west as well.
In the Only Murders in the Building Escape Game, fans must figure out where the missing film reel for the movie has gone by uncovering clues and opening locks. The OMITB escape room transports you into the Arconia, including Charles’ apartment, so you feel like you’re on the set. There are even nods and Easter eggs to all four seasons of the Emmy-winning series.
The Only Murders In The Building Escape Room Is Mainly Focused On Season 4
Ben Enos, senior director of product design, tells Elite Daily that Escape Game worked with the Hulu series to bring to life this current season. “There are several Easter eggs from Season 4,” he says, including new character portraits on the wall and the clue board from Episode 3.
While some nods to the show may be obvious, like the OMITB movie poster and bottle of Malbec wine that Sazz goes to grab, there are also hidden details that only superfans can spot during their time inside.
“The books on the shelves have titles that are from episode titles of the show,” Enos points out, as well as an actual script from Only Murders that production provided. As a fan, these details were exciting to see IRL, but you don’t need to watch or be caught up OMITB to enjoy the experience.
I got to experience the fun before it officially opened on Sept. 7, and my group ranged from people who had never seen the show before to someone all caught up (aka me). As long as you’re into solving puzzles and spending time with friends, you’ll enjoy the Only Murders in the Building Escape Game.
Don’t Be Afraid To Use Your Phone
I’ve only done two other escape rooms before and both require you to lock away your phone before entering the room. This way, you’re not tempted to cheat by Googling an answer. However, The Escape Game is completely different and actually encourages you to use your phone.
The 60-minute experience begins with a video intro from Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) in the Arconia hallway. He tells you what your mission is and emphasizes that you should use your phone. At first, I thought they were just encouraging us to document everything for social media, but you’ll actually need to use your phone for certain clues like texting a number on a flier.
Of course, if you are a fan like me, you’ll also want to use your phone to snap pictures of all your favorite props. For example, I really loved the emerald ring from Season 1, Oliver’s endless bottles of Gut Milk, and Charles’ Brazzos poster on the wall.
At times, I was distracted by all the nods to the show that I almost forgot about the clues, but luckily, my team made it through the experience and found the missing reel before time was up.
My Honest Review Of The OMITB Escape Room
There were moments where my team got stuck in the escape room on a difficult puzzle, but we managed to get around those hurdles. There was one lock we never figured out the code for, but we found a loophole to bypass it entirely. It’s because of this that I would do the escape room again.
The Only Murders in the Building Escape Game lets in groups with up to eight people, which can get pretty crowded — especially in the first room — but it would be so fun to do this with other diehard fans. There’s even a moment where you get to play around with real podcast equipment like you’re Mabel, Charles, and Oliver, which is unique.
The OMITB experience is definitely worth it for fans, but it is a bit pricey. Tickets are $50 a person for the hour-long experience, and can be found online for dates now through Dec. 10. The Only Murders in the Building Escape Game is not only located at the Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles, but also Midtown Manhattan in NYC at 295 Madison Ave.
