⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟. Highly recommended by EscapeRoomers. This is among the top rooms we’ve tried in Portland. I believe Hour To Midnight (HTM) is the most recent company to open an escape room in Portland, and a welcome edition to the scene. This room is professionally decked out from top to bottom, with lots of original designs, puzzles, props and a great variety of puzzles. It is also a pretty tough room, especially for 2 people. It’s a bit far from the city center, but with 3 new rooms in the works, I am looking forward to trying their next additions.
“William Elshoff has scoured the globe for artifacts of great power. His findings had turned up little until now, he claimed he had found the key to Nibiru!”
“When we went to check on him we discovered he had vanished. That’s why we have summoned you here. We are hoping with your unique skill set you can unlock the secrets to Uncle William’s whereabouts, and bring him home!”
We were told about this room after doing one of the Labyrinth rooms in downtown Portland. Frankly, for me this was a better experience than Labyrinth. We were able to book the room with only 2 people, but based on an email exchange, and facebook comments, I was aware that completing it with 2 people would be tough, and it was. We didn’t get out in time.
Briefing and backstory. They again let us know that the room was very difficult for two people. I’d recommend a minimum of 4, even if you are experienced because there are some puzzles that take a lot of time, and extra hands and eyes go a long way. They did offer an option to get a “pass” on the description puzzle, suggesting that if we got to the 30-minute mark, we should consider it.
Things started off well. We did a pretty good search of the room to turn up a lot of relevant information. Everything was pretty logical, but we encountered three major problems. First, we messed up on calculating one puzzle, which was a dumb mistake on our part. A hint basically told us to recount, which worked. Second, we’d figured out one puzzle; however, we hadn’t been exact enough with our placement. This led to a second hint that basically said to move it around a bit. The third issue had to do with a puzzle that we’ve seen in at least 2 other rooms, and I just forgot how to do it. This was a major time sink.
We ended up beginning the deciphering process, and had all the information we needed, but realized it was going to take more time than we had, so we opted for the “pass.” In our search, we missed one item totally and had to have a hint. After a total of about 4 hints, we were down to the last few seconds, and I knew we weren’t going to have time, which was disappointing. They offered us some extra time, but I figured we were about 5-10 minutes away, so I called it. They walked us through the end, which was fun and had some great interactive props. I was just disappointed we didn’t get to them within 60 minutes. This makes #4 for rooms we could not escape with a 2-person team.
Overall, we highly recommend trying this room. Just make sure you bring along some friends or book a time slot with others. The team behind this room apparently has some background with set design/haunted houses, and it shows. This room was professionally designed and impressively decorated from top to bottom, complete with nice touches on sound and lighting. Fully immersive with a nice variety of puzzles. The props and puzzles were well thought out, and well designed. As a final note, the employees/owners were really friendly, and it was clear that they cared about the experience.
Hour to Midnight
Portland, Oregon 97220
$30 per person
EscapeRoomer 
Just did this room and your review is spot-on. It was tough and we didn’t get out either (we had 2 people too) but the room itself was really fun to be in. I’m wondering if we got held up on the same puzzles as you guys…
Any idea when their next room will open?
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But below likewise your carefulness will save you and enable you to select
the right path by the end.
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