Mad Genius Escape Company is based overseas in Portland, America. Hosting two live games at their venue, they have become increasingly popular within the community due to the fun themes and puzzles they have created. 

In response to the global pandemic, Mad Genius Escapes have had to close their doors for the physical escape games. As a result of this, they have shifted there attentions to something like you’ve not seen before in terms of a virtual escape room. The birth of The Truth About Edith began and they class it as “somewhere between an escape room and an online computer/video game. Imagine meeting up online with your friends and family and working together to solve a mystery by following a trail of puzzles and clues throughout an online adventure sprinkled with interactive theatre”.

The Truth About Edith takes inspiration from a theme they host as one of the phyiscal rooms, Cat Lady. Both being completely different games, this allows players who have played this rather unusual themed escape game even if they have played at the location before. 

The games are hosted every Thursday – Sunday between 11am – 8pm Pacific time. In the UK at present, this means they are 8 hours behind us leaving plenty of slots to play from 7pm onwards. At a flat rate of $80 per game, it requires 4 players using 4 PCs however, multiple people can play from one device if you prefer such as couples. 

The Truth About Edith requires 4 players and is hosted through Zoom to play. Although hosted through Zoom, the game takes a wild turn and requires the use of many different elements online. The start of our experience took us outside of the Zoom call in an unexpected way and lead us down an odd path which kept the originality of this game compared to other virtual rooms about. The Truth About Edith is a mix between a virtual escape room and a virtual game, as it requires you to solve puzzles yourself without any help from the game host or character. 

Another highlight of The Truth About Edith was Edith herself. From solving puzzles to the live game features of speaking & interacting with Edith, it creates a dynamic style of escape room which makes for an enjoyable hour. The story line heavily features about Edith being an old crazy cat lady but with something unusual about her that you need to work out during your mission. As the story develops, you get to understand more of what is going on, what you are doing and how Edith is not as you first think…