Immersive Review Rundown: Ask Alice

Sometimes we get a theme going. Sometimes we get one of the Review Crew playing the role of All Star. This week we’ve got both in the form of Briana Roecks, our traveling correspondent with an affinity for Alice in Wonderland. Which is why all three reviews are from Briana this week and two of them take us to Wonderland by way of Las Vegas.

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Alice’s Dream- Mind Twist Escape Experience
From $45; Las Vegas, NV — ongoing

After a long day of travel, you lay down on your bed to rest. Suddenly, you awaken, finding yourself in a room that looks nothing like where you set your bags. Is this a dream? Was that the dream? Either way, there’s a strange portal in the mysterious tree in front of you, and that seems like as good of an idea as any to try finding your way out.

A great theme pulled all the way through turns an escape room into an immersive delight, and Alice’s Dream is just that, with a detail level absolutely befitting its Las Vegas strip location. Mind Twist is tucked away in the Fashion Show Mall, with four rooms including Alice’s to discover. Your journey finds you unlocking and progressing through classic Wonderland scenes, engaging with elements which move the story along in imaginative, unexpected ways, building to a thrilling finale that brings the story full circle. The visuals are whimsical and fun, with puzzles that scratch both sides of the brain.

Solving some brain-teasing riddles will guide your use of the immersive decor, creating your way forward through multiple scenes, and we liked the minimal reliance on solving number codes and more typical locks, which seems just right for Wonderland. One scene finds you playing hopscotch to get through the Tugley Wood, and another involves you figuring out simply how to get Tweedle Dee and Dum to stop talking over one another to help you solve a chess puzzle.

None of the puzzles rely on your knowledge of the source material, and while everything is kid-friendly, some challenges definitely test your creative thinking and problem solving. Mind Twist puts this room at 8/10 difficulty, and my partner and I were able to escape with a few minutes to spare, although admittedly we got stuck in a few parts and asked for clues — including once or twice where we’d solved something but didn’t spot the result. (It’s also worth noting that some of its spaces may feel a bit crowded at more than 4 players.)

The adventurously-themed lobby sets the tone perfectly for the challenge you’re about to embark upon, and we were grateful for the assistance of the accommodating staff (shout-out to our game host, Callie). If you want to make a day of it, Alice’s Dream is second toughest of the four rooms at Mind Twist, including a horror thriller called “Cannibal” and the debaucherous-looking “Stag Party,” because it’s Vegas.

— Briana Roecks, Social Media Correspondent

Teatime in Wonderland — Electric Playhouse
$150; Las Vegas, NV — weekends, ongoing

A mystery is brewing in Wonderland and its residents need your help to solve it! Someone stole the queen’s tarts, and it’s up to you to crack the case and determine who, if you can keep your wits and your appetite about you. But even if you don’t, she’s determined to make sure someone loses their head by the end of one lavish tea party.

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Electric Playhouse, an incredibly unique interactive gaming venue for all ages, debuted last year at the Forum Shops inside Caesars Palace. It’s a literal blank canvas for projection-mapped experiences where you’re the player, and your movement affects all the animated action around you. Now, they’ve combined the tech with a multi-course gourmet dining experience, plus live performers to take you fully down the rabbit hole.

It begins in a large open space where flowers, butterflies and other whimsical elements dance along the walls. There’s a beautiful, decadent dessert spread, including the tarts in question front and center, with a warning not to touch. Clearly, it’s too late and we’re now investigating a crime scene, with clues strewn about the interactive spaces inside Electric Playhouse.

As you explore, you’re encouraged to interact both with the virtual elements of Wonderland and its live residents. The Dormouse gives tarot readings, the Queen of Hearts introduces a game of croquet, the Mad Hatter offers polite albeit ridiculous conversation, and the knave mixes colorful, enticing drinks behind the bar. Before long, the White Rabbit ushers the guests into the venue’s biggest play space, with a stunningly set grand table fit for an unbirthday.

That’s when the real show begins, and things get more creatively, deliciously curious with each course, beginning with “Drink Me” potions, “Eat Me” cookies, and plenty of tea. Every arrival seems to literally transform Wonderland around you. That’s followed by soup and salad, a cheese-filled bao, scones, finger sandwiches, and even more desserts, including meringue mushrooms and frozen white rose you get to “paint” with strawberry jam (a star of the night). Chef Keris Kuwana is behind the culinary elements, and her passion for this experience is evident in every dish.

While you dine, the entertainment continues as the performers interact with the diners, the virtual space, and one other. The Mad Hatter recites poetry and riddles, and even introduces some to the Caterpillar. We eventually finally find ourselves in the queen’s garden, where she discovers her roses have been painted red (oops). She acts as judge and jury in the culminating trial as each character pleads their case, and justice for her missing tarts is served!

The entire experience is clearly a labor of love, with the Electric Playhouse team digging deep into their bag of tricks to add tiny details that make this show feel larger than life. The performers, culinary team and venue staff wear multiple hats, both in developing this offering and putting it on (on our night, the Mad Hatter was also the facility’s general manager).

We experienced the “Queen of Hearts Grand Tea Party,” an enhanced version of the regular “Teatime in Wonderland” experience, featuring some special added elements for Valentine’s Day like a barbershop quartet. The standard version runs weekends and will be offered into summertime. Wonderland attire is highly suggested to add to the experience, and for added fun, memorize a poem or a riddle for the Mad Hatter — you never know what he could pull out of his hat as a reward. Overall, a dreamy and delicious option for a Vegas date night, girls’ night, mother/daughter tea, or just a needed bit of whimsy and fantasy.

— Briana Roecks, Social Media Correspondent

The Traitors — Peacock & Just Fix It Productions
SOLD OUT; Los Angeles, CA

As a ravenous television consumer craving escapism in treacherous times, “The Traitors” on Peacock hits all the right notes for me. It’s a Scottish-set reality competition pitting personalities from other reality shows against one another, filled with over-the-top challenges and visuals, manipulation and backstabbing. All hosted by Alan Cummings, being as delightfully Alan Cummings-y as possible.

Getting to play through The Traitors Experience was a real treat, packing all the mind-bending murderous fun of the show into a highly interactive and entertaining hour. Set in a stately West LA manor that’s a fine substitute for a Scottish castle, the immersion begins pre-show as you gather in the portico, as piped-in recordings of Alan’s mysterious Scottish brogue sets the mood (the entire live cast commits admirably to the accent, too). It’s a reception of sorts to meet your fellow attendees, who will become your co-contestants. Take a moment to learn names and suss out anyone who seems shady.

The game begins as you enter the dark, ominous foyer, where a small contingent of traitors among you are secretly chosen by your witty, dynamic host. It’s the job of everyone else — the “faithful” — to deduce who they are, and take them down. That happens as you explore the manor, moving through a series of games, puzzles and multi-sensory experiences pitting faithfuls against traitors. Half the challenge is monitoring for suspicious behavior, while staying under the radar to avoid these secret assassins’ wrath. The traitors have the power to murder members of the faithful who might be too smart or savvy. But no worries if you get murdered — “It’s just a game,” as Alan would muse. You still get to play every challenge, just at minor, hilarious disadvantages, and you’ll even have special chances to influence the proceedings.

The set design is fantastic, with each room staged and decorated in ways that fans of the show will quickly recognize and appreciate. Even scents play a large role in immersing you into each new environment. While some light knowledge of the show and its host (hint: maybe look up Alan Cumming’s birthday?) is advisable going in, you can absolutely enjoy this experience without having seen an episode. One puzzle relies heavily on knowing the current cast, but leave that for superfans — there’s many other secrets in that room to unpack.

All in all, as a fan of the show, puzzles, and immersive theater, I cannot recommend The Traitors Experience enough. The puzzles and challenges are clever and well-presented, emphasizing and rewarding audience participation but devised smartly to ensure the show doesn’t depend upon solving everything. The performances are top-notch, even with the added challenge of explaining rules to a group of wound-up strangers. You’ll truly feel you’re by some loch in the Scottish highlands, and that Alan himself might turn the corner to lead the climactic roundtable.

— Briana Roecks, Social Media Correspondent

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