All In Adventures: Sherlock’s Library | Team Size: 3 | Time Left: 7min
As a devoted Sherlock Holmes fan, I couldn’t wait to don my (definitely metaphorical) deerstalker and dive into this room. The premise promised intrigue, clever puzzles, and maybe a touch of Victorian flair. We were excited at the promise of piecing together clues in the great detective’s study – it had all the makings of an immersive, cerebral escape room experience. Unfortunately, what started with high hopes and a flair for deduction, ended up feeling more like a missed opportunity than a thrilling mystery. While the concept had great potential, the execution didn’t quite live up to the legend of Sherlock himself.
🎨 Immersiveness & Theme Integration
1/5.
Every room at this location is quite literally an office cubicle. I’m not even joking. The walls of each room don’t even reach the ceiling. You cannot lean on them or they will fall over. They have wall paper CLINGING FOR LIFE to the walls internal to the cubicle.
🧩 Puzzle Uniqueness & Variety
1/5.
This room was everything you’ve already seen before if you’ve been to any escape room ever. The puzzles were not the most original or unique. There was ONE puzzle in the whole room that could be considered unique – but even then it was unimpressive and anti-climactic. Everything in this room was 1. open a box, 2. take out all of the laminated (at least they were laminated, right?) pieces of paper from the box, 3. figure out what they say to do, 4. get a code/key, repeat steps 1-4 until complete. Sprinkle in a “go find this thing” every 3 or 4 cycles. It felt monotonous at best.
⏱️ Flow & Pacing
2/5.
There was very minimal flow to the puzzles in this room other than that you would open a box and it would give you a code or a key to the next box. Rinse repeat. While the puzzles were on brand, the only thing we really had to help us figure out how much progress we had made was physically counting how many locks were left. Which we actually did end up doing relatively often (mostly to see how quickly this experience would be over if I’m being frank).
👨💻 Game Master Quality
1/5 and that feels lenient.
The game master at this location was friendly at first but as soon as we were in our room, I’m pretty sure they just up and left us to our own devices. I don’t think they were watching/listening to us at all. We asked for a clue about half way through the room and about 5 minutes elapsed and we had no sign of life. No one came. We ended up LEAVING THE ROOM to try and go find them. We knocked on the door to the back and FINALLY got a response and then our clue. The explanation we got was that “it can be hard to hear in the back sometimes” – which just felt like someone who doesn’t want to take accountability in doing a poor job.
After our game was over, it took them a couple minutes to come back to our room. They “didn’t even know we escaped!” But they did take our picture at least. I was truly unimpressed.
🛠️ Durability & Maintenance
2/5
When we played, this room had some of the wall paper pretty severely peeling off the wall. Considering that was pretty much the entirety of the ambiance, it was pretty impactful on the experience. It also turned out that we needed that part of the wall paper for something. Several of the locked boxes were also on their last legs and there was a lock that fell apart into our hands as we opened it. (So it’s definitely well played?) I will say that all the laminated pieces of paper and the several pictures on the wall were in good repair though. So I’ll give it that.
🔒 Difficulty
3/5
I honestly expected more. A Sherlock room should be able to live up to the hype of Sherlock Holmes, but really these puzzles felt very elementary. I’ve seen them all before and some of the “search and find” puzzles were honestly kinda cheap. “Let’s hide this in a place that is specifically hard to find and has nothing in the room to point you toward it and see how long it takes you to find this thing you need” is the general vibe here. There were a couple of puzzles that got us thinking though. So I consider difficulty pretty middle of the road.
🧼 Cleanliness
4/5
It was clean enough. There was some dust here and there but nothing on what we directly needed to solve the room. I also do not know how often they vacuum or sanitize. The staff said they do it routinely – but one of our clues was a little sticky… so I’ll try and give them the benefit of the doubt.
♿ Accessibility
3/5
I’m honestly not the most sure about Polaris Mall as a whole, but I do know that it has to follow ADA laws, so this is wheelchair accessible. The store itself is on the second floor – which is notable as I’m not sure how close the elevator is, so it may be a little bit of a longer path, but you CAN do it, and the room itself is an office cubicle, so everything is within reach. I will say that this room was pretty small though, so more than one wheelchair and you’re basically out of space. The room is also relatively cluttered, which makes me a little anxious about recommending it as a place that is “easily” accessible.
If you’re Deaf or Hard of Hearing, getting clues form your game master may be difficult but I would expect your game master to be willing to work with you – mostly likely writing them down for you. However ours was super inattentive (as mentioned above), so it may be a toss up there on how much they would actually be willing to do for you.
No color involved here, really, so it is color blind friendly. The whole room feels like it is in blue-scale anyway.
Overall Score: 2/5
This rating fells truly too nice for the experience we had. However, credit where credit is due – the puzzles did need solving, it was cleanish, and mostly accessible.
Best for: Quick thrill, low-pressure introduction to escape rooms in general, cheaper adventure, or looking for something to kill time.
Avoid if: You want to feel truly immersed, you want attentive service, or you’re a Sherlock Holmes purist expecting clever deduction, intricate puzzles, or immersive storytelling.
Would I recommend Sherlock’s Library? Honestly? Probably not. This room wasn’t for me. If you’re already at Polaris and need a way to kill an hour – sure, I guess… Though, I personally believe there are better – cheaper – ways to spend an hour. However, it does provide a quick thrill.
This room seems great in theory – the idea of unraveling a mystery in the legendary detective’s study sounds like the perfect setup for a clever, immersive escape. But while the concept had all the right clues for a great experience, the execution felt more like a rough draft than a polished case file. Let’s just say, Sherlock might’ve walked out in search of a more compelling mystery. If you’re hoping for an experience worthy of 221B Baker Street, this one might leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed.
Steeped & Unlocked 