Mad Genius Escape Co.: The Truth About Edith

By | April 28, 2020

by Mad Genius Escape Co. (website)

1444 SE Hawthorne Blvd, OR 97214

1-4 players

£63.00 $80.00

Languages: EN

🎧actor / audio
Winner of a 2020 TERPECA awardnot on sale
You may recognize Edith Humphreys, your sweet neighbor with 24 cats. You may have even helped her out, snooped around her apartment. But there's something about Edith that doesn't quite add up... she looks way younger than she is, she says she was born in 1902 but that she's 97 years young... and she lives at a business called Mad Genius Escapes?! What is going on here...
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Overall rating

Rated between 4 and 5 out of 5

based on ratings from 17 users
combined with 8 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

PuzzleParrot expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5

Like nothing I've ever played before.  I really really wish there were more remote asymmetrical games like this.

Charly expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Time taken: 51.00 Outcome: Successful escape!

Disappointed by the lack of 'room' and how little facetime you have with the avatar on this one. Clever idea, but needed more explanation of the plot and at times we just were on websites feeling a bit lost.

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 5/8/2020 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
kristaj rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5

This is a super quirky, silly, kid-friendly theme, with both recorded and live actors. It takes full advantage of the online nature via lots of online interactions, and it assigns each of 4 connections a unique role, ensuring that everyone has something to do! We played with 4 couples, which worked pretty well, though occasionally led to a lot of people speaking at once...We definitely had a fun time, though the end came suddenly and felt a bit underwhelming to me. The tasks felt more like exercises in teamwork and communication than puzzle-solving. So definitely not the classic "escape room" experience, but definitely a fun time if you're looking for something different (or a team-building activity). 

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: Spring 2020 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
🌵Juliette B expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 11/06/2020 Team size: 4 Time taken: 56:56 Outcome: Successful escape!
We had great fun playing this - it was set up well to make sure that everyone participated equally and our hosts were funny and engaging. I wasn't that sure about rooms with live actors tbh,  but they have done this so well it doesn't feel awkward, and as it is designed as on online game it isn't the case that you are trying to do  a real life ER. Recommended! 
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 11/06/2020 Team size: 4 Time taken: 56:56 Outcome: Successful escape!

We had great fun playing this - it was set up well to make sure that everyone participated equally and our hosts were funny and engaging. I wasn't that sure about rooms with live actors tbh,  but they have done this so well it doesn't feel awkward, and as it is designed as on online game it isn't the case that you are trying to do  a real life ER. Recommended! 

🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
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Reviews by escape room review sites

When lockdowns caused a wave of play from home escape experiences to spring up, The Truth About Edith was one that really didn’t fit into any neat category. With hundreds of games now available, it remains in its own category of one, sharing elements of online, ARG and live hosted games in its own distinctive mixture.

Your job is to investigate a suspiciously energetic old lady who appears to live at the Mad Genius Escapes escape room venue. You do this primarily via a variety of websites and o...

Mad Genius Escape has a physical room called „Cat Lady“, however, “The Truth about Edith” is not the corresponding remote counterpart, which takes place in this real escape room. It is rather a hybrid – a mixture of an escape game (with game master and live actor) and an online game with many digital elements. The game is designed for exactly four players and is played via zoom.

This game felt like an audio escape, digital escape and a bit of remote escape game  hybrid (although you're not in a physical escape room setting, there is a live actor interacting with you during the game). It's truly one of its kind. We haven't seen anything like it on the market. You should definitely check it out yourself and we would love to hear your thoughts! 

It’s got cats (lots of them!), strange old ladies, and a sinister undercurrent of ‘what is this secret shadowy organisation and are they going to take over the world?’. But the real stand out about The Truth About Edith is how you play. It’s actually quite unlike any other play at home escape room I’ve ever experienced and, as such, I really struggled to put it in a ‘category’ for this review.

I really enjoyed the experience, it's so different and surprising, but it's not an escape like you're used to. Yes you have to think and combine and observe and communicate and yet it's not as immersive as you might expect.


A little old lady has a shocking secret. And twenty-four cats.

Read the full, detailed review at EscapeMattster.com ⬊

Gameplay-wise, the game is... not what I expected. I'm not quite sure of what I did expect in the first place, but hey, it wasn't that. 😅 Without saying too much, the game is mostly played throughout a number of fake websites, with a bit of real websites mixed in. You also get to meet a couple in-game characters over Zoom, but that latter tool is mostly for team communication. And you'll definitely need to communicate together, since most of the tasks & puzzles will require everyone's contribution.

From crazy cat photos, crazy cat puns and one crazy cat lady, the hour combines hiss-sterically funny gameplay and purrr-fect feline puzzles for all the family to enjoy!

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