"Race To Escape" on Science Channel

[Sodboy13]

This one just crossed my path on Twitter. "Race To Escape", hosted by Jimmy Pardo, debuts Saturday night on Science. Two teams of three players, locked in separate, identical rooms, must uncover and solve a series of logic puzzles within a 60-minute time limit to unlock all five bolts on their door, and win a potential top cash prize of $25,000.

The first episode is available right now on Xfinity On Demand. It's not without its flaws, but it's definitely enjoyable.

[Thunder]

There are no original ideas left in the universe.

Three Rooms: The final test sees the players check into a hotel in Ronda, Spain. All three players are locked in separate rooms, each with a different environment, different clues and different objects and resources. All three must use what they have in their rooms to figure out how to contact the others, and escape to the lobby within 90 minutes. If all three meet Anderson within the allotted time, $75,000 is added to the pot. According to clues during the game, this test occurred on the final full day of filming, October 19, 2000. The players failed at this test.

[weaklink75]

The first ep is also online on the channel website:

http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/race-to-escape/race-to-escape-video/the-explorer-s-study/

[Brig Bother]

This was really good. Well done Americans for basically making a show in the UK style.

[Joe Mello]

Escape rooms are becoming a pop-up attraction in the States, and I imagine this is capitalizing on the trend.

[TLEberle]

It's not without its flaws, but it's definitely enjoyable.

I'm guessing our game show compasses are calibrated fairly closely so I'm curious as to what you marked as flaws. What I saw was an interesting idea done very well, with a host who is competent and doesn't intrude. The contestants are different and nobody is one that I want to stab with a fork. Given the choice of this or some of the absolute dreck that's been pumped out in the last couple of years I would take Race to Escape in a walk.

[Sodboy13]

I did feel like they gave away some of the solutions to home viewers a bit too quickly. The initial contestant intros gave me some Central Casting worries, but those really never resurfaced once the game was underway. And the "oh, by the way, we're dropping $500 for every minute after the first 20" rubbed me wrong, but that's definitely falling under minor quibbles. (For the record, I'd drop the $500 for each minute after the first 5 minutes of each puzzle. Like I said, minor.)

I've set the season pass. Since Estate of Panic isn't ever coming back, I'll gladly take this in its absence.

[TLEberle]

I did notice the "ESCAPE REWARD" on the keypad and thought it was odd that they'd bother to have that and then not refer to it at all until either 20 minutes in or the code breaker purchase, and $500 a minute is just going to get the cortisol pumping anyway because ERMAGERD losing eight dollars a second. The problem I had with the dwindling pot is similar to that of Time is Money: Hooray they get out and won $12,000. They don't get to return as champs, there's no end game so they win four thousand dollars each.

Maybe each wrong keypad guess cuts down the kitty by a thousand dollars and releases some critters into the room.