The Mind’s Eye (Pittsburgh, Enter the Imaginarium)

Review by Michael

It is hard to find the superlatives with which to announce the advent of something like The Mind’s Eye (by Enter the Imaginarium). I imagine that, the first time audiences saw “talkies” after having only watched silent films, or color footage instead of black and white, they must have known that something significant had arrived. That’s the feeling our team had when we experienced this myth-steeped, 90 minute experience.

The only time I’ve ever experienced anything like it was shortly after begging Strange Bird Immersive to let me see Man From Beyond, even though they insisted (at that time, in 2017) that it wasn’t quite ready to open yet — what I saw was life-changing, and a defining moment in the art form, and few critics disagreed after it did open to the public. There was a sense of the stakes having risen, and of a milestone having been crossed that would one day be diorammaed animatronically on a ride like Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. Seven lucky years later, The Mind’s Eye is another such moment.

The story is as compact as any purist could wish. It won’t spoil anything to tell you that Daedalus built the single-room where it takes place.
Nor is it hubris to give him credit for doing so. Daedalus was the designer of the Labyrinth at Knossos, in Crete (which was real even if Daedalus was a myth) and there was, among some ancient civilizations, a cartographic convention of claiming to have this-or-that structure built by Daedalus (“The Aqueduct of Daedalus” or “The Bridges of Daedalus”, or whatever else), and this room — having no fear of hubris — purports to be the Escape Room of Daedalus.

Personally, I’m convinced.

I’m sure it should say 9.9 instead of 10, but that would only beg the question, “What was missing? What more could you possibly want?” And the answer is nothing and nothing, but even so there were just a couple places where (I suppose) the puzzles weren’t quite worthy of Daedalus. But the real reason it would be wrong to rate The Mind’s Eye as less than perfect is that enthusiasts, designers, and game-theorists should all be in a hurry to see this.

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