Escapism Puzzle Room

Fun! Wanted to do «something» for a birthday with friends before dinner. It was a novel experience, and an hour is just the right amount of time to stay «in the game». We were paired with another foursome and had a great time. Made it out of Gallery 3919 with 7 minutes to spare.

I got a great deal on Groupon & it came out to be $ 16.50/person with a voucher for 6 people!
Gallery 3919 was so much fun! We had Valeria & Lauren (?) as game masters & they were so friendly & funny! We began in the main room with Valeria explaining what to expect & what to not do, & pay close attention to what not to do because stupid me did something that was considered cheating! Sorry again Valeria! I must say, the set up of the main room was super cute & reminded me of what the 1920s probably looked like with vintage photos on the wall & a grandfather clock. Before going into the Room, we were able to put our belongings in lockers which made each of us feel safe. & then, the Escape Game began!
This was my 3^rd Escape Game & I highly recommend it! All of the puzzles were fun & definitely made the gears in your brain turn. We were allowed 3 clues if necessary. Pay very close attention to detail! & be prepared for several exciting surprises! We beat the game with 7 minutes to spare, woot woot!
I will definitely come back to do their other Escape Game, the «Attic».
(They have a deal with your Unilocal check in that gives you the opportunity to win a gift certificate for 4 people for the Attic. However, we were informed that it was not available.)

Loved it — one hour of fun and puzzles — of course it can be shorter if you are really fast with puzzles :). I am looking forward to try other rooms (I played Gallery room).

As this was my first escape room adventure, I was not sure what to expect. I was a little concerened about the location at first, I thought maybe I was in the wrong spot, but that soon changed as I walked inside. The entrance is a quaint little room, but the waiting room was quite large. The furniture was fancy, and there was a chess table, which was pretty cool. The room itself was decorated like an art gallery, which is all done by a local artist here in San Diego. The puzzles themselves were not «too» challenging, but just enough. As we had a group of four, we were partnered with four strangers. At first, I was a little wrorried, but we ended up working well together. Being that we didn’t know the other group, it was nice to be able to get their perspectives and ideas. Overall, it was a very fun experience, and I would definitely do this again. Our hostess was awesome (I think her name was Lauren?) and was very helpful. Great place to have an hour of fun and exercise your brain just a bit.

This was my second escape room and it was very fun! The puzzles were challenging, but they are definitely do-​able. My group made it out with just two minutes to spare!
The reason I did not give this 5 stars was because the storyline is pretty lacking. The gamemaster we had prefaced the storyline video by saying «it’s fake» which kind of ruined my ability to get into the whole scenario. Obviously it’s fake, but you don’t need to say so!
The video itself set a premise that ultimately did not connect to the game itself very much. I just think the story line could be better thought out on this one.
Overall though, it’s a super fun room. And the building itself is beautiful. The lobby is well decorated, the board games are fun, and everyone working was nice. Can’t wait for the attic to open!

It was fun, definitely going to recommend to Friends and Family. Thank you
Oh and forgot to mention that we escaped!!!

This was the first escape room I ever did, and it is still one of my favorites. It got me interested in doing more, and I can’t wait to try their second room when it opens. It is very creative, great for groups (we did it with 6 people). There isn’t much of a story so it just throws you in to start, but the progression of what happens in the room is very engaging and creative. It seems like the hosts love their job and want you to have a great experience.

This was my very first puzzle room, and I found a great deal on Groupon which is how I ended up in Hillcrest at Escapism. I barely ever leave North County, but I’m so happy I ventured out of my bubble because this was so fun!
We were set up in the lobby for a few minutes beforehand (they ask you to come 20 minutes ahead of your start time), and met the other people in our group. I came with my husband, and there were 6 other people for 8 of us total.
Once it came time to play, we were put into a 25×15 foot room with a couple of instructions and then off on our own for an hour. From there you have to find clues to unlock a bunch of boxes, each box holding a clue to allow you to proceed. If you get stuck, you can call one of the gamemaster’s to provide a hint, up to four times. We used two clues.
My group made it out with 21 minutes left to spare! We were told that that was pretty impressive, as the stats for the room were only 30% made it out, and the majority of those were in the last 5 minutes.
It was a fun, unique experience. Only bummer is once you’ve done one room, that’s pretty much it. They do have one other room at this venue with another one on the way.

Came here for a work team building event. We wanted a change from the usual happy hour and with all the puzzle rooms popping up we thought hey we are all smart people we could do this. Plus it was motivation to beat out other co-​workers’ time who have gone (and we did in 37 minutes!).
The place is cutely decorated, themed (Art Gallery), clean and the staff is friendly. Think Sudoku and similar mind games. You have an hour to complete the game, and not all puzzles have to be solved. You just want to escape. Once that’s solved, you get a key or other puzzle pieces to solve the rest. Not a lot of high tech gadgets but still pretty fun. There are tons of different locks and different parts of the room that you wouldn’t even think are part of the puzzle but are.
Tip: Have everyone in your group disperse and solve puzzles. Plus each piece and key will work for something. Reserve a room and also Groupon or Living Social for any escape room deals that are available.

This was our 2^nd experience with an «escape room» definitely an awesome opportunity for fun.
First of all, I was thrown off by the location. But once we got to the place it was beautiful. The decore and setup was nice. Secure locker for your cell and junk. The introduction to rules and how to were concise and clear.
2^nd the room itself was well thought out and fun to do.
We can’t wait for the next room to open up.

So here are all the secrets to the puzzles: KIDDING. I wouldn’t do that. I want you to suffer just as much as I did.
I did think this was incredibly fun, though… and if Escapism can entertain four married couples in a somewhat competitive environment with ZERO fighting, then they are doing something right.
I can’t wait to try some of the other puzzle rooms in the area.
BRAVO!

Came here after my husband purchased a groupon and had a fantastic experience! We came with another couple who had never been to a puzzle room before; we had only been to one other one on a trip to Vancouver and were excited to try a local one.
We were paired with another group of 4, which I actually did not like, though I understand why they do that since they only have one room and they need to fit more people in per hour. The setup for the room appeared pretty minimal at first but as the puzzles unfolded it felt more and more complex. There were plenty of puzzles and it was really really fun.
Why 4 stars instead of 5? One thing I liked that they didn’t do here was having the staff really act in character. They seemed really bored and it kind of took away from the overall experience, whereas at the other place the enthusiasm of the employees made it extra awesome. The size of the group and the playing with strangers was kind of annoying. If you get unlucky the people you get teamed up with could really ruin the experience as well.

I found this venue on Groupon, and took the bait of how trendy and intriguing this activity is. 5 of my coworkers and I tried this out one evening, not knowing what to expect at all. One of the group was worried that she would feel claustrophobic being «locked in». When we got there, we were given instructions to lock away our belongings including cell phones, and were told that we would work together to try and make our way out of the locked art gallery setting in an hour. We were told it was a 40% success rate, so we were pretty determined to win! We were glad that, despite the maximum possible 8 guests in a room at once, we didn’t have to work with 2 strangers.
I won’t spoil anything about the actual play. We did make it, though! And fortunately, my one coworker did not feel claustrophobic. It was a fun experience; whoever came up with the riddles and clues thought out the process well. Afterwards we got to pose with the studio’s props and got our bragging rights. For less than $ 20 a person, this was a great group/​team-​building activity.
The only cons I’d point out are that the gameplay isn’t very polished. Twice during our hour, we were joined by one of the puzzle masters because they saw us struggling through their camera and realized some objects that were supposed to react a certain way to us solving clues didn’t. Our time didn’t get paused or anything during this, so we would have been less pleased if we had lost because the game malfunctioned. It wasn’t a huge deal, and I know they said they are working on it. Also, I really wanted water during the waiting period. They’re strict about arriving on time, so I was concerned I wouldn’t have time to go down the block to get some before coming back. It’d be nice if they had a cooler or even mini bottles for guests. But when I asked about it one of the puzzlemasters said they are working on that as well.
Parking is typical Hillcrest mania; if you’re lucky you can find a spot within 2 blocks on surrounding streets. Gameplay being under 2 hours helps for making sure you’re not overstaying in your parking spot!
Overall, I would come back to Escapism. The fun and all the pros outweigh the cons. They said they are working on new rooms, so, my team and I will be back to beat them!

So much fun! If you’re choosing between puzzle rooms this is a great one! We reserved their two rooms (large room and their newly-​opened attic) for a set of birthdays a couple weeks ago. 5 of us were locked in the small attic, and the rest (~9) in the larger room. Attic FTW, of course! Made it out with 15min to spare :)
Of course you can’t share too much about the specific puzzles, but we were very impressed with the variety of puzzle types we had to complete here. There really was something for everyone. Just make sure you listen to the host’s directions (there was a long delay before we started, due to the group ahead of us destroying something they weren’t supposed to touch) and communicate. I could see this being a great team-​bonding activity for work groups, or even a date night activity. Highly recommend! Make sure you get here early to deal with parking in Hillcrest and check-​in.

Pros/​overall experience
This was a great team building event. It was one of the best for bigger groups and they let my team of 7 participate all together. I really had no idea what to expect, but they made the concept simple. There are about ten boxes that you need to get through and various clues around the room and in the boxes to help you get the keys. We didn’t end up escaping in time.
Tips
–The puzzle master does give hints.
–it’s upstairs in a complex at the top of the stairs
–Use the restroom in the facility before doing the room.
–Also… If you get claustrophobic or something you can get out the original door, just aren’t allowed back in.
–lots of groupon deals, best price in the area
Cons
–Technically you can’t have any alcohol prior per the rules. This isn’t a con necessarily but just be aware.
–I couldn’t get ahold of them prior. It’s a Google voice number and no response to email. I did everything online which was ok but I had some questions since I was bringing my work team in
–spelling errors on the confirmation email

Awesome experience! Super friendly staff, all of whom were very helpful. Our group of 8 decided to try out this escape room and were greatly pleased.
We did the Art Museum escape room, and there was a great number of puzzles for our group to solve. There were a number of very innovative and unique puzzles, and it also had a good number of creepy, twists and turns (although nothing scary)! I would love to explain more, but I don’t want to give anything away.
We had to use one hint, but we made it out with 15 minutes to spare. Definitely looking forward to trying their next room.

This. Was. So. Much. Darn. Fun!!! There were four of us in our group (Thank you Groupon!); two in our 30’s and two in their late 50’s.
While waiting our turn to go in, two more couples showed up. My (uncharitable) thoughts were– «Oh, no! They better not put us with other people! I’m Type A and don’t work well in groups. Plus other people would take away my fun and solve all the puzzles!» Oh lord, I had no idea!
First, they DID make us all play together. But thank goodness they did!!! Not only was it fun to interact (I genuinely liked the other people) with other humans outside my close-​knit circle, but the puzzle was HARD! On the drive there I was thinking how embarrassing it would be for the employees when my savvy group of four solved it in 20 minutes. We are a group of puzzlers, readers, and mystery fans. Are you getting the idea how narcissistical I am in regards to my puzzle abilities? Good. Because I’m sure some of you reading this think just like me. And you’re WRONG! The eight of us solved this puzzle with only three minutes and twenty-​two seconds to go!
When I first walked in the THE ROOM, I felt a bit let down. It wasn’t what I was expecting. But just wait! Well no, don’t wait– SOLVE! It’s anything but basic!
I don’t remember a lot of details– there was people working on different things at the same time. At one time I believe we had three different clues being worked on. I wish I could go back and string it all together in order. It would be fun to reserve the room for a block of hours and see how long it takes to solve it with 1 or 2 people.
The two women working were amazing. And they were right there watching the whole time. We needed to use a hint, and when we all raised our hands for it, they came immediately. I bet it’s fun to watch on the monitors!
They have a scoreboard in the front hall that shows a group of Girl Scouts even solved the room with time remaining!
I cannot like this enough! I want to live it, I want to BE it. Haha. GO GO GO! You will not be sorry!

We immediately felt a sense of dread when we saw that a Boy Scout troop comprised of 12-​year-​olds made it out of the room and onto the record board (youngest team). I mean, yeah sure they’re Boy Scouts and they damn well better be resourceful in case they encounter a bear or something, but they’re 12. If we don’t get out of this room, man do we look like idiots.
Turns out it was an honorable mention, adult stupidity crisis averted.

We had a blast at Escapism! It was my groups first time doing an «escape room» so we didn’t know what to expect. You get exactly 1 hour to try and complete your mission. The escape room itself was challenging and full of surprises. There were 8 of us total and it definitely took teamwork! We escaped with only a few minutes to spare. The staff was really friendly, I would highly recommend!
Note: As of Sept 2015 they have a Groupon which will save you $$.

Wanted to check a puzzle place out and found this one in Hillcrest.
If you are looking for a fun one hour activity this is the place. I wasnt sure what to expect, except that it was going to have clues, puzzles and be filled with brain busters.
This place is exciting and great for a group activity. This is def challenging but yet very fun. I dont want to give too much away so I will just say that I DO recommend this and it was a great activity. We did the ‘gallery’ room and really enjoyed it!