Room Escape Adventures

Lots of fun! The host Louis & the zombie Laurie were both great. It was a perfect mix of terror, puzzles, teamwork and absurdity. Highly recommend this one.

Very fun experience. We were first-​timers and had a blast with six other newbies (strangers to us before the game). Lots of laughs, some shrieks, some song and dance (this will make sense when you get there).
Big props to Lou (I think) our guide, and our zombie Laura. Played it perfectly with tongues appropriately planted in cheek.

I like to brag about the fact that I have extensive experience playing escape room games all across the country and in Canada. At the point of this review I have done approximately 55 different rooms.
Went here with a friend and did the original zombie room. We were in a group of about 10 people.
Pro’s :
Good acting by the host and the zombie. Cool waiting area and good location. Good costumes and makeup on the zombie. The review of each game player at the end of the game was a unique aspect. Watching my friend Tim dance around the room singing show tunes.
Con’s:
This is the second worst escape room game I have ever done. I hated the zombie and the room monitor with the clipboard, however that’s just my personal taste. (Escape rooms provide a much more immersive experience when you’re in the room alone with a small group of people). I wish they would offer some sort of alternative version of the room that would allow for this. The number of people in the room was far too many. The problem with larger groups is that it’s hard to communicate all the information back and forth. The puzzles are the coolest part of an escape room, and it’s nearly impossible to be involved with all of them here.
One of the coolest mechanical features of the game was not working. This simply isn’t acceptable. A previous reviewer also mentioned this problem and it’s still not fixed. The lab monitor finally had to disassemble the device and manually activate it. Can’t be more specific than that without giving it away.
We were instructed not to take apart any furniture in the room because it wouldn’t lead to any clues. My friend got chewed out because he pulled out a desk drawer, which would be a logical place for a clue. But here’s the crazy part — one of the clues was ultimately obtained by taking apart a piece of furniture in the room, which we were instructed not to do! This scripting needs to be changed.
When we arrived I brought my e-​ticket that clearly had our unique ticket number, our names, and scan code visible. However, the room monitor wouldn’t accept our ticket! This was ridiculous and embarrassing. This wasn’t directly the fault of the room monitor, but the fault of a ridiculous procedure in place by the facility manager. They have no ticket scanner, list of attendees, or anything. Huh?! (What’s the point of having a scan code or a ticket number then?!) Luckily I was able to find my confirmation email in the end and she accepted that instead of my actual ticket. Yep. That happened. Then during the player reviews she called me «sassy» in front of the entire group. Luckily, I accepted this as gentle humor. — but still. I really don’t consider myself sassy for asking why they don’t have a ticket scanner or a list of attendees who have registered. It’s 2016!
I «sacrificed» myself to the zombie on purpose in an attempt to help another player solve a puzzle. I thought that’s maybe what we were supposed to do in order to help win the game. I sat the last half of the game out watching the other players do stuff. However, this is forgivable based on my own decision to sacrifice myself.
The positive attitude of the group made this an overall good experience in the end, but I have to rate 2 stars based on all the negatives. I certainly don’t mean to come off as «sassy». ;-)

Out of eight escape rooms I’ve done in two different states — this one is one of the best. By far the best I’ve experienced in Illinois.
Rachel was our moderator and she was spunky, engaged, knowledgable, and the kind of person you wish you were friends with. Ben was our zombie, and his comedic timing and dedication to the role were impeccable.
My team was able to escape, despite it being a group of 8 friends alongside my girlfriend and I. We meshed well and enjoyed the experience.
The puzzles are tough but doable. Everything works (no missing parts or faulty tools here). The mod is super helpful without giving the answers. And a debrief at the end will ensure you have a few laughs and feel proud of whatever you contributed to the group.
Go here!!! And then you get a coupon to come back.

Went with some of our team. Highly recommended. Wasn’t expecting the breakdown at the end where the «scientist» explained each team members strengths. He was very good at ide tidying everyone’s strengths. Plus it was a lot of fun. Everyone got the opportunity to get involved and solve at least one puzzle.

Guess who managed NOT to get «EATEN» by a Zombie! Annddd my group escaped!
This was a super fun experience, and I believe EVERYONE should give this a go! It is an excellent team builder and gives you an immediate insight to someone’s personality.
I attended Room Escape Adventures Saturday evening for a close friends birthday party. We were a few minutes late starting, which was great for me because I walked in the door exactly when our reservation began.
When you first walk into the building there is a sign-​in section along with name tags. Sign-​in includes the standard email, name, and liability waiver. My group was creative with the name tags. I chose Khaleesi for myself (who better to fight a zombie, right ?).
While waiting for the event to start, KHALEESI ALMOST CHICKENED OUT. I am NOT a fan of horror movies or hunted houses, so the thought of being trapped in a room with a zombie was starting to freak me out. If you’re like me, DON’T CHICKEN OUT!!! I had nothing to be uneasy about «horror wise».
The professor was in character from SECOND ONE. He was a load of fun and made the experience even better. The professor lead us downstairs, told us Doctor Oxy’s (the zombie) story and gave us a few helpful hints before entering the room.
I AM NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING ABOUT BEING IN THE ROOM other than… have your thinking caps on, work together, wear closed toed shoes, be prepared to move quickly from time to time.
After your time is up, there is a short discussion about everything that took place in the room and a group photo (if you want) with fun zombie themed signs.
Thank you Professor and Doctor Oxy for an awesome Saturday Night!
PARKING– Street parking may be kind of hard to find, yet there is a garage on 8^th street in between Wabash and state that offers discounted parking ($ 8) later in the afternoon. The Spothero app is also always helpful to when parking downtown.

The worst escape room ever.
I demanded payment reimbursement.
An employee of the facility would go with you in the room and yell at you if he doesn’t like what you doing. They need to run a prison, not an escape room. Seem they even don’t understand the concept.

We went to Room Escape for a work event, and it was hands down the best work event I’ve been to. We did the room in the basement. There’s another room near the entry. I’d love to try that one next time.
There were about a dozen of us, and it was fun seeing how well some of us did vs. others in the group. The doctor and zombie played their parts well… which obviously made it even more fun. When we cheated, the doctor made sure to scold us in her fake British accent, which had us cracking up. We were able to get out of the room in time.
My only complaint is the room was warm and muggy. We were all in our business casual attire sweating. Is probably wear a t-​shirt and shorts next time.
Overall, great value for the experience.

We went for a team building activity on 5÷17÷2016 and had an awesome time. As others have said, the puzzles are difficult enough to be interesting but not hard enough that they can’t be solved. I’m not sure I buy the 30% success rate, I think it’s more of a 30% failure rate. At any rate, it was a great time and an excellent place for a corporate event. If you’re on the fence, pull the trigger and don’t look back.
Highly recommend! Will do again.

Great experience!!!
My wife & I survived the Zombie Apocalypse with a group of strangers and worked together to accomplish victory!
Dr Louis & Zombie Noor were fantastic and theatrical.
Great game!
I recommend this to anyone for trying something new and fun. Especially all of you Walking Dead fans out there.
Good times.
Cheers!

Me and 11 buddies went here to begin a bachelor day, and it was a great choice! From start to finish the experience was a blast. The staff is engaged and clever, the design of the space was great, and most importantly the escape room was awesome! The puzzles were challenging and cool, and it was great to work as a team and get everything accomplished. So close to the all-​time record!
Everyone kept talking about the escape room all day, and everyone agreed it exceeded expectations. I’m looking forward to doing the second room in the future! Thanks for a great experience!

I’ve seen a bunch of these room escape places but this was the first time I’ve done one. The zombie theme was great, having to avoid a zombie really amped up the intensity since you have to solve puzzles while trying to not get touched. The zombie (ours was Samantha) is on a chain that starts really short but gets longer every 5 minutes until it reaches anywhere in the room.
I went with a group of 5, and we were paired up with another 7. I wasn’t sure at first how it’d be trying to escape with people I didn’t know, but the design of the puzzles force you to work together and get to know each other quickly. The puzzles were a good level of difficulty. We escaped with 11 minutes to spare, but I can totally see how it’s possible to not figure it all out.
The two staff people were great, Samantha was the zombie, and she totally committed to the role, never broke character, and would lunge against the end of the chain when chasing people! Louis was the Dr. who oversaw the escape, and he did fantastic at explaining the game, giving a few hints, and making it a very fun experience.
I’d definitely recommend this to others, it’s a fun challenge and very different than most typical events to do with friends. If you like zombies (which, who doesn’t?) then this room is great, the zombie theme just make it a bit more fun than only having to escape.

Had a great time with friends. Very well organized and a lot of fun. We will definitely be back.

This was our first experience with an escape room (if I have learned nothing else from Unilocal!it is that apparently there are people who have done dozens of these) and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be fun. It was!
I won’t give any details to avoid spoiling things, but the puzzles are tricky but solvable, and the zombie makes the whole thing more exciting than scary. We made it out in under 50 minutes, and everyone in our group would happily do one again sometime.

Great experience. Highly recommend. This would work well, even if it’s just you and your +1 or a small group. I found that working with strangers was fun and brought a different dynamic to the mix. The time flies by fast. Kaz and Louis were great. They provided enough of a challenge to get you excited. We lost only 1 person in our group and our team succeeded.

Day 208: Room Escape Adventures: Trapped in a Room With A Zombie: For about a month leading up to my birthday, I attempted to get together a group to celebrate by doing a room escape game with each other. Frankly, I don’t think I realized how many random phobias my friends had until asking them to join this specific activity: confined spaces, time pressure, zombies, people dressed in costumes in general… It actually kind of helped put my more existential fear of aging in perspective, which was nice.
Still, 9 of my friends accompanied me on the outing. To our group was added Vince and Maria, a quite lovely couple who I’m sure were somewhat overwhelmed at being placed on a team with a group of hyperactive too-​smart-​for-​our-​own-​good UChicago affiliates. Laura, our scientist was quite dedicated to her role as game master (though, and I say this with pure love and affection, she either has the fakest-​sounding real British accent or realest-​sounding fake British accent of all time), and despite the unending string of directions, disclaimers and waivers, we were excited to be there.
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll speak in broad terms, but I think it should be worth saying that, apart from a jump scare or two, the whole thing was tense, but more humorous than frightening. Sam, our zombie, immediately got into a good rhythm and repartee with the group, and I appreciate how committed he stayed throughout the performance. Of course, dodging him meant huddling together in corners a few times, which might not have been okay if we weren’t all friends with each other. Still, the stakes felt high through all the goofiness, and it was a very good time. Also, while the puzzles were generally clever and sensical (and certainly satisfying to solve) a few technical malfunctions from fussy antique equipment did cut into our time just as we were about to escape.
But escape we did, with nine minutes to spare. At which point, the cast was gracious enough to hang out with us for a bit, and eat German Chocolate Cake together (We can only hope that a Columbia student passing by peeked in to see Zombie, Doctor, and a bunch of nerds having a birthday party together. Seriously though, Sam and Laura were great.) It made for a great end to a great day.
On the understanding that they get their Radio Shack-​era mechanical devises check out, I recommend it wholeheartedly. I prefer my silliness to be taken seriously, and Room Escape Adventures Chicago was definitely up to the task.

Came here with my team for a team building activity and did the «Trapped In a Room With a Zombie II: Still Hungry». We had 11 people and ESCAPED with over 11 minutes to spare! This was my second experience doing a room escape (the first was in LA which we didn’t escape) and it was so enjoyable! We had Laura and Carlos (?) as our scientist/​zombie and they were both great. The puzzles range from logic to teamwork to small physical tasks.
After the event is over– the scientist does a rundown of how everyone communicated/​played as a team and gives titles based off your performance.
SPOILER BELOW:
The zombie loves Michael Jackson. Come prepared to sing and dance your heart out to survive!

We had the BEST time! So hilarious and clever, and a really quick way to bond with strangers. The atmosphere is light hearted and funny but also just enough scare factor to add to the thrill. That zombie chain gets longer quickly but the actors are kind enough to give us a chance to solve the puzzles.
There was a good variety of puzzles for all types of players to solve. We didn’t escape but we got to do most of the puzzles so it was really fun. Some cardio was great on a snowy afternoon.
Pro-​tip/​spoiler: come prepared with a full song and dance catalogue!

I organized a group of 14 work colleagues to come & do this. Andy was our scientist and was excellent. This was a super event, and a brilliant team building experience. The whole team enjoyed it and I have to say, I would recommend without hesitation.
It’s also perfectly timed– 1 hour of high octane activity. 5 stars for sure!

I was here with a group this past Sunday to celebrate my 30^th birthday and we had so much fun! It was really easy to coordinate setting up a private party through e-​mail and having guests buy tickets directly on the website, with any unpurchased spots being opened up for GA sale to the public after a certain deadline date (12 to a group). You can’t enter the building until just before your showtime, so if you’re like me and like to show up early, you’ll be milling about outside until the appointed hour, when you can go inside, sign a waiver, and get a name tag.
The survival rate for Sunday was listed as only 30%, so the odds weren’t looking great when we arrived. My group was in the basement, where we locked all of our belongings in a big cabinet and listened to the instructions, which are basically, 1) Don’t break anything; 2) Don’t hurt the zombie; and 3) Don’t give up! Then it’s up to the group to get out in the allotted 60 minutes.
The first five minutes were sheer chaos as our group burst into the room and immediately began frantically rummaging about trying to locate any clues or puzzles willy nilly. The best way to inspire teamwork, however, is to ring a buzzer and have a chained zombie charge at the discombobulated group, at which point we decided to vaguely organize, start calling things out to each other, and keeping notes.
The puzzles are appropriately difficult, and I’m not sure we would have cracked some in time without a few well-​guided hints from the «Research Assistant» overseeing our session. The puzzles take all sorts of logic and skills, so it’s fun to see how people think differently and where their strengths lie as they work through the various problems and call for someone else to give it a try. Meanwhile the zombie’s chain got ever longer and we looked like the old Scooby-​Doo episodes where a dozen adults run to and fro while being chased by the bad guy.
With 2 minutes and 23 seconds left on the clock, our group pressed into various corners trying to evade the zombie’s reach, we finally got the door open and sprinted to victory just in the nick of time, after several incorrect attempts at freedom. It was definitely a last-​minute nail biter!
We then got a mini-​debriefing, where the Research Assistant told us who had filled certain team roles like «The Explorer» and «The Communicator» and so on by her notice, and got to take a group photo holding signs proclaiming our win. The zombie even sang Happy Birthday to me! My final suggestion is to bring some cash to tip the very enthusiastic and committed staff! Our group absolutely had a great time and we are already talking about attempting the second scenario «Still Hungry.» Thanks for a memorable 30^th birthday, Room Escape Adventures!