The Breakout Games

I have done two Breakout games now (Derby Heist and Kidnapping). I loved them both and think the concept of Breakout is fascinating and great fun for practically all ages. There are so many elements to the game and they are complex and interesting enough to keep you engaged for the full hour. It’s also a great activity to enjoy with people of all levels of physical abilities.
Back in August when we did Derby Heist, I did not know what to expect going in. It was a great experience and our Game Master was on top of it. He explained the game in a way that we could all understand and spoke clearly. When we had to ask for hints, he was quick to respond over the microphone and he had been paying attention and knew exactly where we were in the process and gave timely and appropriate hints.
Yesterday, when we did Kidnapping, we had a totally different experience. Our Game Master rushed through the instructions, reciting them way too fast and in an almost muffled, garbled tone. He also took great pains to tell us to put all props in a basket in the room so that he could reset the room for the next group more quickly. I get that they have a limited amount of time to reset the room, but we spent over $ 200 for a room of eight people for an hour, and it was a little off-​putting the way he lectured us about cleaning up. The most frustrating part of the experience yesterday was when the Game Master left us in the room alone to begin our task of breaking out. He is supposed to be monitoring us via camera. When we called out to him to provide a hint, he wasn’t there. We called out again and he finally responded, but he had no clue where we were in the process, so before we could get a freaking clue, we had to catch him up on where we were in the game and what we had and had not done. This happened every single time we reached out to him for a clue. It would have been a much better experience if he had simply been engaged and paying attention.
Overall, it’s a great, fresh concept that I would highly recommend for families, friends and even team-​building with work groups. And, despite the frustrations of yesterday, I will go back again. It’s truly a fun time.

I have done this twice now, island escape and kidnapped. The first time we went was on a Saturday night and we went with some friends. I booked us for a late game because I wanted to eliminate the chance of having young ones with us and be able to have adult time. Well we ended up with a family so that didn’t work out. At the end when the young lady that worked at breakout asked how it was I told her I was a bit disappointed because of my above reason. Well apparently it was a rhetorical question that she only wanted to hear a generic «great»…she got irritated with my honest answer. I was not trying to be mean or offensive I just was saying because I paid a sitter for my three kids to stay at home, I wanted to enjoy playing without kids. And let’s be real y’all, if there is a kid in the group you let them do majority of the work. We went back with our kids, haha, and lucky for other customers we were in the room just us which was great as a family team building. The kids really enjoyed it, it made them really think and made us have to work together. Noah was a great coach also! We got close but we didn’t break out! Make sure when you book your time online, especially from your phone, if you do it same day booking, their system automatically takes you to the following day!!! Be aware, we messed up a same day booking because of this and booked for the next not knowing. A great addition to Lex hopefully they will at some point add new rooms so we can continue to go back after we do them all!

Last week, with the help of seven other cunning thieves, I stole a two-​million dollar check, a Kentucky Derby trophy, and a rose blanket.
I got away with it. No one got caught or went to jail. WIN.
… Breakout Games was AWESOME.
The premise: you and a team of up to eight people are placed into a room where you have sixty minutes to solve the puzzles, get the code, and break out of the room. At Breakout Lexington, your room options are Island Escape, Casino Royale, Derby Heist, and Kidnapping. The idea of Kidnapping (being blindfolded and handcuffed… and I’m deaf) kind of freaked me out so I was quite relieved and intriuged when my group was placed in the Derby Heist room.
After an introduction and rules from our gamemaster (I believe his name was Zack?), we were locked in our room and had an hour to solve the room and break out. Throughout our time in the room, we found clues, figured out lock codes, turned off the lights, snooped around, found keys, played with bourbon bottles, solved puzzles, and so forth until we found the items and were able to break out of the room. The gamemaster watched through a camera and offered up to three clues when asked (you can just talk to the walls, basically, they hear you…). If you needed to leave for an emergency, there IS an exit button — no worries, you’re not REALLY locked in. None us needed to leave, though. We wanted to stay and win!
I was glad to get my brain working towards a fun solution. What a great team-​building activity! In our group, we all alternated between working on separate puzzles and coming together to work on the same one. I can’t speak for everyone, but I felt some kind of strange bond to the other people in my group. I mean, we all did this TOGETHER… and we were kind of strangers, some of us. Also, *HIGH-​FIVE* to the Derby Heist team for breaking out in less than forty-​five minutes!
If you are unable to solve the room, they’ll walk through it with you and show all the solutions, which I appreciate.
Breakout Games DOES sound kind of pricey at $ 22-​$ 24 per person, and the hour goes kind of fast, but it’s a great experience to have once or twice if you can.
I’m sooooo eager to come back with my friends, my chuch group, my coworkers, whoever!

We did the Casino Royale room. They say it’s the hardest and we made it out!!! This was an absolute blast. If you enjoy puzzle solving, you will probably like this. Can you beat the clock?
Now which room will I try next? :-)

This was fun!
The game was challenging and it was refreshing to do something different.

Took the kids and my sister for a night of fun. While I felt it was a bit pricey (especially with a family of 5) it was fun. With the cost being what it is, this is not something I can do monthly with my family. It will be reserved for special occasions.
The staff was friendly. They kept it going.
Even my youngest (9) participated. He was thrilled. Glad to have this in Lexington.

This was our first Breakout adventure, and we participated and beat the Derby Heist in about 50 minutes!
Obviously, I don’t want to spoil any of the fun so I’ll refrain from giving my useful descriptive review and just say this the Breakout games are quite fun and challenging! We were stumped several times throughout, and it was really fun to stop and figure things out.
However, I have a recommendation for future patrons. Do everything you can to fill up the room with people you know! Ask Breakout Games how many people are meant for that particular room, since it varies between 6 – 10. We went as a party of 6 for a friend’s birthday, but the room was for 8 people. So Breakout Games stuck two extra people in with us, which was slightly awkward for us and them. The other couple with us was very pushy and took control of the room/​game. This made the experience less than enjoyable for some in our party.
Additionally, they stuff too many people into one room. Honestly, these rooms are best suited for 5 – 6 people at most. With 8 people, there were times were 2 – 4 people were just standing around. Another reason why I think it’s best to go with people you know. Breakout Games could easily fix this by allowing large groups a «private» room.
Overall, I think it’s a fun experience and I would do it again!

I had a blast at the breakout games with my friends! I love to throw murder mystery parties so this type of thing is right up my alley. The game master leads you into a room decorated according to the theme of the game you are playing and you solve a clue or puzzle to get to the next one until you finally break out. The game master watches you on a video camera and will give you three hints throughout the game. You just call out loud to ask for his help.
We did the casino room and our game master said that he thinks that it is the most difficult room. I can’t wait to try the others. This is a great group activity.

This is one of the most original ideas in Lexington and it is so much fun. It’s full of entertainment, laughter and most importantly, it makes you think outside of the box. Everyone I was with loved it. We did the kidnapping and we crushed it. We survived with 7 minutes and 5 seconds left!

This was fun! This was our first adventure, we chose the derby heist. This seemed fitting since the Belmont races were going on. We didn’t break out in time but were pretty close. We had 2 out of the 3 items needed. Staff was very friendly and the place was clean. Highly recommended for a small group outing.

This is a blast! We did the kidnapping. There were 3 of us and we didn’t make it out but we’re close. The clues were challenging yet doable. This is perfect for a group of friends, staff, or any team building activity. The staff is friendly and helpful. Check this place out!

What a great idea. The staff was fantastic. My misconception was that the experience would be scary or claustrophobic. It is neither of these things. It was really cool and most definitely worth a shot. Bring your brainy friends. You will need them. I hope the expand to my area. I’d send all of my friends there!

During a short visit to the Lexington area, I was looking for something different to do with my wife. Based on other reviews on Trip Advisor & Unilocal I scheduled a visit to Breakout Games.
in keeping with a horse themed vacation we did the Derby Hiest. It was a lot if fun & challenging. It was just my wife and I trying to «breakout» which put us at a slight disadvantage and as a result we did not «breakout». We were told that we made it further that any 2 person group before and further than several groups with more people.
We had so much fun we went back the following night and was able to get in at the last minute with a husband & wife with their two kids (8 & 10 year old). We did a different theme and broke out with 3 minutes to spare!
Lots of fun, wish there was a place like this where I live!

My ten year old daughter and I did the island escape this afternoon. Very challenging but the staff assisted us with some clues. The setup is very cool, and the staff were extremely nice. We were both frantic toward the end. We were about three steps from escaping. Will definitely go back for the other experiences. My daughter has been raving about it since we left.

You’ve got your family, friends, and/​or coworkers (a minimum of 2, maximum of 8 per group) and one hour to solve the clues to «break out.»
You can choose from two different scenarios: saving the derby by retrieving the stolen prizes or being kidnapped and locked inside a room by a killer with an impending return. They are adding two more room options soon; one called «Casino Royale» and the other island based.
I went tonight with a group of five and despite the frustration that comes with solving mysteries, we enjoyed it and shall return for the other room option!
It’s fun, brain-​racking, and set up well. It’s a really cool concept and I’m glad Lexington has something like this as of January 2015, especially with it drawing in a lot of business and happy customers.
*Any players under 18 without a parent need a signed waiver that can be printed out at home! It’s a decent $ 20 per person and it is recommended to get there 10 – 15 minutes earlier than the reservation time you made when you purchase your booking online. You do not have to buy your group’s reservation all at once but do make sure you purchase them separately (if that’s how you’re paying!) at the same time.
You’ll be asked at the end if you wish to take a picture and you can hold up a sign with your room’s name on it and a «So Close!» or «We broke out!» sign and they’ll post it to their social media pages.
The staff was very friendly and engaging. I recommend checking it out, especially if you enjoy online games like this.
I can’t wait to see how they grow and improve from this starting point!