Escape MKE

Excellent birthday party. A little skeptical at first but was totally excited. Very well put together and staff was into the game as well and very professional. Would highly recommend for a business team building event. We will be going back for the other «rooms».

Absolutely amazing! I can’t say enough amazing things about this! This was such a fun an different thing to do with my family. I laughed so hard as my parents tried to figure out clues as well. The guys that ran it were very sweet and it was great how much everyone got into it!

I had a fantastic time team-​building with staff at Escape MKE! My mission, James Bomb, was very interesting and the hour flew by super fast. The staff are hilarious and very helpful, and they also throw hints around if you are stuck in your mission. The only complaint I have was that one of the parts of the mission was impossible to complete, even after the mission was done and an employee was trying to show us how it worked. All in all, I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for an investigative thrill!

Went with a group of 4 the other night. We did the James Bomb room. Overall, it was just the right amount of challenging, we finished with about 15 minutes to spare. It was entertaining, I think we would all do it again with a different storyline/​setup.
The only thing they could improve on is letting people in the door at the right time. We waited outside for 20 minutes before being let in because we were the recommended 15 minutes early…

This was a super fun place to go! Especially for team building with a bigger group.
We did one of the rooms. the «James Bond» (we were told this was the harder one) and the 60 min they give you go quick!
Others did a lot of the heavy lifting cuz it was pretty hard! Not so hard that we didn’t get close to getting the bomb disabled. But it wasn’t easy!
They do tell you to get there 15 min early but I’d take that with a grain of salt… they ran a little behind schedule.
Some important notes:
–our room had everyone handcuffed to start. They are real handcuffs so make sure they aren’t too tight!
–its probably better with a big group (7 or more). I heard they split up smaller groups)
–Some rooms could get warm so don’t dress too warmly
–There’s a panic button to unlock the door but if you choose that route, the adventure is over for your whole team.
It’s on the 3^rd floor in the Forum office building next to the Aurora urgent care on Mayfair Rd.
I highly recommend!

Totally awesome. We barely made it, 52 seconds to spare! To our credit we didn’t get any clues. Definitely doing more escape rooms.

Wasn’t at first what I expected but maybe that’s what they wanted… Went to a building that was unmarked, and it was just a tiny office in a big building. I’m pretty sure it was a staff of 3 but they were quite entertaining, kind of cheesy at times… When in the escape room, didn’t think anything of it but there was so much to put together I was glad I was with my group. It was so much more than a room! Had a blast, and would definitely recommend the 007. Wasn’t what I expected but had a lot of fun!

We were in the Milwaukee area for the weekend and looked for something unique to do in the area. Found this through a Google search and it was a great find. The hour to escape went by fast; whole experience was a lot of fun. Highly recommend!

I’m an escape room fanatic and this review is tailored more towards those who have done them before (I realize there are only a few in Milwaukee!). Before I give my review, let me just say that if you’ve never done one, I absolutely recommend it, and if you’re in Milwaukee you don’t have a lot of options, so go for it here!
I live in Los Angeles but did the James Bomb room when I came home for a wedding. I am very spoiled by the 20+ rooms I’ve done in in LA, but still — I would say this room is OK at best.
The production design leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a James Bond theme but I found myself asking why 80% of the props were in there. I won’t spoil anything, but the set design seemed very random and lazy. There are a couple very cool elements but the atmosphere was mostly nonexistent for me.
There were also major issues with several of the puzzles. Even after figuring them out, the logic never really made sense to us.
But again, I’m a total escape room snob and have very strong opinions on this stuff — I encourage you to go just because I want a hundred escape rooms in every city I go to — I will be back to do the other room as well as any others that pop up in MKE!

This is a great team building activity for friends, families and coworkers. We had a great time figuring out clues, codes, riddles and locks! The James Bond mission was great! We had a successful mission, but be warned, it is very common to be blown up by the bomb. So, make sure your thinking caps are on and have fun!

This was our first escape room. My kids gave us this for my Mother’s Day gift. (They are totally addicted to these rooms and have done them in L.A. and in Norway and Sweden.) We took another couple with us and were paired up with 4 other people. There were 8 people in a room.
It was a lot of fun and VERY challenging. Like the other reviews, I will complain that the room got WAY too hot with 8 people. We wondered if that was part of the stress, but I don’t think so. Climate control would have made the experience much better.
I can’t tell you too much because it’s possible to spoil the experience. But I would HIGHLY recommend doing this. Such a fun thing to do before dinner. (Pro tip: Download the NoWait app and get in line for the new Pizza Man Tosa location before you go in your room. It’s very close and a great place for dinner afterwards.) Talking about the experience is really half the fun.
I just love the idea that a non-​drinking social activity is becoming super popular. Brain power!

This was my first time at an escape room, and it was really lots of fun. I went with a group of 3 and we were paired with 6 other random people, but we all worked together to tear apart the room and solve the puzzles.
Escape MKE is located in a large office building. There is no sign, so make sure you look for the address of the building. They’re on one of the upper floors and the only sign marking their location within the building is a piece of 8×11 paper that someone printed off a computer. The door was even locked when we got there, so either call the number on there or knock really loud.
Finally, once you get inside, you get down to business and it’s pretty cool. I won’t give any secrets away, but just be thorough in your searches.
I did Mr. Dupree’s room which is great for a first timer. I will say, 9 people was a little too crowded though. I think it would be better to try and get in with a group of 4 – 6 people. Otherwise, things are just very chaotic.

This review contains NO spoilers.
Yep, three stars. For those who know me may ask, «Dustin, wattaya doing? How can you give this place only 3 stars when you have never gone to one of these escape rooms before?» Well son (*sound of a beer can cracking open*), let me tell ya…
I have never done this before, and it was undoubtedly fun. After a short briefing, I was dumped into «Mr. Dupree’s Office» with 10 people set to solve a mystery. There were some cool creative clues we had to crack and some really awesome surprises. I love tough challenges, and this certainly was a challenge. I highly recommend trying one of these places out.
This is my first mystery room experience, but I could tell there were several things that could have been done better. 10 people in that one room was too chaotic. I signed up with a group of 5 friends, but we were placed with another group of 5 strangers. If there were less people tackling this mystery, communication would have be much easier. The room started off at a comfortable temperature, but we were sauna-​ing after 40 minutes in. It felt like they were too lazy to schedule 2 groups at 2 different time slots.
The overall feel of the mission and setup felt staged. Yeah yeah, I know it WAS staged, but there were so many little details that could have made this mystery so much more realistic. You could tell where previous groups have ransacked the area and jostled items around. I can’t say much more since I do not want to give anything away. Overall, it feels like I’m eating Qdoba when I could be having Chipotle. You true Chipotle fans out there know what I’m talking about.
TLDR: you gotta try it out, but could have been done better

I’d heard of Escape MKE and was intrigued, but as usual, I didn’t know when I’d get a chance to try it out. Luckily I was invited to join a few other Unilocalers a few weeks back. I was nervous when I read the waiver we had to sign. I was releasing the company of liability from Blindness? Death? What did my friend get me into!!!
Cost was around $ 30 per person. Keep your eyes open for Groupons. I believe participants must be at least 13 years old. Verify that if you’re considering a family outing.
I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard a little bit about it and saw a spoof about it on The Big Bang Theory.
The group size is typically 8 – 10. There were 5 in our group and we were paired up with a group of 5 individuals (seemed like a family and the friend of one of the kids) to work the mission.
We started in a board room and were given a file of information. We good not take the information with us and were told to memorize as much as we could because there could be clues within the file. Our mission was to gather evidence and find our way out of the room we were about to enter.
Next we entered a room, maybe 8ft by 10ft or a little larger, but with 10 of us, it felt a little tight and the temperature picked up from the body heat and probably the anxiety.
Half way through our one hour time limit, it seemed hopeless. There were 5 – 6 different combination locks and numbers were every where, but most meant nothing. One clue led us to a hidden button, which popped a hidden door open to another room where some of the group searched for more clues. Occasionally, the TV monitor on the wall would chime and a hint would post to help us with the mission.
Progress was made little by little. Maybe there was a chance, but were were running out of time — quickly!
With just over 30 seconds to go, a key lock was cracked and a chest was opened. The lever was pushed and the door popped open. We were free.
The moderator gathered the evidence we collected and pronounced us as among the 35^th-​ish percentile to successfully complete the mission.
I had a great time and would do it again. It’s a nice change of pace activity to consider, but I highly recommend doing your best to fill all of the slots with your own crew. The other group was fine, but we would have had even more fun if we didn’t team up with people we didn’t know.

Escape MKE was a BLAST! Every member of my group loved it and we can’t wait to go back to try the other room. The young man who was working on the Sunday that we played was a great host. He made the experience even more fun.

Great idea. Really enjoyed the process of finding clues and trying to get out. I am looking forward to trying the James Bond experience!!!

I do have something to compare this escape room to because I did this once last year in San Francisco. So, the bar was set and I was excited to try Milwaukee’s version.
The building is an office building with no signage, so don’t worry, you’re at the right place :) When you get upstairs, they’ll have you sign a waiver and provide lockers for you.
Then, you get briefed (we didn’t get any paperwork to review beforehand in San Francisco — it was straight to the room!).
The other things that are different in Milwaukee versus San Francisco were for one, all the never-​ending combination locks. There wasn’t much variety. It was combination lock after combination lock and a couple of key locks. That it. Wish they could be more creative.
Another thing is that some clues are provided from a monitor in the room. Also wasn’t done in SF and I felt like we shouldn’t need clues from a TV screen. The clues should be embedded in the room well enough for us to not require looking at a monitor.
Also different were the «fake» clues. As it was everything was a combination number lock so it was kind of annoying to get even more number clues that were red herrings. Numbers, numbers, numbers…
At the end we were asked a question. This was also odd. If we made it out of the room, that should be it! Done! We solved it ’cause we got ourselves out! BUT… the asked us a couple questions. Bor-​ring. We got them right, but I just thought it didn’t make sense when we got out with 30 seconds to spare. To think we still weren’t considered success stories after all that!
I’d give it a 3.5.
It was a lot of fun, but again I have something to compare it to that I thought was done much better in terms of the puzzle creativity and getting there hitting the ground running and getting done and the rush of getting out and being instant winners (the rush dies when you have to sit at a table and start answering questions).
Side Note: they pair you up with strangers if the room isn’t filled to capacity by your group. Strangers could be fun or annoying depending on how they play and their communication style (or lack thereof). 10 People was pretty damn tight for Mr. Dupree’s room. It got really hot and sometimes crowded.

Escape MKE is the first of its kind to hit Milwaukee. For those unfamiliar with the escape room concept, it is based off a video game where you look around the room for objects/​clues to hopefully crack the code and get you out of a room. There is definitely a lot of room for creativity.
It is located in an office building. Honestly, you would miss it if you didn’t know what you were looking for. It definitely adds a bit of mystery.
This was my first experience with an escape room. Without giving too much away for those who want to partake in the same scenario, a group of 5 of us did «Mr. Dupree’s Office.» We were searching for some evidence as well as trying to escape the room before the 60 minutes were up.
The room is set up for a group of 4 — 10. Honestly, I think 4 – 6 would have been the perfect size. With 10 people in the room, it was too crowded and we were «re-​finding» a lot of things. I also think you should be able to work the room with just your group even if you don’t hit the 10 person max (they mix groups together). Maybe there is a way to do this, but wasn’t communicated to us. I would probably ask next time.
Mr. Dupree’s Office was challenging mostly in one aspect. I think it would have been good to mix in other challenges for different types of people.
I assume that every 6mo to a year or so, they will cycle through different rooms and scenarios.
I’m in full support of Escape MKE. I’d definitely like to get a group of friends to tackle the James Bomb room together. Hope you’re here to stay!

When it says it’s full of «clocks, locks, and secret passageways» they weren’t kidding. Our group of 5 was paired with another group of 5 people. We did the «Mr. Dupree» activity which was the easiest one for first timers. It definitely wasn’t easy though. Only about a 31% completion rate.
We had a great time looking for clues, opening safes and working together!!! Definitely recommend this activity for anyone looking to have a good time with a group of friends while working the brain a little.
$ 30 for about an hour and very easy to book online. Make sure you complete the waiver online prior to arrival though or it slows down the check-​in process.

I think I found my new favorite non-​free social activity. It’s a great way to do something with friends that involves actually moving around some and talking: more activity than going to the movies, interesting conversation, and a healthy challenge.