My family and I were so excited to come here and try out a new escape room and we're super disappointed at how quickly we were able to solve this(we chose the "hardest" level). Important to note that my family and I are escape room casuals and love to do them when we get the chance, but we managed to finish this in 15 minutes. I will say that I loved how immersive it was, the attention to detail, and the world building but it still wasn't enough to justify the cost. I think I wouldn't be as disappointed if we had done the three room pass but at the time we didn't quite understand how that worked(you are able to do all three escape rooms on your visit). It's definitely worth a try but I think it's best to go in with lower expectations if you're a seasoned escape room go-er. read more

Went here for a first date, and honestly the only thing we needed to escape from was this knock- off escape room. The puzzles were cheesy and half the props were broken. Staff seemed as uninterested in assisting us as I was being on this date. My date was actually great, which made it even worse, because it proved he has terrible taste in activities. Nothing humbles you faster than realizing a man you like brought you to the world's saddest escape game. Anyway, the room was so bad that instead of escaping the clues, I escaped him. I had to ghost because if he chose this, what would be next? The whino bar on "rock n roll" night? (see link for details: https://yelp.to/DaRWMq6UEE ) Do not recommend. The venue, I mean. The guy was sweet, but of course, questionable judgment. I did like the dragon, though. read more

*Nov 17th Update: the business contacted me and refunded me our experience which I feel was a great show of responsibility. Very professional* Bottom line: disappointing and not worth the money. I liked the Dragon though. First, we arrived early as instructed, to be told by staff that our reservation would be delayed about 20 minutes. We watched another group begin our experience at our reserved time. It seems as if we were double booked with another group. In the waiting area the furniture was broken, the bathrooms needed attention and the lockers were also broken. Once inside the games it became very clear that puzzle solutions like levers, buttons, dials and lights were not operational. We spent several minutes in both of the rooms waving at the camera asking for help to proceed (no one was watching) and at one point I even left the room looking for staff but saw none. Eventually the games would just continue on their own to keep us moving. I notified the uninterested staff about the broken game features. It's pretty clear that the staff knows that the features are broken but it's bad business to knowingly charge people for a broken experience. As someone who has done a few escape games this was very frustrating. There was no real challenge and even with the broken game delays we finished two experiences in about 40 minutes. IF everything was operational this might be fun for a group of 10-12 years olds but if you're looking for a challenging puzzle adventure this is not it. read more

I've been 3 times I like it good clean family fun . Staff very friendly and graceful . They seem like true gamers. I only removed one star because I think the games should be updated more regularly. This location can be difficult to find arrive early to find parking read more

Overpriced for the short length. During our experience several of the puzzles did not work or were incorrect. At one point we needed to match the colors of puzzle pieces to a sequence of lights and there were several pieces/lights that would not match- this was not a skill issue on our part, there were lights that did not match any pieces of the puzzle. read more

5 Wits was a fantastic immersive experience with great sets and one of the best staffs I've ever encountered. We reserved over a month ago; unfortunately I realized I'd booked the wrong date and they were very easy going about changing the date. When we arrived they had beautifully themed seating areas while we waited for our first game (Drago's Castle). The sets in Drago's were great but the special effects leading in (and one at the very end!) really blew us away. The puzzles were somewhat on the easy side, and a few seemed deliberately timed to slow you down so you don't run into other groups, but were still satisfying. Our second game, Espionage, had even more obvious speed bumps (and even then at one point we were explicitly told we were waiting for the group in front of us to finish the next room) but that just boosted our egos. Unfortunately our second game had two technical errors that, while still allowing us to complete the game, did lower our scores. Even so, I'm giving 5 stars due to how well the staff handled the situation going, IMHO, above and beyond. It was not five stars in the sense of everything going perfect but definitely five stars in terms of our satisfaction with our experience, especially at this price point. We went to dinner in the mall, then came back and did the final room, Tomb. I thought this was the most forced of all the puzzles but the best of all the sets. We enjoyed it. Overall we had a great time. The puzzles are definitely on the simpler side; if you're used to more convoluted escape rooms this... isn't it. They're definitely oriented towards children and it shows with most of the puzzles. That said, there's enough going on for adults to have fun. The sets are absolutely gorgeous and the effects are very well done; immersion is definitely the highlight of the experience. The only downside I would say is that the storytelling choices they talk about aren't much really. Despite their claims of replayability, I can't imagine through the rooms a second times. I would also disregard the recommended group size. We had five people and in a few places were almost tripping over each other; there are no parallel puzzles so once you get past four people there just isn't enough for everyone to do. I'm sure that's fine for kids groups (we saw several birthday parties) where they're happy just to run around the sets, but for adults it would be very disappointing. I can definitely recommend 5 Wits as a light escape room-like experience with great atmosphere and immersion. Definitely good for kids and for the right adults. If they bring in additional rooms we would return, but until then we're happy to recommend to others. read more

Fun place! My husband and I went in November 2025 and had a blast! The Egyptian and Dragon themes were my favorites. Very interactive and cool experience in Arlington. read more

We had an amazing time at 5Wits! It's not quite an escape room, but more of an immersive experience with puzzles that you solve as a team. We did all three rooms, and each one had fantastic design--honestly, better than some escape rooms we've been to. While the puzzles might be easier for older kids or adults, they were perfect for our group, which had kids ranging from 8-13. The staff was super helpful and made the experience even more enjoyable. Overall, it was a great family adventure. I would note that it is a bit pricey for the amount of time you will be in each room. It took us about 35-40 minutes for each experience. read more

The experience was a great team building effort and competition between teams. The team of Tristen, Solomon and Maya made it even more fun! read more

5 Wits Arlington - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Been wanting to come here ever since hearing of it opening. I've always been interested in escape rooms but this is something different. We booked the Espionage experience and since it was a Monday afternoon it was not busy at all. I won't give away much but it was pretty fun concept, doing the whole spy thing. It did seem like the part towards the end didn't have much effect on the outcome but I guess it did because I didn't realize we were getting scored. We were so interested, we even booked The Tomb right after for 50% off. Also pretty fun, maybe a little darker (literally) but still pretty great and had a decent score at the end as well. I would definitely come back to try the last adventure or if they had new ones. Staff was pretty nice about helping us get set up too. Also helps that the Ballston parking is pretty cheap in the garage. Definitely worth a shot if you're into these type of games. read more

Ever want to see how your significant other reacts to tough situations and challenges? I didn't, but it was such a hilarious experience. Think escape rooms, but better cause there's multiple in a mission. Once you break out of one, you end up in another. The place goes all out with the scenery and I love how much you have to interact with each other to solve the multiple puzzles. I don't want to spoil the fun, but to give you an idea, one of them made me feel like I was trying to escape a pyramid, and another gave me mission impossible vibes. I did purchase all three experience, but only got to finish two. You hold on to the tokens so you can come back whenever. Totally worth it. My husband and I took almost all the time they allowed for the challenges, there were definitely some challenges that would have been much better to take on with more people. read more

5 Wits Arlington - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Solomon was a super great guide and we had a fun time! The puzzles were fun and we made it all the way through

Not an escape room. Different concept, if you like traditional escape rooms, you may not like this. You have to move sequentially thru "challenges", they aren't really puzzles/riddles. It's a no for me. read more

This place was Alright in my opinion. I maybe would have given it 4 stars but the espionage/spy themed one had issues right before we going to do it and that was the one we really wanted to do. We ended up doing the mummy tomb one and it was an OK experience. It is different then most escape rooms and I think thats good but it wasn't that challenging in my opinion. Our group ended up getting a 91 and we finished in less than 30 min. For the price, I wish it was longer and had one more challenge. read more

This experience is like a story-book escape room, where there isn't a person telling you clues but rather a voice-over that will give you hints about what to do next. There are good and bad endings, but it's generally not too difficult to get a good ending. My boyfriend and I did the Tomb and the Dragon's Castle, both of which were really cool and high-tech experiences. While the Tomb was cool, it was sort of scary and may not be good for children. There was a part where I was so startled that I jolted and smacked my boyfriend with a flashlight. The Dragon's Castle may be more all-ages friendly while still a great experience. While it was doable to do the adventure with just 2 people, it was a little harder. The optimal group size is probably ~4 people. The price tiering system encourages you to buy all 3 adventures-- $35 for 1 adventure or $45 for all 3. What's good is that if you buy all 3, you don't need to use them on the same day or same location. We originally bought 3 adventures for the 5 Wits in NY and were able to use the other 2 adventures down here in Arlington, but be careful not to lose those tokens! The parking at Ballston Quarter is so confusing and the location is a bit hard to find up on the 3rd floor next to the Regal Cinemas. After circling around for a while we managed to find street parking, $3.50 for 2 hours. Lastly, I lost a bracelet in the Tomb room and one of the workers was kind enough to spend about 20 minutes finding it for me. Thank you!! read more

We did Espionage and had a great time. Solom was great helping us. A few weeks ago we did Tomb and still had a great experience.

We didn't know exactly what to expect when we got to 5 Wits. They described it as "not an escape room", and we have done several of those. Basically, everyone gets out but how you get your group there differs by your performance in the room. We were extra ambitious and paid in advance for all 3 rooms, thinking we'd come back eventually. Well, we had so much fun that we ended up doing all 3 rooms in one day! It was super easy! All we had to do, was line up in front of the room we wanted and wait for it to be ready. There is a screen with a timer that shows how long until the room will be available. It also posts top/recent scores for that room. Our group consisted of 8, 30-somethings. When we arrived 5 Wits was crawling with kids and birthday parties - they looked so excited and seemed to be enjoying everything. We did notice they have a private room in the back for parties (I'd assume kid's parties). Each room was different and challenged us in different ways. We all thoroughly enjoyed each room. I'd highly suggest flat, closed toe shoes since a few rooms include crawling. For those who can't/won't crawl there is a separate entrance. read more

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The experience was an absolute blast! immersive and extremely entertaining! the staff was very friendly and explained things perfectly. Samirah was amazing!! 10/10 would always recommend!! read more

tristan solomon and maya were great and it was fun! very clean and guides were nice. my team had fun and it was exciting to go thru the lasers read more

Our experience was amazing. Highly recommend. Solomon made the experience even better! He was really nice to us.

Solomon was amazing!!! Best game master and the tomb game was so fun. So immersive and well designed!

So much fun! This is like a high production escape room - I mean how many have you been in where the ceiling collapses? The puzzles are tough but not so overwhelming like some escape rooms. read more

It was a very well done escape adventure! The four of us were able to navigate through each room, and complete each challenge within 30 minutes. At first I thought 30 minutes was too short, but after the mental challenge the rooms put us through, I hardly even noticed that it was only 30 minutes! Out of the tomb and the dragon fairytale, I enjoyed the dragon the best. Definitely will come back for the spy room another day. read more

While the a few of the features were cool and felt immersive, I would not recommend paying this much money for an activity that takes so little time. $35 per person is outrageous for something that took our family only 20 minutes to complete. We were very disappointed and could not believe how quickly it was over. read more

Solomon was a great supervisor and the escape room was very fun yet kinda difficult

Horrible. Broken escape rooms. Try to come for a birthday with people coming from all different states. Kept telling us it will be fixed every 30 minutes. They legit ONLY told us it was broken after we paid for it. Waited over 4 hours hoping it would reopen, but naw it didnt. What's the point of them leading us on saying it's going to be fixed if it wasn't. Super unprofessional. Had to ask for a refund, and finally gave it to us. Wished they let us kept the tokens and refunded us for wasting our 4 hours. What's even funny, we had to pay for parking cause we waited so long. Recommend? Naw. This place deserves no business with their unprofessionalism. read more

5 Wits Arlington - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

This was one of the best family fun things to do in NoVa. Celebrating my daughter's birthday here and had a group of 7 young adults. The staff was helpful, fun and made sure our experience was great. All the rooms are challenging but in a fun way. We enjoyed Pharaoh's Quest. We started with just one adventure and came out wanting to do them all, which we did! read more

I went to 5 Wits this past Sunday with two of my friends who were in town visiting. I had been wanting to go for months (ever since I accidentally stumbled upon it, trying to find Ice Cream Jubilee) and was glad to finally have a group who wanted to go as well. I did not realize that 5 Wits closes at 7 on Sundays, so we left to get food first and by the time I googled and realized this wasn't a 9pm night, it was almost 630. We headed back upstairs to make sure the online time wasn't an error and they confirmed that they did indeed close at 7. BUT we could still play if we wanted to. We felt really bad because we didn't want to keep them there after closing. They (Scott, and another gentleman with cornrows whose name I didn't catch) told us it was fine and that's what they were there for. We ended up buying tokens for all 3 games and had a BLAST! Scott was our guide for each adventure and was hilarious and had great comedic/acting timing. He seriously made the "missions" even more fun! We enjoyed all of the games but I think the Tomb and Espionage were our favorites. Would totally recommend 5 Wits to anyone looking for something fun to do, that is challenging mentally and a bit physically as well. read more

Felt like we were right in the middle of a video game! I went with a group of four, and we were able to try all three adventures available at this location. The employee working there recommended that we complete them in this order: Tomb, Espionage, Drago's Castle. Each one only took ~30 minutes, and since it's only $10 more for all three adventures ($39.99 versus $29.99), I would recommended doing all three if you can. We went late afternoon on a Sunday, and there weren't that many customers, so we were able to do all three adventures by ourselves as a group of four. The setup is similar to an escape room except that there are multiple rooms and you are able to move on to the next activity/puzzle/room without having solved the previous one. To me, this made the experience more enjoyable because it meant that you never got stuck. The activities and puzzles were of reasonable complexity without being overly simple. Also, everything in the rooms is automated, and according to the employee, the computer will modify the activities/puzzles over time so that the adventure will be different if you return later. read more

Such a cool venue for adults and children! We came last night and saw that there was a kids birthday party but they were in other rooms then us. There are multiple room options so my husband and I did the tomb room. I will say each part of it was really fun and we love games with puzzles and problem solving. At the end of the room visits you receive a score along with how many "secrets" you opened. This is so much better than an escape room! My husband and I purchased the three room pack option because you get more value, since we only tried one room we will for sure be back!! Super friendly staff too! read more

Three separate themed adventures to explore. Based on the pricing, you should do all three. They take about 30-40 minutes each. They all feature some cool technology in their puzzles. I was impressed with some of the effects. Overall, I felt the rooms were on the easier side. I think they said they can cater it to different puzzles? I would say an early teens age would be the perfect fit. read more

5 Wits Arlington - Espionage Adventure - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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The rooms are relatively easy and short. The staff were rather cold and unenthusiastic. They seemed to have little business and it felt like they were eager to get back to doing little. In other escape room experiences, the staff were key in getting everyone excited and in adventure mode, in the mental zone. This place was the opposite. Felt like we were intruding on the staff's long hours of doing nothing. Wasn't worth the money for us. read more

everyone had a great time! we've been a bunch of times but yet it still never gets old. shout out to Tristan who was super friendly and helpful! thanks for a memorable and fun bday celebration! read more

This place is super fun! It's similar to an escape room where there are puzzles and challenges but you aren't trying to escape. There is a goal though, depending on the theme (ex: detonate a bomb). It's easier than an escape room but that isn't a bad thing as it makes it much more accessible to different ages and it is overall more fun, esp for someone who gets easily frustrated with the on your own feeling of an escape room. It also has really cool high tech effects which was pretty impressive and made the overall experience much more immersive than I expected. It adjusts to the experience you're having so you never have to ask for clues but it will naturally pace you along. There are three different rooms and we did all of them and throughly enjoyed them all. The espionage room was our favorite! read more

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We had a 10 year old and a 14 year old birthday party it. It was super awesome. All the kids enjoyed it. As a parent, they made it really easy for me. Loved, loved it! I highly recommend. read more

more elaborate version than your standard escape room. crawl through air shafts. watch out for the fall ceiling. videos of evil corporate officers. well worth an outing. read more

Was worried at first that this would be your standard run of the mill escape room or may be too kiddie. But I went with a group of young professionals and we really enjoyed ourself. The puzzles were fun and very complex. The wait time was minimal, and the staff was very nice. Would definitely go back again as this is a great place for a group outing. read more

My family and I were the five wits!! It's a fun place in the mall. It's not quiet an escape room, but it's a self described "adventure room" It was fun, but when we were there there was a little malfunction so it kept the time running even though we escaped one of the areas. Check it out, it was a fun time. Our host person was really friendly, too. I think her name was Lillian? She was fun! read more

Came here with some coworkers as part of a team building session. I had no idea what to expect but was totally blown away. I had an absolutely amazing time and cannot wait to come back! Fully recommend to anyone who's unsure. I'd recommend getting the package that lets you play all three rooms, it's more than worth it. All the employees were friendly and seemed genuinely excited that we were there with them. The rooms were challenging but not frustrating, and I would 100% recommend this to anyone. Edit: I almost forgot to add that Delonte in particular was SO awesome! read more

Lots of fun! All 3 are different. If you like puzzles this is for you! Each takes about 30 min to complete.