We had a wonderful time taking out a family member for his birthday. There is so many different rooms with different degrees of difficulty. Our favorite was the Egyptian themed room. Can't wait to come back and try more! read more

We had a blast! Our family of four including two kids aged 9 and 10 went together. Plenty to do and hoping we can go back the next time we're in Boston. This is next level escape rooms! read more

Very poor customer service. Apparently groups of two are not able to attend despite the website saying in bold that there are no size limitations for groups. Also no one bothers to answer the phone when you call to find out if it's ok for two people to attend. You have to wait to found that out from unapologetic staff in person. read more

Pretty good love the escape rooms and we sure do love the Karen's too. When me and some friends went to Alcatraz and we waited inside the bunk area there was a mom and some kids and they told us to wait outside which was not true and she went like ima report you little shits BUT STILL RECOMMEND read more

This is the 2nd time I came here and it is just as fun as the first time. There was 1 new room this time and I was able to try the other rooms I couldn't do the last time I was here. They have new room coming and I would definitely love to come back for it!!! There is a lot of people through out the day but the wait for each is not that long. It is definitely worth getting the day pass. The time goes by really quickly. This time around I was able to get 16 stamps with my team with 12 hours of brains and muscles!!! It is really exciting when we get the right answer and we see the green triangle. More exciting when we pass the room and the stamp box opens. I can't wait to come back again and try the new rooms they are putting together. It is recommended to come here with sweats and sneakers/ comfortable clothes. There is AC but it still get quite warm from all the physical activities. They have a fountain there so you should bring a bottle for water. (You'll need it). This place is good for kids and adults! read more

Boda Borg - Stamp card - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Came here with a big group to celebrate my roommate's birthday and I REALLY did not know what to expect. I was a mix of nerves (lol lame I know but the pictures of people's bruises on yelp weren't a help lol) and anticipation as all my friends who have been here told me they were so excited to be back. So before even coming here, I already knew I was in for quite an experience lol... And boy was I right-- dis place is SO MUCH FUN. I love the experience of going through a variety of quests that test your physical and mental capabilities as well as your ability to work as a team. How this place works: There are 20 quests you can choose from, all of various themes. To successfully complete a quest, you will need to go pass through 3 rooms, each of which have a different challenge that you need to complete before a 3-5 minute time limit. You are given no directions when you enter a room so part of the challenge is figuring out how to complete a challenge so you can make it to the next room/level. If you fail or time runs out, you will need to go back to the first room in the sequence. You can try to solve a challenge as many times as you want and once you complete all 3 rooms in a quest, you receive a stamp on your stampcard that proves that you passed. Quests range from being more physical or more mental/strategic--or a mix of both! The concept is very similar to Escape the Room, but I love Boda Borg better because you can try out a bunch of different challenges and themes! A few cons though: 1) my team and I found some of the machines to be outdated, which was frustrating because it hindered our ability to pass certain challenges (i.e. Shapes Room). 2) We went on a busy Saturday night so the wait time to enter some of the rooms was longer than we were told. This might limit your experience if you have the 2 hour pass! Overall, this is a super fun and unique place for some teambuilding and problem-solving. I cannot wait to come back or else I'll keep losing sleep trying to figure out how to solve some of these challenges!! lol read more

This review is for the Halloween event only. The Boooo Da Borg, zombie tag. What is it: well they shut down all the quests and the staff dresses as zombies and chases you around in the dimly light basement of the various rooms and hallways. It's basically a giant game of tag, where you and the other attendees are trying to avoid the zombie staff. If you're tagged, you leave the game and get a stamp that says "meal" on the card they give you. If you don't get tagged then you are a survivor and get the stamp to prove it. It was a 2 hour event with rounds consisting of about 10 minutes each. So they try to fit in as many as possible. Since the basement is dimly lit, it's hard to tell zombies from people. The zombies will shake and moan, and sort of stumble, but they move fast for zombies. Less walking dead and more sauntering dead. CAUTION: you CANNOT run at all, for safety... ..but wear active/gym clothes, including sneakers, as they are mandatory. You will get hot. Also I saw a guy with an ice pack on his knee after a round. I, myself, was in a dark room and ended up taking a decent chunk out of my forearm on an obstacle I couldn't see. Be careful. WHAT TO EXPECT: big groups of friends, in costume, some of which were very boisterous. It was a fun crowd and a bit goofy. Herds of people are moving through this thing to avoid zombies. You will end up in tight spaces or swallowed up in groups of people hastily walking away from pursuing zombies. If you don't like the dark, small spaces, or crowds... this isn't the event for you. OVERALL: very fun thing to do around Halloween. The staff does a great job to be safe and have fun. The zombies know the space well. They will hide and wait for you to end up trapping yourself. read more

Visited this place twice so far. Always a fun time here! Go in threes! And I recommend getting the full day pass! Don't treat this place like a gym, you won't have fun! Many different kinds of quests, ranging from physical to mental..and some a merge of both. Note, it's a team effort! So make sure you go with people you actually like. Quests are challenging and if you don't mind failing and failing again, give this place a try! Promise you'll be the most satisfied once you get to the stamp station! May the odds be ever In your favor! read more

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I attended Boda Borg as a work team outing and wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised and had a super fun experience! After arrival, our pre-determined teams of 5 were given directions by the staff, and then we were off to start the Boda Borg experience. There were 18 quests to conquer - with different themes and requiring different levels of physical activity. Each quest had several rooms, and you are only able to reach the next room if you pass the one before it. When you enter a quest, you have to figure out what to do and if you fail (which you will, a lot), you'll be kicked out and have to try again. You may fail for several reasons: 1) time limit 2) breaking a rule that you don't know exists, or 3) you make a mistake - but you won't know why. If you successfully complete a task, the door to the next room will open. If and when you get to the end of a quest, a box will open and you can stamp your scorecard. Pros: 1. Each quest room has a very short time limit, so you can try plenty of quests 2. If you go into a quest room and you aren't comfortable trying a task, there is an easily accessible exit door 3. You won't get bored because there is so many quests to try! 4. Great team-building activity Overall, I had a great time and my team didn't even get any stamps. :( That said, I won a gift certificate to go back and try again soon! read more

OVERALL After hearing many wonderful things about Boda Borg, I finally got the chance to go. We got the 2-hour pass, but... if it hadn't been getting late, I totally could've gone longer! We were five people, which I felt was a good number -- definitely fewer than 4 would've been tricky. I was amazed at how hard some of the rooms were, but we did come out with three stamps, so... hooray for us! Overall, I thought it was lots of fun, and I can't believe it's the only US location -- can definitely see this becoming a trend the way escape rooms have. GETTING PHYSICAL The "green" (aka least physical) rooms were definitely more cerebral. The "black" (aka most physical) were, predictably, more physical. I wouldn't say I got sweaty, but I definitely got a little warm. There was crawling, bending, shimmying, bouncing, falling, etc. We had one person in our party who has bad ankles, and he chose to sit out a couple (including the Jungle). If you have any concerns about how physical a quest is or how much it requires a certain type of movement or stress of a body part, I would definitely recommend talking to the staff. ATTENDANCE/CROWDING On a weekend night, you will find many people who don't have other great options on a weekend night, aka kids and teenagers (and a few tired parents accompanying them). This didn't bother me, but the fact that the place was packed did mean we spent some short waits between rooms. Some of our friends recommend going right when it opens on a weekend (10 am), and I totally get why: Because of how they stagger the reservations, you get some guaranteed time where the place isn't at full capacity. Also: Boda Borg's website notes that week day evenings are pretty quiet. I can definitely see the appeal in getting there right at 5 pm on a Wednesday or something and questing for several hours. WHO SHOULD GO? I would say Boda Borg is good for kids, tweens, teens, and most adults. It's especially good for bonding activities for coworkers, teams, or hell, even as part of an awesome bachelor/bachelorette party! It's often hard to find fun group things to do that don't involve alcohol, and (like escape rooms) this is definitely one of them. WHO SHOULD NOT GO? That said, this is not the place for you if you are a ponderous thinker. Unlike escape rooms, every time something doesn't work, you have to go back to the beginning of the quest, so you can't sit and puzzle through things thoughtfully -- you just have to try, fail, go back, try again, fail, etc. FINAL NOTE I think this is also a great "experience" gift to give a team, family, group of kids, etc. What's a better gift than the gift of fun?? read more

Boda Borg is an escape room experience in the form of quests which take you through a series of rooms, each with their own challenge to solve. If you fail (which happens, a lot), you have to head back to the beginning, to try again. Basic tips - when the green triangle symbol above the door is blinking, wait. When it shines solid green, then you can go in. Don't start till you hear the noise signalling that the game has begun. Sometimes the rooms are quirky and don't work as they are meant to; just leave and try again, hoping it resets itself, or go try another quest. Be gentle with the props - there isn't anything that you have to manhandle with brute strength, though with some physical challenges where you'll have to crawl or climb (or dance). Three is the absolute minimum number physically needed in your group for some of the challenges, though more minds can help in other cases. Be prepared to queue up for the rooms, but the wait is never too long since the quests have time limits. Be careful about standing in front of any doors, as they may pop open at any moment. Since our first quest took us 45 min to get to the 4th room, 2 hours is not nearly enough - go for the all day option if you have the time. Lockers are free and you can hang the key around your neck. Bathrooms on the basement level are individual. Food is not allowed around the quests, but they have a bright sizeable area on the ground floor where you can relax and snack on the food or drink that you may purchase on site - no outside food allowed. Rules - you need to sign a waiver, be age 7 minimum, come with a team of 3-5 people, wear closed toe shoes that are firmly attached. Ideally make a reservation. Boda Borg is located in Malden a short walk from the T, with metered street parking (2 hour limits till 7pm Monday to Saturday). They validate for 2 hours free parking at two nearby garages: Jackson Garage and 170 Centre Street Garage, which charges $2 per hour parking. PS - they don't have knee pads to loan out any more; it was too hard for them to keep them clean. *** Pricing as of 9/2018 Two hours: $22 per person As long as you like: $33 per person read more

This place is INSANELY FUN. My friends and I spent nearly 5 hours there, and I was shocked each time I looked at the time because 1 hour felt like 15 minutes! My biggest tips: -wear light clothing. It's warm in the rooms, especially the active ones! -it's 100000% worth it to buy the unlimited pass rather than the 2-hour pass, especially for such a small difference in price. I imagine that most people would feel disappointed at how little they got to explore with only 2 hours. I will note that I went on a weekend night, and it was pretty packed - we sometimes had to wait up to 5 minutes to get into a quest. -they didn't have a lot of food options when I went, so eat before! There are some places to grab food around Boda Borg's location. -they truly mean it when they say that just because a quest is physical doesn't mean it's necessarily super difficult! Don't be intimated by all of the black doors. -I was nervous at first to go into the Spook House, but it's not too scary at all :) Clearly, I had a blast and will definitely be back! read more

Boda Borg - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

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WOW! Went here with my Disney A Capella group. It was my first time at an establishment of this variety. Boda Borg is great for groups and a ton of fun. Think escape room meets conference room. Many of the rooms I tried somehow involved basketball. I struggled with all of them and at times had to remove myself for the sake of my team. Don't be fooled, Boda Borg is a feat of strength and a major workout. I even rolled my ankle. Prepare like you're headed to the gym, if that's what you're into. I probably won't be in Malden Massachusetts ever again, but if I am, I might drop by. I will definitely be telling everyone about this experience. read more

Pre covod review: I've been here 5-6 times and have fun each time. And hate it. And then have more fun. And then hate it more. And then...well, you get it. Always do the all day pass because 2 hours is only enough time to leave you in the 'I hate this' spot. Maybe you'll get 3 rooms in that amount of time, probably not. They change up the rooms regularly so there's always something new. read more

Hands down one of the best indoor activities we have ever done and even after spending almost one whole day there, we're still eager to come back!!! We had a group of 12 people going and put in a reservation a couple weeks in advance to hold our spot. The place opens at 10 AM and we were there right on the dot to check in. It's $22 for 2 hours and $33 for a whole day, so if you plan to be there for more than 3 hours, go with the day pass. This is so much worth it, compared to other activities, for example Escape the Room where you have to pay $20-30 just for an hour. This is like a combination of multiple escape rooms, but with both mental and physical activities, and all different themes. We stayed there until 8 PM with breaks for lunch/boba tea/dinner throughout the day. There's a $10 all you can eat taco option served by Boda Borg but we decided to go outside for food since there are tons of restaurants around the area, in addition to Kungfu Tea and Chatime. The place is also only 5 minutes from the Malden T stop on orange line so very convenient. There are also free lockers for you to put your stuff in. I highly recommend this so you don't have to worry about carrying things around. We unfortunately only completed 6 out of 20 quests that they have so we will definitely need to come back at least 2 more times!!!! On average people fail 13 times for each quest, so don't be discouraged if you don't pass the first few times around!!! read more

Boda Borg - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

I have been coming here every year for the past three years and it does not get old - even with the ones you have done before. Every year, I am able to accomplish more and more rooms. I get the all day pass because it is way more worth it for me and you can't really finish that many rooms within 2-3 hours given that there are a lot of people waiting for rooms. We always come here with a group of 20 or so people and split up in teams of 3-5. It is a great team building exercise and a great way to meet new people who are new to the group (we choose teams randomly). I love that Boda Borg offers a mixture of brain teasers and physical challenges. Some are easier than others (color coded so you know what you are getting yourself into). The different themes make it very fun and interesting too so you're not bored with the same things over and over again. They do a great job with the props and decor and even the way you solve some rooms are so creative. Each theme has 2-4 rooms and some have bonus rooms for that extra stamp and you're not able to get the final stamp until you solve the required 2-4 rooms. I won't go into details with any of the rooms because keeping everything a mystery is fun! I cannot wait to be back again next year and solve the rooms I was not able to this year. I did end up with 14 stamps this year woohoo! In terms of accessibility - it is a 5 minute walk from Malden T station and there is a lot of street parking + the big garage ($3 all day on Saturday and free on Sundays). You are able to leave Bodaborg and re-enter as many times, so you can go elsewhere for lunch (plenty of options nearby). They offer lockers if you do not want to put your belongings in the giant bin that they lock up. They have free water with snacks and ice cream that you have to pay for. read more

Boda Borg is a series of escape room challenges in the heart of Malden Center. Have you ever watched a show like Guts, Legends of the Hidden Temple, American Gladiators, American Ninja Warrior, and thought that you could totally do that? Well, here is your chance to prove it. It hosts all sorts of different team based physical, and deductive puzzle challenges for your group to try out. I have been twice, and can say that there are many things that are good, and a few things that are less than good. The good starts with the fact that a place like this even exists, where adults and children alike can play, and explore side by side. It is fun for families who want to crawl around with their children. It is fun for parents who want a safe space to let their children run around while mom and dad relax in the lounge. It is fun for adults who want to try out fun challenges with their friends ( that was me ). There are plenty of different challenges to try. None will be easy, some will be easier for your team than others, but they all will be an enjoyable bonding experience for your group. They charge $22 per person for two hours, or $32 for an all day pass. That is certainly not cheap, so you might think that you are getting a deal with the day pass, but that all day pass translates to "all that your body can handle". All of that crawling, hanging, and puzzling takes a real toll after a few hours. That is great if you want to wear the kids out before bed, but less so if you are more of a completionist. The less than good things have more to do with the other visitors than the business. When business is slow a visitor can enter a room, fail, walk right out and retry it. Some times lines start to develop, and that is just the nature of using a shared space. We still wait our turn, and try again. There are some people who do not play well with others though. There was at least one case where a team failed at a room, and started to leave until they saw that my team was waiting. So they decided to stay in the locked room, blocking my team from doing any thing, while one person went out to find another room without a line. It was not the end of the world. Boda Borg is not at fault, but it dampened an otherwise light hearted and fun experience. None of that is to disparage Boda Borg as a destination in any way. They are fantastic. They are fun, easy to get to by public transit or with paid parking nearby, and they do their best to create an engaging experience for the whole gang. read more

If you love puzzle solving and adventures, this place is for you! WEAR COMFY SHOES AND PANTS! My friends and I spent 7+ hours crawling, solving, jumping, and holding onto things. There are 20 or so quests and each quest is compromised of 2-4 rooms. A group of 3 is perfect and 5 is the max. We quested with 5 people and it was difficult but not impossible (we ended up getting 8 stamps!). It was a $30 well spent for the entire day. There's an option of $20 for 2 hours but trust me, 2 hours is NOT enough. Weekend lines are crazy with an average wait of 4-5 mins for each quest (depending on popularity of the quests). There were NO lines 2-3 hours before it closed because all the kiddies had to go home so that's the best time to come in if you want to quest for 2 hours. read more

20+ rooms. 12-ish rooms were played. Only 2 of them my friends and I had beaten. 8+ hours and $36 were well spent. The Superbanan room was my personal favorite for their physical challenges. This place should be on everyone's bucket list since it's the only location in USA, and I was fortunate to experience such a satisfying fun to play and relive the moments as a kid. Granted, on the next day after the playing session, the soreness of my body reminded me of how old I've become. Oh well... Regardless, this place would be great for leaving the kids running wild, and the adults can enjoy at their own leisure. read more

My friends and I went to this place for the first time and we We're excited. I highly recommend this place for the kids and about five people a group or three people a group. And all my friends are planning to go back and visit few more times because we were losing weight a lot. We all hope this place Will open more room for us next time! Yeah yeah thank you so much we were enjoying very much! The price each person is $20, in 2 hours. (For who worry, but you like it you can ask the front desk people to add more money in so you can get more hours to play, about $10-$11) If $30, is unlimited timing. (Highly recommended) read more

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OMWord this place is EVERYTHING. So I'm a 45 year old mom of 3 with fairly debilitating back issues since breaking it rock climbing in my youth. And I LOOOVE this place! I need one by my house! I was all up in all the things, the adrenaline was pumping with each puzzle & I ran from room to room! I seriously wish this were my gym! I army crawled a dozen times through one tunnel, & I have a beauty of a bruise on the inside of my knee from slithering over some steps repeatedly, & I couldn't walk to the train station & had to get a Lyft back to our hotel, but I kid you not, of the 4 states we visited on this trip & ALL the things we've done, THIS was my favorite part. Man I wish we had one in so Cal! Highly recommends!!! read more

Had a really fun time here with some friends! The rooms were fun and challenging. I wish there was like, just a small one-liner with some instructions or tips because we were confused for a lotttt of the rooms read more

We had a group come here to try something different. I had looked up this place online prior to arriving and read a little bit about it and still had no idea what we were getting into. It turned out to be a lot of fun! There was a nice mix of people and ages who were doing these activities as well. Since I'm familiar with escape rooms, I will compare my experience here to those. We had something like 2 hours to go and try to get through 23 different rooms. Each room had multiple stages and completing a stage allowed you to proceed to the next one. Through our 2 hours here, we only managed to fully complete 1 of the rooms. Each room is marked with red, green, or black for physical difficulty. So essentially you are trying to escape from one stage to the next with unlimited tries. Each failure results in going back to the beginning. So it's like an escape room for people who are twitchy and run from task to task trying to pick up on little details and clues. It was all more frustrating, more active, and more rewarding that your escape room. It is also good for all age groups. Such a different fun thing to try. I would highly recommend doing this. It is good for all ages from kids to adults. read more

Man. I don't know was Lucas B. (Bad review in the comments) was smoking but this place is AMAZING and CHALLENGING for all ages! I went with a group of 5, all of us are in our 30s with no kids (at the time. I have a new human now) and all in decent shape. Anyone that says this place isn't fun is probably a curmudgeon who likes to yell at kids to get off their lawn. Anyone who says some of these aren't challenging obviously never tried Superbanan. This is like nothing I've ever done before and it's just BEYOND amaze balls. It's almost like smashing together mini escape rooms and carnival games- but WAY better! It's a fantastic way to spend the day with friends, family and away from the iPads and computers. Bring the kids....or don't. Either way you're going to have such a fun time! Unless you're Lucas. Don't be like Lucas. read more

It's been years and Boda Borg is still one of my favorite destinations for a weekend in Boston. They keep changing and adding rooms so even the most seasoned adventurer can have a new quest to crush with their friends. Admittedly, some of the crawling gets harder for my 30-year-old-plus pals each year but I think that just proves why you just have to never stop going here. As of spring 2018 they have added food options in the form of a cafe (sandwiches and more), which is great for uninterrupted questing. Pro-tip: make your group reservation on the phone and you can each pay individually when you arrive. read more

Boda Borg - Four different visits (and hundreds of tries) later, we finished Spookhouse! Everything else in my life is a bonus round. - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Lots of fun for groups. I had a surprisingly good time questing at Boda Borg. My group of friends shared lots of laughs and some genuinely head-scratching moments. Failing a quest was generally fun and succeeding extremely rewarding. The price tag is pretty good value, though one down side is that it does get somewhat crowded and you will have have to occasionally wait a bit to check out your room of choice. Free lockers are great and the staff was very friendly. The $10 taco bar did not look very appealing, but you can bring food from outside and there are lots of restaurants nearby. I really want to come back soon! read more

Great venue for team building exercises or simply to have fun. There were a bunch of rooms which took anywhere from 5 minutes to 15 minutes to get through. They are tough and most, if not all, require multiple attempts. I like the fact that they are graded on mental, mental/physical, or heavy on physical. Ideal groups are 3-4 people as more can make going through some rooms more difficult. I came away from the day (7 hours) drained and sore which was great! Overall, I'll come back to finish challenges that we couldn't finish and try new ones. read more

Wow this place is really fun and quite challenging. There's multiple quests which are comprised of 2-3 rooms each, and the objective is to complete a set of puzzles or physical challenges (or a combination of both!) to get to the next room. The puzzles are all designed in such a way that it's impossible to do alone and thus relies on teamwork and good communication, which makes this a really fun activity to do with friends. The puzzles themselves are definitely tough. There's multiple rooms which we could not figure out, despite trying several times. I'd love to come back here and get this day pass ($30) that everyone is talking about and really get to explore all the puzzles in depth. There's also $10 all you can eat tacos which I think would be awesome if you're there for the day. Also, this Boda Borg is next to a parking garage which I think is free on the weekends, and that makes this place that much better - you can drive here and leave the car for the day if you need. read more

Boda Borg is officially my new favorite place in the greater Boston area. Yes, comparing it to escape rooms gives newbies a good approximate mental starting point for what to expect (sorta), but I love that Boda Borg prides itself on NOT being an escape room - instead, prepare yourself for the unique Boda Borg concept of "questing," which is something that you truly do need to experience firsthand to fully comprehend! Roughly speaking, you can think of quests as a series of themed mental/physical challenges (sometimes it is clear what you are needing to accomplish in each quest - other times, that is part of the challenge!) Patience is a virtue at Boda Borg, so come here preparing to fail the quests - a lot. Even though our group had a general idea of what to expect (from having read other Yelp reviews), we still found the first 10-15 minutes of our visit to be somewhat frustrating (the first quest that we attempted had us failing within 5 seconds EVERY time, and we had no bleeping clue what we were doing wrong!). Thankfully, the beauty of Boda Borg is that if you get frustrated with a quest, or just want a change of pace, there are more than a dozen other options waiting for you just down the hall. We came with a group of three (you can quest in groups of 3-5, but we found three to be the perfect size for allowing everyone to get to fully participate in all quests!). Teamwork is hugely important here, as quests are often set up to have you NEEDING to work together to complete something. I must say though, the first time that a green triangle flashed up on the screen of the quest that we were attempting (indicating that the first room of our quest had been successfully completed), the feeling of satisfaction that we got was immediately addictive - and the more rooms/quests that we successfully completed, the more we got the hang of Boda Borg... and the more addictive it became! We spent most of our time in the green (mental) and red (mental + physical) quests, but would love to come back to try some of the black (pure physical) ones as well. And yes, Boda Borg bruises are a to-be-expected thing, so prepare your mind and body accordingly... We were there for about 4 hours, and completed 6 quests (Rats, Roll & Rock, Light & Dark, Quiz Show: Entertainment, Farm, and Coach). I recommend either Light & Dark or Farm as good first quests. A few tips for first time questers: -When you solve a quest, DO NOT open the exit door until you have opened the stamp box and stamped your card (the stamps are how you indicate successful completion of a quest). Opening the door locks the stamp box back up! We made this mistake on one quest (we totally didn't see the stamp box and thought we were just entering the next room), and had to re-complete the entire quest (because yes, we are OCD enough that just knowing in our own minds that we had completed the quest was not enough - we needed that darn stamp as our proof!) -As many others have said, go for the all day pass. Time flies when you're questing... -Wear comfortable clothes, but I would *not* recommend shorts (your knees will definitely take a beating in some quests). I was happy in leggings, a t-shirt, and sneakers. -Do not expect there to be walk-in availability on weekends (you might get lucky, but probably not). From what I saw, weekends tend to book up a good 1-2 weeks in advance. Weeknights/weekdays are a much preferable option, if you can make it work. We can't wait to come back to Boda Borg soon (even more quests are opening in the next few months - yeehaw!) read more

Boda Borg - Lobby of Boda Borg! - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Boda Borg is SUCH a blast, and lot more challenging than I anticipated. Definitely go for the unlimited time pass, you're going to need it. I went here on a double date, 4 people, which was the perfect amount. Out of 18 quests, we only beat 3 of them in 2 hours. Its hard, but really entertaining. Theres a great mix of both physical and psychological quests. Its better than escape the room because there are so many different kinds of challenges. We will definitely be coming back to hopefully beat every quest. The staff is also really nice, and there is a cafe, and free lockers for your belongings. read more

Super fun place with a good mix of mental and physical challenges. I suggest going on weekdays before school gets out cause it gets crowded. Went on Saturday morning with on the 11:30-1:30 slot. $20 per person for 2 hours. Make sure to do the online waiver before hand to save some time. Also, they give you free locker with key so you can put stuff away. I suggest putting your phone away cause some of the physical activities are going to to definitely jostle things out of your pocket. Surprisingly big insides and the quests are difficult enough to keep a team busy for a while. Optimal is 3 people which I agree. There are some quests which would definitely take too long if you have too many team members to run through. Sometimes the staff will join your team to either help or just check up on the quest to make sure everything is running ok. During our time there, some of the quests broke so they had to pause it. No biggie, still plenty of other quests to do. Highly recommended! read more

7 hours and (only) 7 quests later, I can't wait to come back for a third time! This type of adventure is groundbreaking and addicting, and I love working in teams to solve these ridiculous puzzle rooms. Pros: +Highly active way to spend a day (you can DEFINITELY skip the gym)! +Totally different experience than any you've had before (unless you've been to the Boda Borgs in Sweeden or Ireland) +Awesome staff Cons: -The waiting is real for popular quests. Come with a team that you feel comfortable talking to because you will spend much of your time waiting. Tips for Boda Borgers: +BYO knee pads (or rent for $2). You WILL be bruised from crawling otherwise. +Wear athletic gear. +Make a reservation and fill out the online wavier! Saturdays are packed and usually there are no walk-ins allowed. +Get the day-long pass and BYO snacks (and go on a day you have at least 5-7 hours to spend there). Two hours is not enough time to do many of the quests, especially if it is packed. You'll spend at least an hour just waiting to get back into rooms. +A 3-person team might be ideal (getting 5 people through some of the physical quests is challenging unless you are all in tip top shape)! +Free parking in the Centre street garage on weekends! +Water bubbler upstairs near taco bar +Check your key and lock in the lockers to make sure they work before you start because sometimes you don't get the right key or lock for your locker Tips for Boda Borg management: 1. These rooms need (more) soundproofing. You can hear conversations the groups in the rooms adjacent to you which is an unfair advantage. Even more annoyingly, if you are in the first room you can usually hear hallway chatter/yelling/kids pounding on doors which is super distracting. 2. The "fail" sound is too soft--if a team member isn't looking at the monitor (usually way at the far end of the room) the group may waste time not realizing that they already failed. Maybe there could be more monitors throughout the room so at least one team member will definitely see it? Also, for some reason every time you enter a room you hear the fail sound. It must be some kind of "reset" sound, but it's definitely confusing. Finally, it's a real neck strain to look at the monitor above the door when waiting outside the room for it to open. Any way these could be at door level instead? This also might minimize waiting with people not realizing the room changed to open. 3. The lockers are super finicky--we've now had problems on multiple occasions. Most recently a staff member told us we were given the wrong lock for the size of the locker we used, so maybe the front desk staff needs to be more careful when handing out locks/instructing people to use lockers. Despite these minor shortcomings, I can't wait to come back. These quests will haunt me until I solve them! read more

WOW!!! I was worried the never ending stream of 5 star reviews were over-hyped but it was everything we wanted and more for the $30 all day pass! (I would only recommend the 2 hour pass if you have limited time, as on average you will fail 10-20 times before completing the quests!) I'm not sure where the varying number of quests in some reviews but I believe they only have 16, as my team and I at least attempted all of them. It's difficult to describe to someone who has never heard of Boda Borg, the "quest" type challenges. It involves intense team work either mental (green), physical (black) or a mix of both (red) to solve each room/phase. It's a great team building activity for all ages! As a first time participant, one of the staff members will give you an intro about each of the rooms and how you must complete them in succession. Each quest has a total of 2-4 rooms you must pass, usually with increasing difficulty before you get to the final where there's a locked black box with a stamper to collect your badge of completion. AMENITIES - Free locker rental in small/large, you will want to put away any heavy loose items as they will get in the way - Cafeteria area past the lobby where you can eat at the buffet style Taco bar for $10 and re-hydrate with water - Cleverly designed themed rooms with awesome props - Clean restrooms on each floor PRO TIPS - Choose your team wisely. You can have 3-5, but there's a time limit of ~2 minutes on each room so it may be difficult to get everyone through the more physical quests. - The quest doors close excruciatingly slowly, and you won't be given credit until it is completely closed. I recommend opening it just wide enough so everyone can slip through. - You can get a green triangle for "Pass" and it can turn into a red circle "Fail" if you do something in between the next room being ready. Watch out! - Don't touch anything when entering a room, just observe for clues before making a decision! - Get the stamp before you exit the final door, it re-locks! - Wear capris/long pants. All the crawling can be painful on the knees even with some of the padded floors. - Don't give up if you keep failing, try one of the other quests in between if we were really stuck. QUESTS COMPLETED - Some of these we finished with ease, others we spent forever trying to figure out. I'm not going to give anything away, but just my team's general impression and estimated # of total attempts for our team of 5 and color (G, R, B). Farm [6] R - Staff member suggested we try this one first since it's a mix of physical/mental and the first few times we didn't know what we were doing at all... and overthought the whole process. Roll & Rock [12] G - We took note of our teammates' strengths and strategized accordingly. Quiz Show [1] G - We were surprised by how easily we passed through each of the rooms. Coach [2] G - Ironic that this sports themed one is not classified as physical? Dansa Pausa [4] R - This one brought back middle school memories. Tough [3] B - Not as difficult as the other black quest we failed. Rats [7] R - Failing this quest then going back to the very beginning is so tedious, but somehow we made it. Step Up [4] B - Probably the easiest/most straight forward black quest. Light & Dark [17] G - Hmm... I'm slightly embarrassed how many attempts we had since we just didn't get it at first. Alcatraz [9] B - Favorite quest with the best props! QUESTS FAILED - For one reason or another we either did not understand these quests at all or were not physically fit enough to strategize our way through. There's always next time right? Pirates [20+] G - We gave up... just had no idea what was going on after the first room. Tougher, Toughest [1] Black - Hmm... we'll be back maybe after a few more gym sessions. Superbanan [1] B - Ran out of time to try them all but as the most popular/toughest" quest I don't feel too bad. Infra [3] G - Hmm not sure if it was just us but this one was very frustrating. Jungle [1] B - Again we ran out of time so we only tried it once. Spook House [3] B - Another one that we just didn't understand from the get go. Platoon [4] B - Maybe next time we should just go for the black quests as we were so tired out from all of the other ones at this point. Overall we had a blast and definitely the 7 that eluded us I'd want to try again. However, for the ones we did complete there's not really much re-playability. It's a great indoor activity, so once it gets unbearably cold we will plan our next trip back! True Rating = 4.5 Hah I'm not trying to be nit picky but the improvements I suggest are the ventilation in some of the rooms, and line management between rooms. I believe the top floor ones may not have AC and you'll get sweaty easily, not great when you are questing in confined spaces. For some of the more popular Black quests there will be a long line of people snaking into the hallways. read more

Boda Borg - Downstairs to the majority of quests - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

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I suppose if I were ever going to drop praise on sadists on Yelp, it would be for the founders and proprietors of Boda Borg. You will be challenged, physically and mentally. You will probably ache a bit the next day. You will be humbled. You will fail frequently. But every so often, you will be extremely excited about having made it through a new puzzle room or an entire series of rooms, especially if you do it before your friends. My visit to Boda Borg was somewhat unique. I came here for a wedding - yes, that's right, a wedding. I have two close friends in the area who were among the first customers here and who remain avid patrons. They love the place so much, they wanted to celebrate with their friends and relatives by both questing and celebrating here. So they rented the place out for the entire day for us! They do host parties here, and after all, isn't a wedding just a different type of party? More on those facilities in a moment... It's true there's a little bit of something for everyone with the challenges. You might be tested physically, and/or you might have to think out of the box to solve some of the puzzles. I thought some of the red challenges (intermediate) required a bit more limberness and maneuverability than I expected. For some of the black (difficult) challenges, it might definitely help to be - or be accompanied by - some olympic athletes, Zumba instructors, or 8-year olds. Pirates was probably the most popular challenge here. It certainly got the most chat, especially when we found there was a FOURTH room. Lunch was included, which was their Taco bar. It certainly isn't anything out of the ordinary, but really, you're not here to eat, you're here to quest, and you wouldn't want to do that on an over-full stomach. I particularly liked that the taco selections included ground turkey. The staff here went above and beyond by also including some meta-puzzles that lasted the entire day, with rewards in the evening. They made everyone feel welcome and proud of whatever people were able to accomplish. One thing I will not forget was a sentence the minister used during the wedding ceremony, when focusing on all the family and friends present: "Marriage is like Boda Borg: You can't do it alone" read more

What a cool place to burn some energy (physical and mental both) !! Had a great time with my co-workers trying to get through some amazing quests. It was a good experience for the team to coordinate and come up with awesome solutions together! Before going to the place, I have been talking with one of their customer service representatives. She was a great help for our big group. They had good planning and amazing service. I would surely visit again! read more

An unbelievably amazing amount of fun for everyone in our group! We took our kids, (8 & 12), but I can't wait to get back here with our adult friends for a great night out. This would work for everyone because you truly are trying your hardest whether you're with kids or adults. As an entertainment venue, what I really appreciated was that the amount of Quest choices means you never feel like you're stuck in a line. In fact, when you do have a minute to wait, you appreciate those moments to plan your next assault on whatever room is currently vexing you! Best part though is that it is just so different from anything else out there. We went on day one and ended up spending eight hours and couldn't believe how the time flew by! We did opt for the taco buffet for lunch, but we spent so long there and the tacos were so good (seriously!) that we really thought about getting dinner there as well. We finally decided that we were so mentally and physically tired that even though we wanted to have more fun, we called it a day and went to one of the many great restaurants right around them (check Yelp for great places to dine within a short walk.) We never got to try all the Quests nor did we finish all the ones we tried so we have more to go! Can't wait to go back and bring more folks! read more

Boda Borg - Inside one of the amazingly built-out Quests. - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

Amazing. Escape the Room meets Tough Mudder meets Legends of the Hidden Temple. Prepare to crawl, climb, and THINK. 20 series of mostly 3-4 rooms each and don't expect to solve more than maybe 7 after a full day. You'll likely have put your phone and watch in the free lockers so you'll have no idea what time it is and won't get distracted and time flies. Stayed from noon to 9pm, including the $10 taco bar for dinner. I had time to try all 20 challenges, though for most I couldn't get through the challenging final room, and for many even the first room stumped our team of four. I was really impressed with how Boda Borg appeals to kids, college kids, and adults alike. The huge range of challenges makes certain groups better at different rooms, but as long as you're in decent physical health, they're all accessible. I would, however, caution the elderly or those with knee problems (and maybe back problems) from most of the challenges. You need to be in absolute top physical shape to complete a few of the rooms (and know a decent bit about American culture for some trivia rooms). Make sure to being snacks and a water bottle. I would suggest gloves and maybe knee pads as well. As for how it's organized, a green challenge is all mental, black is all physical, and red is a mix, and you'll know from the door what to expect ahead of time. Otherwise, facilities worked 99% of the time, lines were reasonable to short (though weekends are likely packed), and no hints from the staff. Worth several visits, just don't spoil the challenges for friends! Would recommend to virtually anyone. read more

Boda Borg - One of the more difficult physical challenges. - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts

We need more of these in the states! The variety of challenges and themes kept things fun and interesting throughout the whole time. You also have the freedom to leave and come back to rooms and choose how physically challenging you want things to be. Escape from Alcatraz was one of the most fun rooms! Eye of the Storm was also a great puzzle, better with a larger group (we had 6). read more

So much fun!! They're hard, but all very interesting and entertaining. Make sure to go to the place where they explain the "rules" first!

Book at least 3 weeks in advance if you want a particular time slot like the weekend for all you can play. Other than that, the weekday is the best time for line/kid free experience. $28 to play as long as you want or $18 for 2 hours, walk-ins on the weekend are hard to get for both, so reserve, reserve, reserve, and sign your life away on Boda Borg's waiver before you get there to save uber amounts of time. 18 themed challenges of 3-4 rooms and some even have 3 levels of 3-4 rooms, fail, fail and fail again to finally succeed. There are three levels of difficulty from mental, mental/physical, physical. Go in knowing nothing but come out feeling challenged. Best to go in groups of three, which is the minimum number of people you need in a group, while 5 is the max and is really a stretch for these challenges. There's plenty of hand sanitizer everywhere and it smells good too. $10 all you can eat tacos in one sitting till 8PM every night. Snacks and bottled beverages are available for purchase too. Bring a water bottle to fill up on water because cups are scarce. Check the picture for parking info. Wish they printed the map of the place behind the stamp card you're given, but other than that maps are on the walls. read more

Boda Borg - Both garages, 7 Jackson and 120 Centre are free on the weekends - Escape Games Near Me - Malden, Massachusetts