So grateful to be sharing this review! We booked the "Secret Society" room for my daughters birthday. Location is easy to access, although you may miss it if you're driving fast. Remember to remove belongings from your car to keep it from being a target. There is plenty storage on site if needed. Staff was friendly and helpful. Facility was clean. The escape room experience was engaging, challenging, and full of surprises. The children had a ball and escaped (40% escape rate). read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

Everything was amazing. It was a challenge and it was a lot of fun! Julius was a great host and you made it very entertaining!

This was a smaller and less intricate escape room than others I've been to but we still had fun. We had a group of 4 adults and 1 kid and everyone was able to get involved to successfully escape. We chose the spy room which was rated as the most difficult but we found it very doable and I probably wouldn't want a room any easier than that. I do wish there was a more involved storyline and more details in the room setups! There's street parking next to the location, a waiting lobby, and bathrooms. Overall I think it can be a fun first time experience for kids or for people new to escape rooms! read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

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Well this was a pretty cool experience. Lot of puzzles that challenge your mind. We went as a group of 3 adults ans 3 kids, and we were able to finish it in just under an hour. They have different themes to choose from, and our guide (Sean) was very helpful. I look forward to going back again for another round. read more

Came to Escape Oakland on a Sunday evening. Something fun to do with the family. I've been here a few times, this go round makes it 3/4 rooms beat. SEAN was our game master, we did The Society. My family and I beat it with 14mins 31seconds left on the clock! We used a few clues but we definitely got through it! The clues he gave us were great. I took a star off because the photo he took of us was super blurry, if he would've cleaned off the lens they would've gotten five stars!!! read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

I highly recommend this escape game location in Oakland. First and foremost, staff was really nice, friendly, and accommodating. We had a party of six, and half of us were running 15 minutes behind, and I started to become really nervous, not knowing if we would be able to have enough time to complete the game or not. Also, I felt really bad, thinking the staff would be pissed off at us for not being on time. However, the staff that helped us this morning today (Sat, 9/14) kindly checked in with us on the ETA of the rest of our party, and he was very nice and polite about it. And I didn't feel pressured at all. I really appreciated it. And, in terms of the game itself, the game was so much fun. We decided to go for their Spy Game, which was the game with the highest degree of difficulty at this location, and we were able to escape the room (although we had to ask for clues multiple times). Throughout the game, I had a great time collaborating with my group, while at the same time having fun as well. The game covered two rooms so there were a LOT of clues to solve! You wouldn't be bored. We were able to complete the game with additional extra time that was generously given to us because we were soooo close to escaping the room when the time ran out. We had an amazing time :) read more

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We did Shipwreck Island with a group of 4 adults and 2 children (ages 11&9) and had a wonderful time. Finished with plenty of time to spare and having only used 1 hint. Overall we really appreciated the mood, level of challenge, creativity of puzzles, and the level of immersion. Also one of the puzzles required a slight degree of coordination, which was perfect for the kids. My one complaint is that the escape room leans heavily on combination locks, which is a metric I feel is a bit antiquated or even lazy to an extent. However, for a great escape room for the family with a reasonable level of challenge, I would recommend! Attention to detail: 5/5 Tech: 4/5 Creativity of puzzles: 3/5 Customer service: 5/5 Kid friendly: 5/5 You really do feel like you've been abandoned on an island! Lots of fun Overall I would say of all escape rooms, this in 2nd quartile / top 50-75%. read more

Fiendishly difficult escape room, very cool puzzles and the staff was very friendly with our group! Highly recommend

THE BUNKER WAS AWESOMEEE!!! Shawn was a great game master and also gave us the full hour even though we were late we will be coming back for sure, #WEIRDGIRLLINE WEEKLY RECORD!!!! read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

A fun puzzle that gets your mind going and makes you feel challenged. WE ARE NOW APART OF THE SOCIETY! It was about $45/person which is totally worth it. Average compared to other escape rooms. Booking the event and check in was super easy. Kevin was our board master. Funny guy. We didn't use any clues, so escaping was pretty exciting. Great place. read more

Escape Oakland - Will you escape? - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

Have had 2 positive experiences here, fun rooms! Shawn was great. Our 14 year old enjoyed it too

We did NOT fight this time, LOL. Quality/Quantity - 4 rooms to choose from. We chose the second to easiest one, The Bunker. During our last experience, we thought we were smarter than we really were and struggled with the hardest room (different escape room location and company, see other Yelp). Other room options are: The Society (easiest), The Alchemist, Spy Game (hardest). You get unlimited clues/hints which is helpful. Just wave at the camera and they will help you. The Bunker was perfect for us. We got off to a very good start, then hiccuped on the "finer details" and "small print," but made it out with 7 minutes to spare. FYI, this is a two room escape room. Atmosphere - Small escape room business. Service - Excellent, from the phone call the day before with our questions to today when we actually went. No problems checking in and playing the game. They even accommodated one of our handicapped guests, thank you. All games are private, so COVID safe. Street parking, as today is New Years Eve; it was not a problem. There is a garage next to the courthouse across the street if you want paid parking. Open 6 days a week, closed Tuesdays. See website for specific hours Price - $32 to $42 per person + tax, depending on how large your group is. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 2018, look forward to playing in a different room in the future. read more

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I went with just my cousin and we did the society room. Though it was a bit hard, SEAN our game master was very nice and patient with us and made our experience great. I will definitely come back to this spot ! read more

Did the Society with family, which was kid-friendly and challenging. Everybody could be involved for solving the puzzles.

Im surprised I havent came across this escape room sooner! As someone who's done 30-40~ rooms total in Norcal + Socal, I dont think I have came across Escape Oakland until I specifically looked for an escape room closer to Richmond area. I'm glad it came up though, because the experience here was great! My group and I did The Bunker. 4 Escape Room enthusiasts and 2 first timers!! I wanted to make sure I took them to a fun one!! Our GM was super nice, humorous, explained the game well and prefaced us well with the whole story. I was pretty impressed with the types of puzzles I saw in this room!! Some I havent seen before! I would say its a mixture between 1st / 2nd gen puzzles. Locks + keys but also more technical ones. All the puzzles were super cohesive and it made sense to the whole story. The puzzles also made so much sense, I never had to question the purpose of something. We escaped in about 39 minutes!! Not too bad at all!! I'm looking forward to completing the rest of the rooms here just for funzies! Hidden gem in Oakland for Escape Room enthusiasts and something to definitely check off the roster!! read more

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Thank you Kevin for making my first escape room experience positive and fun! It was a smooth experience all around that was just tricky enough. read more

Came here for my birthday with friends and we ended up doing the bunker. I really liked how this escape room worked where if you needed help, they didn't deduct your time and it was unlimited amount of help. The bunker was really fun to solve and we managed to escape (YAY!). The only thing I would say is that we could have escaped faster if one of the things we had to solve wasn't malfunctioning. Overall, I recommend coming here for an escape room! read more

Drove up, not the cleanest safest looking neighborhood. Has to avoid things smeared on the sidewalk. But once inside it felt clean. I've done this once before in Chicago, and wasn't sure but it turned out to be fun with my family. Got to see their problem solving skillz. The part that took our fun to a higher level was our game master Jake. He made it fun, helped us feel like we were supported and set up to succeed. He was full of personality that made me feel like we had a person in our team. He took me from apprehensive and fun to laughing and encouraged to do it again read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Oakland alchemist room. Victory!! - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

Excellent time for all! Spy Games was challenging and yet we ESCAPED! Thanks to our game master Wes for pointing us in the right direction. Escape Oakland has been great each time! read more

We had an amazing time!!! We chose the spy room. It has less than 20% success rate and we were able to escape!!! The staff are super nice and funny! It was so much fun! I can't wait to go again! read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

I did spy game for my birthday and Wes was my game master, they were absolutely amazing and helpful in every way and was able to joke with my friends and our weird humor, which made the experience even better!! I had a super lovely time, and cannot wait for the new Oakland location!!!! read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

Interesting place and the host was really friendly. This was our first attempt as a family (although individuals have done it before), and it was fun. I wish the rooms were bit larger but other than that, it was a good experience. read more

Escape Oakland - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

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Fun Place! Kevin was a great game master! We came here as a family and had a good time. This is our 4th game here and we enjoyed them all!

First time doing an escape room. Very exciting and pizzles kept me busy. Will return soon

I had never done an escape room and was worried that it might be too challenging for our varied age group. But our 8,14 yo LOVED it. Highly recommend Alchemy room. And staff, hosted by Leer were AMAZING. read more

I've worked around this area for about 10 years and walked by the area probably once a week, when I saw this location opened up in the neighborhood, I was excited to give it a try and finally did. The location has street parking and it's pretty terrible and dangerous. Despite it being across the street from the Oakland police department and courthouse, it's next to an empty lot that's not well lit and has a homeless community inhabiting the area. It's also on the same block as a few bars, so parking is hard without having to walk a couple of blocks. I liked our game master. We were greeted with enthusiasm and sass, a language I speak and respond to very well. He dressed up to the theme and gave us a funny back story to our room. The customer service portion was great. The rooms themselves were underwhelming. There were not many rooms to go through and because of that, I feel like they put too many puzzles and moving pieces into one room. It could also be the lack of space but I still wish there were more to go through. We had the correct answers to one of the puzzles, but due to technical difficulties, we were unable to move forward, making us believe we had the wrong answers and wasting escape time going through the puzzle again. It wasn't until we asked for a hint that our game master was like "... that should work". There was a particular puzzle that was hard because (without giving too much away), certain things are subjective depending on who you ask. We also somehow completely bypassed the last puzzle to escape. We asked our game master what the last puzzle was for if it didn't do anything and he was baffled that we got out without needing it somehow. We've done our fair share of escape rooms, and we were able to get through pretty quickly with only two people. I feel like it would have been too crowded if we had a bigger group with us. While the themes and the ideas of puzzles and the game master himself was great, the room we did felt really underwhelming and had too many technical issues for it to be worth the price of an escape room. Maybe if it was cheaper would I rate it higher. read more

Escape Oakland - We passed our Alchemist exam - Escape Games Near Me - Oakland, California

I have done a fair amount of escape rooms at this point and my four teammates have done a plethora individually. This is my second time visiting as the first time we did the Alchemist and that one suffered greatly through various issues. This time around we were celebrating a birthday and he specifically picked the Spy Games room as it had the lowest escape rate at 20% (according to the website). We ended up getting through the room quite quickly and finished in about 37 minutes. This was the rare room where you do not necessarily escape as an indicator of victory. We were anticipating far more puzzles so when we completed the last puzzle, we were perplexed when our sassy game master said we had achieved victory. The game was too easy for our group and we hoped for more of a challenge. Some indication of how many rooms this specific game had would have been nice as well since we thought we had way more to solve and were going through at a quicker pace. The game master was a lot of fun with his commentary, my primary gripes are the complexity of the room, subpar storyline as well as the person who took our picture at the end. She quickly took our picture and it is quite unflattering LOL. Anywho, the final thoughts are to drop by to give it a shot, however, if you are quite well versed with escape rooms, this one might be too easy. read more

We did Alchemist with three people, which I think is enough. The rooms are small. Puzzles are average to above average and a handful of good ones. Some of the typical types of puzzles like this corresponds to this number, this to this, and this to this, and then enter into a combo box to open a chest. We didn't get quite the full experience because one of the lockboxes wasn't properly set up and it was already opened in the second room when we got there. read more

What a blast! 3 parents and 2 10 year olds escaped the Society room and loved every minute of it. Jake was our game master and was fantastic in nudging us with hints. You can request him specifically when you book. read more

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My first experience with escape room! It was really fun. Jake was our guide and he was great.

It was a very clever system of puzzles. We were challenged and needed clues, but it was so fun.

We did The Society with a group of 4 and had a lot of fun. Our game master nice and really into the story of the game. We escaped with 20 minutes left to spare. Bring your thinking hats!! read more

I am an escape room frequenter and have been to about 15+ escape rooms in the past few years. Escape Oakland is great and has challenging puzzles and small but immersive room designs. I came to this room as part of my company's social event, so we rented out all four rooms for 3-4pm. I believe Kevin and Valerie were our game masters and they were very accommodating and kind. My group of three did The Alchemist. Upon entering the room, I could see that there was thought and intention in decorating the room to go along with the story. Our game master verbally told us the room's story/plot, whereas many other escape rooms might show you a video briefing instead. When we got started on the room, there were a couple different puzzles that different people can work on simultaneously. This is great because it means everyone has something to do. The puzzles had some unique challenges I haven't seen previously and I thought the solutions were fun. The one thing is that these rooms are definitely small, and I honestly wouldn't recommend more than three people per room, four maximum if you want to be comfortable and make sure everyone is enjoying themselves. I liked it and will definitely return in the future for the other rooms! read more

Realy clever game rooms with fun stories- i have gone 3 times. I also appreciate the friendly staff and location. read more

Kevin was so fun and amazing! Had so much fun on my first escape room experience. We beat the weekly record which was fun since I am very competitive read more

Friendly staff, creative and clever puzzles, will keep in mind for my next Oakland visit

This was so fun!!!! Me and my date didnt finish the challenge but I had a blast! The room we chose was the secret society one and the host was so sweet. I havent been back yet but I cant wait to go with a group instead of having a single partner. read more

Fun experience. Jake was a great host! The Bunker was challenging but we made it out! read more

Just found this amazing escape room! SO CHALLENGING! Jake was such a huge help to us throughout the process. We barely asked for help and he was kind enough to let us stay an extra 6 minutes to finish the game! He is by far one of the kindest workers I've ever come across. 1000% deserves a raise!! But on another note, I came from LA to visit my sister and that's how I came across this gem. 100% referred! Kid-friendly as well! read more

First time doing an Escape Room room with Escape Oakland. We opted for The Spy Room. Our objective was to retrieve the codes and save our CEO who had been kidnapped by a group of spies. COVID precautions taken: masks required, air filter in room, private parties only. Kind of hard to socially distance in an enclosed room, so I recommend going after being fully vaccinated. I thought the puzzles were really cool and innovative. There was a great variety and way to solve puzzles that I'd never seen or done before. The flow of the puzzles was intuitive. We rarely went out of order on the clues and the sensor aspect and waiting to hear what would open up next kept us on our toes! Only issue I had was that our escape room moderator called one of our teammates out during the game to resolve a payment issue, even though our organizer had tried to settle it beforehand. He also didn't stop the timer when we managed to escape. Because we used a clue, I guess it didn't really matter, but would have been nice to know our exact escape time. If I recall correctly, we had about sixteen minutes to spare. Aside from that snafu, I highly recommend checking out the escape rooms at Escape Oakland. read more