I really enjoyed the games at Escapism, we have done them all at this point. Every game master is different but they were all engaging and fun to work with. Definitely helps when you're doing a bunch of rooms all in one day. read more

Had so much fun! We did the Wizards Lair with 11 people and we had a blast!! The host was funny, patient, and communicative. The puzzles were fun and creative. Also for such a large party we were all doing something for almost the whole hour. We would definitely book another escape room with them! read more

First, I'll say that our game master was great. I can't remember their name, but they stayed in character, and they also gave good hints that still made you think. Overall, my biggest gripe with the room is with the amount of locks. I can understand having a lock or two in a room, but I think this one had around 10, which really ruined the room for me. The other puzzles were fun, and I liked that there were some elements that i haven't seen in other rooms i've done before. It's not an easy room and we definitely used hints, and if you don't mind locks, i'd recommend the room. read more

This was a great, old school escape room. I say old school because as someone who has done many escapes rooms at this point, I appreciate the rooms that have combo, keys and riddles. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate escape rooms that use innovative technology, engineering and mechanical systems but I prefer the combo/key rooms mainly because I don't have a degree in engineering so I'm never exceptionally helpful doing them. But back to the Magicians Menagerie. Very fun room, good theme, elaborate but workable clues, and definitely a challenge for four of us. We made it out with one minute left. Yes you should try this room. It's a fun one! read more

I have been to many escape rooms in the past, so I have a lot of experiences which I can compare to the Magician's Menagerie. In my opinion, this particular escape room was not actually that fun. Unfortunately for me, this is the first one that I failed to escape from :(. However, that is not the reason why I thought that it wasn't fun. First, this room was actually incredibly difficult (only an hour to escape, pretty standard), but almost all of the complexity came from...LOCKS. Locks, locks, and more locks! There were soooo many locks and the entire escape room experience pretty much revolved around whether or not your group could find all of the keys and open all the locks. I was disappointed that there wasn't much "story" behind the whole experience. Some of the better escape rooms made me feel that I had been transported to a different environment and really got me involved. As my group members and I attempted to escape, we felt burdened and forgot that we were supposed to have fun. Overall, it was a little bit of a frustrating and disappointing experience. read more

My friends and I came down to Portland from Seattle to do 3 rooms with Escapism on June 24! This was our 3rd room of the trip! This room was really interesting and it was fun with the types of puzzles in it! There were some challenging puzzles, but everything made sense how it went together! The employee was also super awesome, and was new but didn't seem like a new employee! Overall a great room, by far my favorite of the 3 we did that day! read more

This place was an utter disappointment. Planned for a group of adults to do an escape room party for a friend's Birthday. We were all severely disappointed to arrive at this strange business office setting, where a tiny room was set up with an elementary & very juvenile "scavenger hunt" of sorts. It was unorganized, did not feel well thought out, the "glass ball" speaker they used to communicate with people in the room absolutely sucked & was nearly impossible to understand anything. Very disappointed & a complete waste of money. read more

A group of 5 of us participated in the Magician's Menagerie. While we absolutely LOVED our host, we felt the room was small and hastily put together. Having done other escape rooms (at lower price points), the attention to detail wasn't there. It felt held together by paperclips and shoestrings. Would not recommend. read more

I've done a fair amount of escape rooms now and this one is up near the top. Lots of different puzzles beyond just unlocking locks, the difficulty level was a great challenge and the host is super in character during the introduction. There was a slight technical problem with one of the puzzles but it was fixed quickly and we were offered a discount on our next visit to make up for it. If we lived in the area we'd definitely check out the other rooms they have. read more

Great room!! I've done four Escapism rooms now, and they are all excellent quality. The puzzles here were varied, intuitive, and clever. The host does an excellent job introducing you to the room and creating a story. I completed this room with a group of five, and it took us around 45 minutes. It's hard to find good rooms to use as introductory experiences for friends/family who haven't done an escape room. I would recommend this one (or any other room by Escapism) for those circumstances. I brought three escape room novices this time and they all want to try another. read more

The Magician's Menagerie was my first escape room and it was a blast! I loved the theme and the decor, and the puzzles were challenging but doable - we escaped (with a hint or two from the host). I can't wait to try the rest of Escapism Portland's rooms - I'm hooked!! read more

As my first ever escape room experience, three of my closest friends and I attempted to solve the Magician's Menagerie. We were given an hour to solve a network of cleverly designed puzzles; the 4 of us came so close!!! It was such an exciting process, and a rather refreshing way to spend an evening in comparison to the mind-numbing 'Netflix and Chill' routine. I would definitely recommend this if you want to shake up the routine and do something fun and energizing with your friends! read more

What a great activity on a winter day, or any day for that matter. We booked during the big storks and the staff were sure to keep in close contact with us athe power went in and out. This room was super challenging with six novices; it was suggested that we might consider booking two sessions next time. Highly recommend! read more

First time and it was fun! Lots of puzzles and chances to work together. Fun story line and the puzzles were challenging. Group of 10, solved with one hint in 55 minutes. Would definitely do this again. read more

We have done 4 escape rooms with Escapism and they never disappoint. The Magicians Menagerie was super challenging and really fun! We attempted with 3 people and didn't make it out in time. If you really want to make a good go of it I suggest going with more people. The host is awesome as usual and showed us how to solve it when we didn't finish in time. We had a really great time and can't wait to do the next room with Escapism! read more

This is a good escape room, but not a great one by any means. Almost all the puzzles are padlocks, which is kind of a cop-out. There are two puzzles that are definitely spiff technology, and one way of getting a padlock code that is clever, but everything else is pretty much simply find-a-number-and-put-it-in-the-padlock. The final solution was also extremely unsatisfying, as it requires you to deduce something that is completely illogical. With 5 minutes remaining we asked for a hint on the final step, which let us solve it, but it was really annoying. read more

Not impressed. Too complicated for a first escape experience. Group of 12 was not successful even partially solving. My suggestion is to get really drunk or high to enhance the experience. The proprietor explained 25% of groups solve. I call BS on that. Not sure I could solve it after having him explain the whole thing. read more

I have done 5 rooms in Portland and this is, by far, my favorite. We had a group of 6 of us and we all felt that it was just the right amount of a challenge. We didn't escape, but it was so much fun. I love the props that were chosen and the use of technology in some of the puzzles. There were enough challenges that all of us could be working on a different puzzle at the same time and then we could put our ideas together. One of my favorite things about the Escapism rooms are the hosts. They are always in character and they just make the experience more authentic. I'd highly recommend this room! read more

Was in town visiting from BC and happy I visited this escape room. Great number and variety of puzzles, and best of all the initial setup and atmosphere really brought me into the fiction. Highly recommended! read more

This was such a fun escape room! The puzzles were challenging yet we never felt discouraged. The magic tricks were so entertaining! I've never done an escape room with an actor before, it was a great addition and he remained in character the whole time. read more

This was one of our favorite Escapism challenges yet. The host was great and the puzzles were just hard enough to make it really fun.

This was my first time doing an escape room experience. It is in the lower level of a house/office with no signs out front. Was a little difficult to find. There is a sign out front telling you to knock 5 minutes before your appointment. So if you are early you will have to wait outside, even if there is no group ahead of you. The experience starts right away, and the staff role play while they tell you about the plot/what you're supposed to do. We had 7 people, only 2 had ever done an escape room before. And it was challenging, we didn't end up solving the puzzle. But it was really fun and we ended up really enjoying the experience. The only cons were the building space--it was small/cramped, no signs in the front of the building, and the space itself was old and it felt like you were in someone's basement (which you really are, I think). The staff member was friendly and helpful. Overall we had a lot of fun, I would try it again at another location. read more