My son and his friends came here for his 13th birthday. I initially booked it for 4 people total but they were kind enough to let me add an additional person over the phone for a little more. I had no idea that there was going to be a live person as part of the room. My son and one friend absolutely LOVED the interactions with the zombie in the room. The other 3 friends however, were quite scared. I appreciate that they let my husband go into the room as "security" so that the others 3 boys would participate. read more

I took my wife here as one of the events we did for her birthday, and we had a ton of fun. First off, if you know what HOUSE OF TORMENT is, it turns out this place is connected to it! We seriously had no idea and it made our enjoyment even higher since we love going there every year. The zombie room was fun and scary especially since we had a zombie named Monty running around and scaring us while trying to solve puzzles. It's very hard to do puzzles while a zombie is chasing you, but we somehow made it out anyway. We didn't get to get to try the Houdini experience since we had other places to be, but we both wanna come back and try out that experience next time. If you're looking for a more interactive escape room with a full fledged zombie coming after you, then definitely go here. read more

Great Room Escape - Monty was a great and scary zombie! - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

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All around great escape room! I was a little worried at first but I enjoyed it more than Escape Game Austin. We did the Zombie room, super interactive and the intensity factor was awesome. I appreciate even more that the price was super reasonable with the Groupon, I have a peeve of escape rooms being $35+ dollars. read more

Pretty good escape experience with good puzzles, but it's not very intricate or complex. I've done both the Houdini and Zombie rooms now. Both were in a contained space, max 2 rooms, so the "coolness" of some escape places was lacking. Overall it was a good time but it also felt a bit too easy and some puzzles' mechanics weren't working right. Would I come back? Well, it was a good Groupon deal... read more

My boyfriend and I played the Houdini room here. It was challenging and fun. A couple of the locks were finicky, but the host was able to help us after we figured out the answer. We finished with 2 min to spare. Would go again! read more

I have wanted to play the Zombie escape room for years, but never could find a group of people who were willing to do it with me. Yesterday, two members of my go-to escape room squad agreed to try it, and it was awesome! Escape rooms require logical thinking, observational skills, lateral thinking, communication, and teamwork, all under time pressure. This room added the pressure of operating in fear, and it was fascinating! In hindsight, I think there were fewer puzzles, and they weren't particularly tricky, but it was nearly impossible to solve them with a zombie in the room. My daughter is our logic puzzle guru, as she is a former attorney and current LSAT tutor. She commented that she couldn't manage one puzzle, even though it mirrored what she does every day for a living! It was a blast seeing our natural fear reactions come out (I scream and laugh hysterically - the other two get still and quiet). Why was I so scared? I knew it wasn't really a zombie, and it wouldn't really hurt us - but it absolutely affected my ability to function. I loved every adrenaline-filled minute. If you like escape rooms and haunted houses, this is the perfect marriage of the two! read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

We try out Escape Rooms wherever we go with the kids, and this one was one of the more interesting puzzles without being impossible for a group. The host was friendly and helpful, but without making it too easy. We chose the Houdini room since we didn't want any jump scares with the younger ones, and it had a good mix of hard and easy. We finished with 10 minutes to spare. The room was well constructed and a lot of the puzzles built into physical space which made it more interesting. A couple of the dial locks were really odd. They looked the same but where you had to put the "right answer" was different. read more

I had high expectations for Great Room Escape but the experience fell short. We went in for the Zombie Room which featured an actor who'd be tied to a chain that loosened up overtime. While this is a pretty unique concept, the zombie was constantly distracting, at times misleading, and overall prevented us from fully interacting with the room-- too bad, bc it looked good! The zombie kept targeting one of our teammates as well which wasn't cool. To our surprise, the storyteller also stayed with us the whole time after introducing the room at the beginning. The guy was nice but it felt awkward working around him and getting one too many unofficial clues through conversation. He got gradually lax with the performance and kinda rushed/half assed the ending after we solved the final puzzle. Finally, depending on timing, you may hear axe throwing while you are solving puzzles because the room has no ceiling and is in the same space as that half of the business. This kinda ruined the vibes for us but at least those folks were having a good time, ha. The staff kindly offered some coupons afterwards so we may try that out if we come back again. All in all, not my favorite room but I can see how some people might dig this type of arrangement. Happy escaping! read more

$10 non-refundable online reservation fee and they were not friendly when we talked to them on the phone. They also charge a "reschedule fee". read more

Was absolutely amazing! Very friendly staff and an amazing escape room! Definitely recommend! read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

Sloane was an excellent host! Houdini was a super fun multi-room experience! Will definitely come back when my family is in town again! Give this place more business the day after Christmas! Hardly anyone was there :) read more

I have been to at least 15-20 escape rooms and Great Room Escape is definitely one of my favorites. The zombie in the room catches you off guard and makes you work faster. It was hilarious seeing my friends stressed about the puzzles and then freak out over the zombie. 100% recommend! read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

We went as a group of 4. It is very rare a place makes me want to review a location, this is one, unfortunately. The staff were kind. However, the room (Houdini) is confusing--not difficult. I counted at least 4 loose ends after completing the room. I was told that most can't complete it, and that doesn't surprise me (in a bad way). Besides the entire location feeling generally janky and poorly put together, the entire concept is muddled. Puzzles and clues are given in a counterintuitive manner and order. The intercom system used is unique to this location and archaic compared to any other escape game I've been to. Clues are setup to seem to go to one thing, so you spend the entire time trying to solve it, only to learn it's the very last one to use. A staff member had to come and help with something that wasn't working correctly at least 4 times. We were not informed on how multiple unique locking mechanism worked. One type of lock had to be used/oriented in two different ways for the same lock, which wasn't explained until someone came in to help because it wasn't working, and even then they struggled as we sat in silence. Half of the room is impossible to see without using a phone flashlight which aren't allowed, which is important because many of the clues are in tiny, secluded, and dark parts of the room. Half of the time there are 6 different clues to use at once (half of which aren't used at the end at all), and then at the end there's only something to do for 1 person. Distraction clues are common, but this was excessive and poorly thought out. To top it all off, we had to hold hands and perform a seance to complete it. Overall, this created an extremely frustrating and disappointing escape game experience that felt put together for a school project. I would recommend legitimately any other escape room locations in Austin, I've been to 5 other companies and they're all great. read more

Mark was amazing and accommodating. He went above and beyond. We played the Houdini room and were so close to solving! Super cool room. 10/10 we'll be back!!! Thank you so much Mark for being awesome! read more

We had an amazing experience. Our group of six 12 year olds and two adults included one girl who was terrified of the idea of the Zombie even before we went into the room. They were very flexible and creative to make our group not only comfortable but enthusiastic. They enjoyed every minute of the game. We will definitely be trying out the other escape room. read more

Had an absolute blast. 4 of went into the room with Julian, the employee who hosted us. He did a great job of providing guidance without giving too much away. Everyone got involved and had a blast! read more

I was very excited about checking out Mindsparks as I have done one escape room before at another venue. It is great to compare escape rooms and share the experience with others. This experience was even more interesting since I didn't know everyone who was in my group. My other escape room I attended was when my family was in town and we took up the whole room. This time, I had to quickly learn to communicate with other people I didn't know in order to help solve the room. It is different with my family since we basically just yelled at each other the whole time. haha My group had signed up for the zombie room and before entering we watched a quick video on dos and don'ts about the rooms. Basically, don't kill the zombie, don't move large objects around, etc. Upon entering the room, there were two actors, one of the actors was quick witted and will be sure to call you out on your mistakes. The other actor is a zombie who is attached to a chain. Every so often his chain is released allowing his reach to get longer. If he touches you at all during the game you are forced to have a "time out" in the corner like a two year who misbehaved. The room is solvable and apparently, it is one of their easiest rooms. What makes this room hard is dodging the zombie while you are figuring out clues. read more

Recently spent a Sunday Funday here with a bunch of Yelpers. Some knucklehead thought we would "enjoy" the Terminal game as we are supposedly all brainiacs. Well as it turned out we are not brainiacs. Mind Spark is well organized as you all watch a video that explains what you are in for and the dos and don'ts. The Terminal game is pretty calm but from what we heard the Zombie room will give you a jolt or two. As advertised the terminal game will challenge you and you really need to pay attention to the details and remember that everything they stage is there for a purpose. This was a great way to spend an afternoon and would love to return, now that I'm more aware of the game. read more

This is the second time that I have done an escape room... the first time I felt like genius... this time I feel like I need to get the dunce cap to on! This room was HARD! Lots of thing that needed to be deduced and I can't say I was in my A game either. The event was great though... the room was a full immersion experience and the owners spared no expense. The experience we did was their hardest and we failed miserably! It was called Terminal... It was s lot of fun though! Try this location for a great time!! read more

Ever wished you could take a crack at solving puzzles like Robert Langdon in the Da Vinci Code? Here's your chance. MindSpark provides non-stop puzzle action that gets enough neurons firing to satisfy even the most extreme of puzzle addicts (read: me). So far I've done the Houdini and Terminal rooms, and also the VR Geist Manor. Oh, I think I'm in love. The Houdini room was pretty PG, but had some really great puzzles. I really enjoyed the set and all of the cool locks & latches. My group scored an extra clue by demonstrating one of Houdini's tricks. Each group may ask for up to three clues. You can communicate this by talking to the screen which also counts down the time. As far as I know, every room gets 3 clues and is 1 hour long. The Terminal was a little bit more exciting as a nefarious plot was underfoot. It starts out on a moving subway car and progresses on from there. The puzzles were more cerebral than in the Houdini room in a good way. Let's just say, God is in the details. Overlook nothing. Geist Manor was a fun excuse to try out VR for the first time. The puzzles themselves were easy. Figuring out how to complete them in VR added complexity and the animations in 3d were awesome. That said, I would be interested in doing a more difficult VR game. It was on the scary side and one friend of mine was too freaked out to get past the game intro, so consider this if you are thinking of taking your kiddos. Overall, such an exhilarating time. I can't wait to return for round three in the Zombie room! read more

Great Room Escape - Geist Manor - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Came here tonight for a Yelp event. I didn't really even know this place was here until now. It's run by the House of Torment group so the production value is on point. Regular price is $40/pp but there are specials and promos that help reduce the price to sometimes less than some other escape rooms. They show you an instructional and informational video at the beginning and explain the different rooms to you. Mind Spark has 3 rooms currently: Zombie, Terminal, and Houdini. I did the Zombie room tonight where there was a live zombie chained inside. Every 10 minutes, his chain got longer to where eventually toward the end we had to dodge him left and right. The clues itself shouldn't be extremely difficult to solve, but throwing in the zombie element to where if he touched you, you had to sit in "time out" for a minute or two, definitely added to the difficulty. (one tip, sing and dance to distract him... works sometimes...) I will definitely be back with some friends to do the other 2 rooms. They say there's enough room for 12 people per room, but I think 6-8 is a perfect number. Based on the Zombie room, I think 12 might be too many and we'd be running into each other. All in all, great fun, would definitely recommend! read more

I run a Meetup group for Geeks and Gamers, and we have visited several Austin-area escape rooms. Last Friday, we brought two dozen of our members to MindSpark and tried out all three rooms. Personally, I played the Zombie room, and was most impressed by the attention to detail in the set design, the cleverness of the puzzles, and the interaction with the actors. Our zombie was a convincingly frightening threat throughout the entire hour. After our adventures, the rest of our members reported being similarly impressed with the other rooms, especially the team that finished Houdini with only 7 seconds left. As experienced Escape Room adventurers, we highly recommend MindSpark as a first-class experience. We will be back for more! read more

Great Room Escape - Our Geeks and Gamers meetup teams all escaped... barely! - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

was a really fun experience !! family friendly and extremely kind staff :) highly recommend doing the zombie escape room. read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

Overall, the Zombie Room was a brilliant experience. Our live actress Zombie periodically interrupted our code cracking to attack us and we also had a live hostess. The decor as excellent though slightly monochromatic. My only suggestions are to get the room much more sound proofed (you can here the patrons ax throwing at the bar) and vary up the puzzles to include a few more tactile or pictorial aspects. read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

Took my family to the Zombie escape room at the Great Room Escape, including my 16 and 17 year-olds. We had a fantastic time. The concept of the puzzles is pretty good, and the addition of the zombie concept adds a significant twist to the escape room concept. What really made this experience shine was the staff. They were perfect. They made the experience fun and authentic, while dropping just enough hints and rule reminders to help keep us moving when we got bogged down. I mean it was hard, but they made sure that we had fun by giving us a nudge when the frustration was building. My kids talked about this for hours afterward, which for teenagers, is really something. I had a great time and would absolutely recommend this experience. read more

The Houdini escape room is the first we have done so it was a little overwhelming at first but once we got into it we had a great time. And the hints from our resident magician Russell came in very handy. Definitely recommend to everyone and we will be back to try the other room and some axe throwing! read more

The in-person "Zombie" rushed us and gave us clues so we could get out of the room faster. The answers to solving the room were left in the room as well. Customer service was poor and wouldn't issue a refund when one of the participants of our party failed to show up due to a family emergency before we even started the room. Very rude and unhelpful. I will never come here again and would definitely not recommend it anyone I know. read more

Went yesterday to do some axe throwing and it was absolutely phenomenal! The games we played was awesome and Julian helped make it an unforgettable event with my friends! read more

Had a group from out of town for a Bachelor's party and our experiences here was definitely one of our highlights. The staff was super friendly and the puzzle was challenging - yet engaging and fun. We escaped the Zombie room with plenty of time to spare. A few guys never been to an escape room before and the staff was super helpful in walking them through the idea. Despite the high price - we had an amazing time. The rooms + puzzle was all thought out and beautifully decorated. There's also group rates and a $10 discount available. Parking is plentiful. read more

We had a great time. It was only two of us but finished it with 18 min to spare. Julian and Bailey are great even if Julian cheats I totally recommend this for everyone, large or small groups will have a blast. I can't wait to go back and throw axes . read more

Great Room Escape - What a great time Julian and Bailey are the bomb - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

The place is brilliantly mastered to entice your brain and kept you engaged throughout the experience. Gillian and Bailey were amazing host. zombie room was Terrifyingly Awesome!!!Cant wait to do it again! I HIGHLY recommend this place. read more

Great Room Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

We decided to come to this location with family and friends. We'd visited before-last year for my wife's birthday and were impressed with the experience. At the last visit, we did the zombie room so we decided to do something different this time. We elected to do the Terminal- the hardest room there! What were we thinking? We were one clue away from solving the last one and once again, we were one clue away from solving this mystery. Chase served as our guide and provided accurate instructions, hints,and clues. Ultimately this was a great experience where we bonded with family and made new friends. Initially, when we walked into Mindspark no one was one was at the front desk. However, when they did come out they greeted us allowed us go sit in a waiting room until the rest of the party arrived. The game instructor name was Chase and she did a great job providing thorough instructions on how the game works. As always, we really enjoyed this experience, it definitely was a mind challenger. read more

Best escape room! Our group of 8 had so much fun! Houdini room was intriguing, well done, and the staff was great. I've participated in a dozen escape room experiences and this was my favorite. Well done! read more

We had so much fun! We did the Houdini puzzle and ALMOST escaped in time. The room was awesome, the puzzles were engaging, and our guide, Kaleb, was fantastic! This was my first time at an escape room, and I can't wait to come back! read more

My husband and I are escape room enthusiasts who were looking for a new spot to try here in Austin. We chose the Houdini Room and I kinda wish we'd picked the Terminal instead because I suspect it might have been a better experience. While the room's decor was quite good, the actor in the room did not enhance the experience. We couldn't try anything without him chiming in with advice. ("I'll check under XYZ" I would say. "There's nothing in XYZ," he would respond). Even after I told him that we really didn't need him to help us so much, he continued to feed us hints, only stopping short of spelling out the codes and combinations. Unsurprisingly, we got out with 15 minutes to spare and we even solved the bonus puzzle to get an extra (totally unnecessary) clue. The victory felt a little easy. I will say that having an actor on site was helpful when we encountered some more unusual locks and those puzzles that weren't self-explanatory. This would be a great room for first time escapers, but I'd advise experience players to try out one of the harder rooms and maybe be very clear that you don't want help unless you specifically ask for it. read more

Decided to give Mind Spark a try with the family. Their rooms are much more interactive than others. They have actors in the room with you. We did the zombie room. It was a different type of room than we've done before. Not our families style as there are jump scares but I could see where many would love it. They had good puzzles. read more

Was coerced into going to this event by my wife. What a great time to have. I was not disappointed with the entire event. We did the Houdini Room. WOW the puzzles were fun, not too hard and not easy for sure. Bess (Jackie) was the best host within the room. If we had any clues Jackie was able to give us just enough to move forward but never giving the answer. I am looking forward to going back and doing the many other rooms they have available. Also they have one for the kids that sounds fun. For anyone looking to have a good time this is where you should go. Our team finished the room with about 6 minutes to spare. read more

Great Room Escape - Houdini Room - Thumbs Up - Escape Games Near Me - Austin, Texas

Good time with the husband. I would definitely recommend for a date. We plan to go again for double date.

Woohoo! As good as it gets!! Everything from the front desk greeter, to going into the room and trying to figure out the clues is well thought out. Been to several Escape Rooms in Austin and hands down the best quality and clues for your money. Extremely excited to get another group of friends together and try one of the other rooms. read more

I came here with a group of friends, and we all had a really great time! In all honesty, I thought escape rooms were a little on the corny side, but Mind Spark totally changed that opinion. We did the Terminal, their most difficult game, and it really challenged to dig deep into our thinking caps. The production value was amazing, and so much more than I could have imagined. They did a great job making the rooms look real, and the props and clues were so creative. Our game master was also helpful (but not TOO helpful), and ultimately we were able to escape with a few minutes to spare. It was tough, tricky, and at times we felt hopeless, but that only made solving the clues so much more rewarding. I definitely look forward to trying their other games. read more