Horrible customer service. Game master wasnt paying attention so we'd ask for clues and he'd take a while to give us a clue and when he would give us a clue, he would give us a clue we already did. Also, we couldnt understand him at one point and we asked him to repeat himself to which he replied "I already read that." How is that helpful? Dont waste your money here, just go to ala moana. It's better and the staff actually treats you like a human being. read more

Been here a few times before and it was enjoyable. Visiting today, after several years, we had the word service we've had at any escape room here or outside Hawaii. The two kids that were working seemed almost bothered and uninterested in us and it was like everything was a chore -- from simply telling us about the waiver, to "welcoming" us, to introducing us to the room, to giving us clues, to "congratulating" us at the end. Everything seemed forced, like we made them wake up early or something, and they could barely crack a smile. At the end, we got a half hearted "come back soon." No thanks. I also played the room we had today before, and it seemed like they toned things down a bit and it was just meh. The first time I played this room we needed more than the 3 clues and barely made it out at the end. This time, we made it out in less than 30 mins lol. We're not THAT good. The room was mediocre, the staff is mediocre, and sadly this place has gone downhill. Go to the Ala Moana escape room if you want a great experience and a staff that makes you feel like they want your business. read more

We took our daughter for her 10th birthday. Per her request. We did the museum escape room. We all had the best time! Upon arriving staff welcomed us warmly. Directed us to the room. They were very kind and informative. There were ten of us aged 5-40 and we all had a ball. Games in the escape room were fun to figure out. The staff gave us clues when we needed. I would 10/10 recommend for a group gathering, team building, couples date night. I'll definitely be coming back to try a different room. Thank you for the best birthday for my daughter. read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I was looking for a fun activity for all my kids to enjoy (they're a little on the old side, ranging from 34 to 42 years of age) and got a suggestion to schedule an escape room session. I had heard of these before and knew my three of the four kids had attended sessions before. I scheduled a session and Max helped me to select the scenario. Not knowing any better, I signed the group up for the Museum Impossible scenario which is for beginners but she suggested changing to The Red Doors scenario which was scheduled to run at the same time and was much harder. With a smirk on my face, I had Max change the scenario and she did. On the day of the appointment, my kids showed up with their significant others. My oldest daughter and her husband were looking bored because they were experienced escape room players and didn't expect this would be different from the previous 12. (ha ha). Max ushered the group in and while Grandma and I watched our granddaughter (much too young to have this kind of fun), we waited for the group to come out. An hour later, we went back and found our kids all laughing and teasing each other about the plethora of puzzles that was encountered. My oldest daughter and her husband assumed after 45 minutes of being stuck in the challenge, this would be their first failure. Fortunately my son and his wife were able to figure out the last puzzle so they finished with 7 minutes to spare. Everyone had a great experience and these folks are real pros. I don't know who thinks of the puzzles but they did a great job. Not too easy, not too hard but just enough thinking to make it a challenge. Only minor glitch is Pearl Ridge mall locks all their mall entrance doors till they open at 10 AM. Our session was at j9:30 AM and we had to find the employees entrance door (I guess this was the first challenge, LOL!) by the old monorail station entrance in the upper parking lot. There's a set of tables with umbrellas that are near a small automated door marked "employees entrance". One needs to enter there, let the security guard know you're headed to Escape Challenge then proceed. It was a great session and well run. Check it out! (I know I will again...) read more

I've never had worse customer service in an escape room. The only reason I'm giving it two stars instead of one is because you can tell there are some staff members there who are trying their best, but when someone like Cam is running your game, it's just a frustrating waste of time and money. The game master, Cam, wasn't paying attention to our game, dispensed clues for things we had already done, and then sounded straight-up annoyed when he said he had already put the clue up on the screen. When we left the room, he was on the phone and barely acknowledged us or talked to us, leaving an extremely long and awkward silence while he unlocked the lockers with our belongings in them. I've done quite a few escape rooms and this guy made me appreciate every other game master I've ever had. In addition, the puzzles at Hawaii Escape Challenge don't make sense. In a well-designed escape room, you feel smart for figuring out challenging puzzles. Here, the puzzles don't feel intuitive or cohesive. They don't support a narrative. You kind of blunder around into the correct answer, and even when you do escape, it's unsatisfying and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I've done three rooms here in recent memory (two we escaped, and one we did not) and whether you manage to escape or not, this lack of quality is consistent across the board. Finally, the rooms are dark (it's hard to solve puzzles if you can't see them! I get that it's for atmosphere, but other escape rooms offer flashlights) and it can be hard to hear each other through walls if you are in separate rooms. I truly hate to support a chain over local businesses, but in this case, honestly, just go to Ala Moana instead. read more

Highly recommend this place for group/team building activities. It may not seem like much from the outside, but never judge a book by its cover. The friendly staff ensure that we have the best possible experience that we can inside the rooms! Definitely recommend flushed 1 and flushed 2; my coworkers and I did a 4v4 to see who could escape the quickest. It seems simple, until you get a curveball right at the beginning! 10/10 recommend!! read more

Looked promising but had to wait just to enter the room to check in because staff was absent, the experience wouldn't have been bad if TWO parts of the escape room were not properly reset, which lead to us wasting time on something the staff did not do in the beginning. Very poor experience wouldn't recommend or go again. read more

Things were broken, the scout master were horrible. Did not help very much. Do not recommend

My cousins and I did the museum heist one and we had such a fun time doing it. We were able to escape with 2 minutes to spare but the staff was really helpful and I loved how interactive it was. read more

First time I ever tried an escape room. This was fun. Went for a work team building thing. We did the Flushed room. Didn't make it out, but we did get further along than the other team. After we got out, we asked the game master what we were missing bc we got stuck at about 15 mins left. She asked if we did something (not giving hints here.. you gotta figure out your puzzles lol) and we said we did, well the room didn't work the way it was supposed to bc the thing we did do didn't pop open the next door we needed to move forward in the game. I think we might have made it out if that didn't happen. She said she would look into why that thing malfunctioned. *shrug* Things happen. It is what it is. Now... had we been the losing team, I may have a different take on this and be less forgiving.. lol. All in all. It was a good time with coworkers, though. I'm glad we did it. I would like to take my kids to one and see how we do. I love puzzles, and I'm quite competitive. read more

The great escape was the greatest escape!! Thank you for my friend Tami who is the sweetest and thoughtful friend who constantly think of others and introduced me to this adventure, her energy and passion motivated us to take this journey and gosh what a rush! Hawaii Escape Challenge is located in Pearlridge Center "UPTOWN" next to Claire's I say this because location in the mall isn't stated anywhere and it was frustrating when we were asking each other "where is it?" talk about a mystery...even when I got there we almost past right by it as it's just ONE door talk about a challenge already...one friend was at Downtown. First thing you do is sign a waiver virtually using a QR code and you're given instructions by your guide mostly of what not to do "forcefully break things" as majority of the items are for decor, your guide is there to assist you and is who to ask for clues (three available) when you're stuck...all good?! Do it in less that 60 minutes to figure out how to escape woohoo!! How did we do? WE CRUSHED IT!!!! We had 17:49 left YEAH!! Gosh I admit it was so much fun a great group motivational experience and totally recommend it the more the merrier though too much can get crowded. We were a group of four and it was perfect. The only downside is pictures as I guess Covid there wasn't any props as I seen in past posts we had to take group selfies and borrow the whiteboard to write our time, the celebratory moment to capture it was lack luster but bragging rights are more important right!? We got the Diamond!! 17:49 :-D read more

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Wedged between Claire's and Pandora in the mall. It was like locating a speakeasy bar :) made reservations and they were timely in getting our group started. We did the cabin and it was quite challenging for us! We asked for a few clues and the staff were super friendly. Managed to escape with 10min remaining. They have a locker outside to store all your belongings. No photos allowed. read more

Super fun night out with my kids! Bring your thinking brains (or someone who has one) because you'll need it for sure! Lol. Oh and your reading glasses! Dang it, I forget mine. In the end, WE ESCAPED!!! Location- in Pearl Ridge, 2nd floor, Macys side next to Pandora Price- weekends $32 per person Escape room- Diamond Heist is supposedly the easiest room but it's far from easy lol Staff- Litta was friendly and helpful Family time well spent. Kinda pricey, but the memories... priceless. Will we go again? Yes. read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - After the Escape - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I tried Hawaii Escape Challenge a couple of times with different groups. I tried the Diamond Heist a while back and recently I tried The Cabin. This place no longer has The Cellar, which was my favorite and only horror escape room on Oahu. Regardless, the two new escape rooms added were The Cabin and The Red Doors. Both sounds interesting in terms of the story. My friends decided to try The Cabin since it seems the "easiest" out of the rest with a 50% success rate. We booked the time after hours when the mall was about the closed. This place was located on the second floor of Pearlridge Center right tucked away next to Claire's. The door was locked so we had to call in to let them know that we have arrived. There were 4 of us in a group and 2 of us were new to escape rooms. There was only one person working during that time and he was very unenthusiastic and not energetic at all. Every time we asked him a question (regarding just general questions) he was always unsure how to answer. It looks like he doesn't want to be working the closing shift that it kind of killed the mood of my 2 friends who were completely new to escape rooms. The vibe was a little awkward. He was also our game master and we only used 2 clues out of the 3. The first clue he gave was helpful but the second was something we already have tried but it was a "mechanical error" on the design part of the room. We didn't use our third hint since we already escaped. Without spoiling too much, The Cabin was the easiest escape room I've tried at Hawaii Escape Challenge. The environment was dim and eerie and the props were in-theme to the story. The puzzles were fun and interesting but there was one that was completely convoluted. Our group did mentioned how we wished there were some sound effects in the room to help with the mood of the theme such as the wind blowing, footsteps, wood creaking, crickets chirping, owls hooting in the distance, etc. The room was just too quiet and after 10 minutes we didn't feel too immerse with the theme and the hype kinda died down. I also mentioned that there was a mechanical error where a lock was very finicky but we didn't know. We had the right combination but the door wouldn't unlock which made us second guess ourselves. Until after we keep resetting the lock several times it finally opened. We also told the problem to our game master and he confirmed that the lock was indeed finicky AFTER we escape. I've been to a couple different escape room companies and if there is a finicky mechanism, our game master would let us know beforehand or when they see us stuck at that one puzzle. Overall, Hawaii Escape Challenge escape rooms are still fun. Their puzzles are a little more difficult than the other escape rooms we've tried. Also they are more stingy with their "free" hints and their 3 available hints are always in rhymes and riddles. The rooms themes are interesting in story but the displays are a little more older. The rooms aren't as immersive as the other rooms I've tried. It also would be cool if The Cabin lights would also flicker sometimes to feel the eerie mood. So far I've tried: The Cabin- escaped Diamond Heist- 70% complete (the puzzles were very convoluted) The Cellar (1st run)- 20% complete (3 hints were in riddles which we couldn't figure out) The Cellar (2nd run)- escaped (our team switched places in the rooms) read more

This place was fun, such a good mental exercise! Even through we didn't make it out the Nuclear Launch room. For combinations/locks, don't overthink or overcomplicate, but you might need to know your USA's presidential stuff before going in this room! Communicating through the monitor & whiteboard was easy and smooth! Would go again with other rooms! read more

My daughters and I find a great time at escape challenges the five-year-old has a height that is perfect for spotting clues. My 10-year-old has an analytical mind that doesn't stop and helps with solving riddles and together with my experience. We have a great time and have very equal parts in the winning of every one of the escape rooms we've attempted but one which we're gonna retry shortly read more

First of all, HEC can be a little difficult to find. It's on the second floor and on the way toward Macy's (right before Icing). It's a single door with the name above it. Walk too fast or glance at your phone and you might miss it. The game master was friendly and did a great job of explaining how things worked, especially since many of us hadn't been before. Our group did the nuclear room. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the intricacy of the puzzles. Some were a little obscure, but it was overall a fun time. Again, the game master was also really great at facilitating the experience. I've never done an escape room before, but based on my experience, I'd definitely be down to go again. read more

Awesome sauce, staff were amazing and the room is very challenging, in fact I'm still in it. Been stuck for a while.

Excellent experience. We had a great time. Thanks for an amazing night. Professional and friendly staff! Can't wait to come back.

Love this place! Super welcoming and fun! Definitely was challenged and had a lot of friends to play with! Would recommend for a big group on a night out! read more

Even though we ran out of time, we had a lot of fun putting our team working and detective skills to the test. More importantly, the birthday girl enjoyed celebrating turning 12 with her first escape challenge experience! We'll definitely try again! read more

This place is kind of hidden. It's next to Claire's at Pearlridge but you could easily walk by it if you weren't looking. To enter you go down this long hallway to a door and have to call to be let in. It's a bit suspect but it's legit. My meetup group did The Cellar and let me tell you, this is a challenge! There were 8 of us and we got 60% done. It's a bit scary and dark (but I'm afraid of my own shadow so don't take my word for it), but a good time with a group. I won't spoil the story, but this is an activity worth trying! read more

Went here with my daughter and siblings and had a pretty good time, this was my first experience with an escape room and I did have fun although if my siblings who were experienced at this didn't know what to do I might've just been waiting. the girl at the front was friendly didn't stand out but wasn't rude either, she let one of our group in later as we had to start on time. but basically she told us this is the course your doing, put us in the room and shut the door. Some of the stuff in the room seemed broken, and it was a little odd just hearing her talk to us over the intercom every once in a while. One thing for sure is, I would've never found this place on my own. its in the mall but down a hallway inbetween stores. If my sister wasn't there I wouldve walked past it without a thought. read more

overall, going to the escape room (a group of 5) people in the "the butchers cradle," was very well thought out. won't say much details bout the room but my group made it halfway through unfortunately failed. but i'd like to say that inside the room; if someone gets something right whether it be a code to unlock something or open something. i would feel more validated that we get a notification or a green light flashed that we're on the right track. read more

First timer here to an escape room (in-person)! I've done a virtual one and it gave me anxiety!!! This one was so fun to do with great friends! Professional staff from the time you walk into the place. I'd say finding the location was a game in itself as it's between two stores thinking it's just some mall hallway. But as soon as you find it your asked what reservation it's under and the game begins. I'd say, use the restroom before hand so you don't miss the whole beginning, cuz when I walked into the room 5min after everyone it was confusing of what was happening lol. In all instructions were very clear and helpful throughout the game. Did I survive? Yes! Did my group get out in time before blowing up? Yes! Would I go again? Yes!!! read more

We came here to celebrate my 14 yold son's birthday. They really had fun and were still talking about it until we got home. It is good for team building where everyone participated to unlock and escape the room. Even the shiest (per Webster lol) boy in the group was giving his input while clock was ticking. They had 3 clues. They were given another clue for singing Backstreet Boys' "I want it that way" which they did so got another clue but still they didn't make it though..aww! Only thing they didn't get offered those small cutout boards. I guess because of pandemic. Will try to break "the cellar" next time... Pros Clean Fun Friendly staff Cons Easy to miss. Between Claire's and Pandora read more

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Never been to one so i had no idea what to expect!! Took our family out for a birthday celebration and it was beyond my expectations! My 8 and 11 year old were determined to get it done. I on the other hand really didn't think we were going to make it. It took us a while to get the riddles going but when we did we had 15 minutes left and it started to roll. My kids were excited and their voices through the whole thing was pure excitement. I loved that the staff was so involved and even brought a step stool for my youngest. We finished with 3 minutes left. They definitely want to come back and try the other rooms. read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Okay so this is my 1st review if 2019 and it's almost the end of February...sorry Yeeps. Starting off 2019 with an escape room challenge at a location I haven't been before with family was an excellent experience. The location is convenient. Since it's in a mall there is plenty of parking. Located on the 2nd level of Uptown PearlRidge right near to Claire's. If your not looking you could easily miss it. You would never know that it's as big as it is. When you enter you have to walk down a long hallway and make a right and there you will enter the actually waiting area of the Hawaii Escape Challenge. Without giving away to much let's just say this was and experience! We were separated into groups and put in 3 different rooms. We had to communicate with each other to get out and then the real challange begins. If you want to find out more you'll just have to go check it out for yourself. read more

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I think the challenge is getting to the location. Be aware of what time you go there because you'll be stuck in traffic, street and freeway. Then you get to a mall, of course you don't know where to park. If it makes you feel better, find Claire's. It's easily missed and it looks like it's tucked back into a restroom hall. You're probably looking for a storefront, you just see a door with the sign above it. We did The room flush because it was just me and my husband. A lot of the escape rooms, require 3-4 people minimum and charge your for that amount. Without giving any clues, this room is all about communication. We got out but we learned that we need to work on that. It would be easier with four people but totally doable. Like o said, we needed better communication. Our game master was meh, didn't seem into it. read more

My daughter has been asking me to do an escape room for what seems like for ever. I will say I had a great time watching her figure out clues and show off her smarts. You can't register online unless you have three people. It's really hard to do this room other wise. My husband would have been a huge help today. My daughter was great! She knew what she was doing and she was really into it! I was to also, the concept is really cool. The young lady at the front desk was really awesome she was very accommodating in making sure that my daughter got to enjoy the escape room. If it is less than three people in your party you have to do a walk. That's is fine since it's at the mall, having to go find something to do for 30 minutes wasn't very hard. We did a little shopping came back and she checked us in right away with no problem. honestly that's why I bumped them up a while star. Great customer service will definitely get you that with me! read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - About to start the escape room! - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

When my boss said we were meeting at Pearlridge Mall for our team Thanksgiving fun day I was hoping it was to do the Escape Room and I was right!!! I was so excited but weary because of course I wanted to"escape"! We went as a team of 3. I really would advise there should at least be 3 people doing the challenge to collaborate and solve clues. Expect to figure out combinations and riddles. You do get some help as the team is given 3 clues they can ask the game master. I would suggest asking for clues at each 15 increments as needed. Our team was so close to solving and escaping but needed help with one last clue and the game master generously gave us a freebie. We escaped with 30 seconds to spare. I'm excited to come and try another experience! read more

Just wanted to mention how amazing the service was at this place. the black girl with the curly hair took very amazing care of our room for us. would 100% recommend this place especially since the service was top tier! read more

Happy to be out and about with businesses reopening, I decided for an evening of fun we'd do an escape room. This business is Conveniently located on the second floor of Pearlridge (next to Macy's). I booked my adventure online and we were off to our adventure! We had a challenging and enjoyable evening! We didn't get to escape but we definitely had a good time trying! Enjoyable evening and we'll be back for more fun! read more

The whole experience was super efficient, the room was exciting, and our game master was fun I think her name was Armecie.

Extremely fun!! Went with three friends and we had an amazing time! We did one of the easy rooms cause we only had 4 people but we enjoyed failing to escape. Staff was very friendly and fun! It was kinda expensive but I would still love to return read more

My cousin was visiting from town and they like to do escape rooms so we decided to book a reservation online. The staff welcomed us immediately. they were very friendly and informative. You get details of the activity and then they escort you to the escape room. The escape room is challenging and definitely requires thinking so be ready. But if you escape then you get an awesome feeling of accomplishment like you just finished a mission in the end of a movie. I did not know what to expect but it turned out really fun. I dont want to give spoilers or give any clues away about how to complete the escape room. But i would definitely recommend this activity if you have kids or a family. It is a fun group activity. read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Some leaders at Aiea Summer Fun have taken our teen leaders to the cellar are pearlridge and the experience was great. Kanoa our game master helped make our experience for the teens memorable and fun. The room was challenging for them and having us split up was a great edition to rooms we do. The scare factor was a good way to see how these teen reacts and watching the work together toward a common goal was fun. read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Came here with few of friends to check out this exciting escape room challenge. This isn't my first time doing an activity like this, but I can see that the staff here is extremely friendly and helpful. They have relocated their place right next to the pandora store uptown pearlridge . It's a single door, so it can be easily missed. What i thought was interesting was, it isn't any particular entrance where you just walk into the store. They have a interesting walk way. Lol which kinda hyped us up before we entered into the waiting room haha. There are 4 escape rooms that they offer. We did the Diamond Heist. We had 6 people and managed to escape by the last few seconds on the clock. Our game master was so awesome and so nice to us. He made it fun and entertaining!! Were definitely coming back to do the other 3. Highly recommend coming to this place and try it out! :-) read more

Hawaii Escape Challenge - Our AWESOME Game-Master - Escape Games Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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My family and I did The Cellar escape room and can I just commend whoever designs/comes up with the puzzles for these rooms?! Without giving away too much let me just say that communication really is key when doing escape rooms, but especially when doing *this* particular room. Doing an escape room is a great bonding experience for family, friends, coworkers, you name it. The staff members who helped us out today (7/1/22) were so friendly and made sure to thoroughly explain the rules as well as the back story/theme of the escape room beforehand. Additionally our game master provided excellent clues that really helped our group out when we needed it most (FYI, you get 3 clues throughout the game so ask for/use them wisely!) This was only my second time doing an escape challenge here and it definitely won't be my last! 10/10 recommend! read more

4/5 times I went the "game master" was chill, cool, really awesome vibes. But this past one on a sunday afternoon, the worker was not enthusiastic, cant work the walkie talkie properly so we couldnt hear the beginning of her sentences. Her lack of work ethic greatly impacted our experience. She didnt want to even have small talk with us. I asked her "what is the completion rate of the room" and she didnt rven bother giving an answer. Instructions were not clear or didnt give enough instruction. Example: the vases in the room were not bolted down to we gently checked under it and around but was told not to touch it, same with the lights, we thought turning it off we would see something glow in the dark but again she told us not to touch it. So many rules had to be said AFTER we unknowingly broke it. read more