Going into Mr. J, I didn't have high expectations. Why? Firstly, because my group and I had to wait 15 minutes before we could start our game - the group before us took their time. That same group was also a haggle of giggly 12 year olds who ended up taking lots of selfies after they failed their escape room. Secondly, I was able to secure a time to play the day before which gave me the (inaccurate) assumption that this place isn't popular. On my way to my group's escape room, I passed by the new room Assassin, but apparently it was only available in Chinese so not open to the public yet. [Vampire Hunter] My team and I decided to go a scarier route this time around. I wasn't too clear about the mission, the storyline was there for sure, but a tad convoluted - it had something to do with a human wanting to become a vampire, but at the same time, we had to hunt and kill the vampire. We were lead into the starting room which was bigger than the room at Locked Canada. I have to admit, I was pretty stuck for some of the challenges, but the game master was very helpful. Unlike Locked Canada where the gamemaster gave hints that themselves needed deciphering, the game master at Mr. J actually gave good hints and spent the time ensuring we got the hint before leaving. It was very nice of him and made me instantly feel like Mr. J cared for its players. Previous reviewers mentioned the mechanical aspect of things and they couldn't be more accurate! Compared to GuessHQ, this was even more fun because things opened where you didn't expect them to open. I actually screamed and jumped because I got startled from a few of these mechanical movements which weren't in themselves scary. My team and I had great laughs chatting about our startled moments afterwards since none of the other escape rooms we've visited gave me that experience - I love Mr. J! Only thing that could be better was the storyline but the existing storyline was better than Locked Canada and TIXE already so...really not that bad. Prop was superb, but not as cinematic as GuessHQ's The Heist. The last part of the challenge was well suited for the men in my group. They really had fun at Mr. J and my group conquered this room and definitely will be coming back to try another room! Remember how I assumed Mr. J wasn't popular in the beginning? When my group and I finished our game, we saw tons of people waiting outside to begin the game. This place is popular. Try it! read more

MRJ Escape Room - Vampire Hunter Wall of Winners - Escape Games Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

[Tomb Raider] An impulsive Groupon purchase brought our group of 6 to Mr.J last Saturday evening. This was my 20th room escape at various places around the city and while the novelty still endears, I've become quite critical of puzzle logic, prop quality, and ambience. That said, Mr.J does things differently - some good and some less so.   The general format is the same: you're left in a room (or rooms) and through a series of puzzles, you must find a way out. Mr.J allows for 50 minutes and 2 hints - no surprise here. After a half-hearted briefing, we were left to our own devices. The one thing I liked most was the fact that almost everything was mechanically or electrically triggered. There was almost no combination locks which really gets you thinking outside the box instead of looking around for random numeric codes. Room design and prop quality was also well done. The puzzles were fun to solve and most were quite logical but I felt the quantity of puzzles could've been increased.  There wasn't much to buildup the story other than the quick 1-minute briefing to put the whole experience in context but you get the general idea once you're inside.   The Lost Tomb theme wasn't overly difficult and we were able to solve it in the allotted time. (Technically, we were in the midst of opening the final door and they let us have an extra 2 minutes to finish what we were doing) There's also the option to add additional time at a cost. It didn't seem like there was a set pricing structure but it's an option that could help you sleep better at night. The Lost Tomb is difficult enough for both veteran Houdinis and newcomers alike. At a retail price of $30 per person, it's a tad spendy. However, at a Groupon price of $15, this makes for a fun team-based experience. So how does it stack up to the competition? Top 5. read more

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This is a relatively new place in Richmond, hidden at the back of a strip mall on Alexandra and No. 3 Road. Theme- We did the Vampire Hunter room. Nice and spooky decor, and most puzzle props stayed with the theme. Not a lot of storyline, but that's not a huge part of it for me. Production quality- Pretty decent. On the same level as Lockdown, not as good as Guess HQ. The props were pretty sturdy, but not quite on the level of feeling totally 'real'. Puzzles- Really good. No lockboxes, lots of electronic/mechanical feedback on puzzle solves. They were all logical and solvable, even if we needed a couple of hints to nudge us along at times. It was pretty linear, but there were LOTS of puzzles, which I really like- everyone gets a chance to try things out that way. I think this place might be my favourite for puzzle type and quality. Bonus points for having the best ending of all the escape rooms we've done. Staff- Friendly enough but not terribly attentive. There was also a minor issue with some equipment, and while they gave us extra time to make up for it, it derailed us a bit. Pricing- $30 per person including tax. We used a Groupon, which was about half that. All in all, a great experience. Would definitely return. Overall experience/fun: 1. Guess HQ 2. Mr. J Escape Club 3. Lockdown Richmond 4. Locked Canada Kingsway 5. Smartypantz Gastown 6. Exit Canada Broadway Theme/Production Quality 1. Guess HQ (by a landslide) 2. Lockdown Richmond 3. Mr. J Escape Club 4. Smartypantz Gastown 5. Exit Canada Broadway 6. Locked Canada Kingsway Puzzle Quality: 1. Mr. J Escape Club 2. Locked Canada Kingsway (all lockboxes, but fun level/type of challenge, at least for our group) 3. Guess HQ 4. Smartypantz Gastown 5. Lockdown Richmond 6. Exit Canada Broadway read more

Out of all the escape rooms I've ever done (10-11), this one is near the top of my list. The cool thing about this escape room is that it is all mechanically automated. It's quite different from all the other escape rooms I've ever done and I'm glad we got something other than the traditional locks and number combinations. The storyline was quite engaging but there were times where we definitely wouldn't have gotten to the next step due to the finicky-ness of the mechanical automation. Staff were helpful, but once we had completed, we came out of the room ecstatic that we had come out. After walking to the staff, they stared at us blankly, as we obviously interrupted their PC gaming time and asked us "...what?". We told them that we had gotten out of the room (duh), and they shrugged it off and said "good job", returning to their game. Soooo...don't come here for the service but it's a cool set of rooms. Our group has been through two of them here and we've loved both! If the staff members here were a tiny bit more theatrical, it would make the experience just that much better. read more

Solid place! I went there with a few friends that are from out of down. I was impressed by how well put together this place is. The guy there was super nice and helpful! He gave us a couple extra clues. The rooms were just hard enough I would say, but they have put a lot of thoughts into it. Looking forward to their new rooms!! read more

Had to use up my Groupon that was about to expire soon from a Christmas gift and came here on a Sunday afternoon with my wife and 10-year-old son. I already had a not so good feeling about the place when the girl who worked there had an attitude that she didn't want to be there, didn't give any instructions and was borderline rude. You can tell she was a foreign student just working there for a quick pay cheque. Once in the room, the fixtures the "The Lost Tomb" was run down or plain simply didn't work. For example, a few of the lights and buttons were not functioning due to overuse. Rest of the place smelled like cigarettes with a mixture of a party/karaoke room. I've been to other escape rooms and know how a proper place should be run. Only good thing that happened was because the girl was so lazy, we went over time by 30 mins without consequence. There are so many other choices to choose from for escape rooms in Vancouver. Now I know why the place was empty on a Sunday afternoon. read more

Really fun! Just tried the Engergon Cube, their newest room. Love how they use mostly technology, from lights to sounds to the physical. Everything followed a logical order and the staff were very nice and helpful! Did the Vampire Hunter room the day before. It was one of the best rooms I've ever done and has many surprising twists! Would definitely recommend this place :) read more

We went in the evening and prebooked. It was around 27$ per person. The waiting area has board games and card games. The storyline escape room we chose was the one where the fiance got kidnapped and we are stuck in a hotel room (the assassination one). The difficulty level was supposed to be the highest. The rooms and equipments were a bit older so it made it less realistic. However, the sound effects made it seem very real. The whole game was pretty direct and straightforward (logical) what each task you are supposed to do. After each task you will be led to the next step eventually breaking you out. I think we were not supposed to bring in a cell phone but they allowed. The staff was nice and came in to help us when we asked. A few spots in the game that needs to be fixed which made it difficult for us to get through. read more

Tried very hard to locate the entrance but couldn't. We figured we were not ready to challenge the inside of the escape room if we couldn't even find it. read more

VAMPIRE HUNTER IS BROKEN. Basically unplayable. My friends and I attempted the room Vampire Hunter tonight. Unfortunately, half of the puzzles were malfunctioning big time. We had the correct solutions, but the technology behind them failed. I believe that we had technical issues with 4 out of approximately 8 puzzles within this room. The owner even had to come in for one of them to rewire a series of buttons that need to be pushed in a specific order. Now, we all felt like we got ripped off for this big time. As most of the room malfunctioned on us, we expected to be able to attempt another room at low or no cost. We feel that what we paid for was basically a tour of how the room is supposed to work vs an actual escape experience. Instead they offered us either each a free can of coke, or a very small discount off another room. No thank you! I doubt we will ever return after feeling so ripped off. I've left my contact number with the front desk in case they wanted to correct this issue with us, but I doubt we will be hearing back from that. So I warn, DO NOT PAY TO TRY VAMPIRE HUNTER. Translated with Google Translate to Chinese (Simplified) 吸血鬼猎人被破坏。基本上无法播放。 我和我的朋友今晚试图吸血鬼猎人房间。不幸的是，有一半的谜题在大时间出现故障。我们有正确的解决方案，但背后的技术失败了。我相信我们在这个房间里有大约8个谜题中有4个存在技术问题。业主甚至不得不为其中的一个重新布线一系列需要按特定顺序推送的按钮。 现在，我们都觉得我们在这段时间被剥夺了。由于大部分房间出现故障，我们预计可以低价或免费试用另一间客房。我们觉得我们付出的代价基本上是参观房间应该如何工作与实际的逃生体验。相反，他们为我们提供了一罐免费的可乐罐，或者另一间客房的一小部分折扣。不，谢谢！我怀疑我们会在感觉如此撕裂之后再次回来。 如果我们想与我们纠正这个问题，我已经在前台留下了我的联系电话号码，但是我怀疑我们会收到回复。 read more

Me and my friends booked a time online. after that day, we went there and there was no body there!!!! We wait for 30 minutes and called them so many times, but no body answered our phone! After about 3 hours, we called them once again, and they said they were not open because they had something else to do?!!!! And didn't even apologize!! What a bad attitude! If they could not open, why would they call us or send us a email?! I will not go back again!! read more

The best escape room I've been to! Everything is electronic and so you're not just trying to find a number or letter combination to open a lock. As a result some of the puzzle solutions are very different. The staff are also incredibly nice and actually care for you to have a good experience. Would highly recommend Mr. J's! read more

Nice staff/great customer service, accommodating, good rooms, unique experience from other escape rooms. Looks like a lot of effort was put into the room we did - the vampire hunter. We went on a Groupon. read more

did Vampire Hunter. it's too straight forward and so many puzzles had technical difficulties/were broken. It's also kind of boring because a there were too many button pressing puzzles. read more

We played the time and the assassination. We liked the tumb so I was going to give it a 4.5 but the but the assassination was so bad I wanted to giv it a 2. So in total I think 3 would be the east raining. This had potential but fell short in to many places. read more

Good story line with solid logic to back it up, cool gadgets too, different, well executed and great fun. We did the assassination first and it was clear how much thought went into it, staff there are very helpful defiantly and bonus point to the experience. It's a bit tucked away but surprisingly easy to park. Good for a group, works well if kids are coming too. read more

Just overall not a good experience. It started with the washroom, I have low to normal standards on clean and I had to talk myself into using the toilet as it was that disgusting. The thought actually occured to me, because it was just that bad, that the dirtiness of the washroom could be a theme. But no, sadly. Many experiences with other escape companies and this is the first time I didn't enjoy myself. Sorry guys. Staff was nice though, and the decor was good. read more

We visited Mr.J this afternoon and there were many ups, and just a few minor points that they could improve on. We played VAMPIRE HUNTER today, which is no longer broken as of 8/20/2018. Now, let's start with the goods! The staff is super nice. We came in, and despite already having a room booked, they gave us alternative recommendations since it was our first time trying Mr.J's fully electronic puzzle rooms. Originally, we had booked for The Lost Tomb, but decided to switch over to Vampire Hunter under his assurance that the room was not broken as stated on Yelp. We were told to close our eyes to head into the room. No blindfolds, but no big deal. When we opened our eyes to begin, the room was well decorated with the theme and storyline (if you're into that stuff). 95% of the room was very much solvable if you're looking hard enough and paying attention to the clues. Additional experience with past escape rooms helps a lot for some of the puzzle types! I mention this because logical progression is something that some rooms lack, and this is not one of them. Things flow very nicely. The electronics and variation on the puzzle types were nice as well. And finally, the room is BILINGUAL. Chinese + English Areas for improvement: -I don't think there was a timer in the room. I typically like to plan out my hints along with room progression but maybe it's better to be focussed on the puzzle and not how much time you have left. -Our gamemaster had a bit of an accent. Some of my group members had a hard time understanding him at times. Super nice dude though. -We were missing one key puzzle piece that was supposed to be given to us after solving the previous puzzle. Our gamemaster ran into the room to give it to us after they realized they didn't have it set up. No big deal. -Trying not to drop too big of a spoiler but one puzzle around the halfway point does not really have an indicator as to how we were supposed to know how to look for it. Maybe it was in the provided "guide" that we had? -I think we accidentally broke one of the pieces without even forcing anything. It was easily came out when we removed it. Staff was informed though and it's not required for the game. -They ran out of wooden blocks for us when we solved it! =( All in all, I did enjoy this room a lot more than I thought I would considering the recent reviews that I checked out that said it was broken, or just not enjoyable. Will likely be back in the future to try Lost Tomb and Assassination when I get my group together! read more

We love the electro mechanical elements in their rooms. The puzzles made sense and the staff were friendly. Wish they would expand into larger rooms. read more

Most expensive and worst set up room I've ever been to. Over 4 issues were found throughout the game...monitors not working, puzzle doors not closed, clues were wrong, faulty triggers that doesn't work unless you luckily put it the right way, etc...The puzzles were confusing and not connected well...been to a few places in Richmond and this one is definitely my worst experience. read more

A good balance of fun and challenge (frustration). We did the assassination and it was so much fun. Great story line + great challenges. LOVE! read more

fun game! picked the room called assassination, apparently it was one of the hardest rooms but it's rly good. the owner let us tried a new room, the blue file, and that was great too. read more

Just had a chance to visit Mr. J Escape Club today. First time there, and I have to be honest, first impressions were very good! My initial thoughts of the place were that it was clean, well decorated, and generally very welcoming. Even though we waited for a while because we didn't have reservations, we were busy enjoying ourselves with some entertaining games they provided. I, along with my friends, had the chance of playing through the "Vampire Hunter" room. Even though this was the only theme I've been in so far, it was quite a delightful experience! One really cool thing I like about Mr. J Escape Club over other competitors is that they don't bombard you with loads of locks. Everything operated mechanically (Even though some parts can be hard to get working). It was definitely a breath of fresh air to see the different style of escape room Mr. J provided. Anyways, "Vampire Hunter" was a very well decorated and setup room with loads of puzzles and action-packed levels. The atmosphere of the theme inside the room was pretty good (music along with lighting). The room followed a pretty interesting story, which was all written out as a journal for participants to read while solving the puzzles. I had a great time! (Even though we were quite bad at the start lol) The staff at the time consisted of one person, but he was really nice and helpful. I would definitely come back to try out the other rooms! read more

Our group has tried pretty much every other escape room in Richmond, and Mr. J is by far one of the best in terms of unique puzzles, immersive storyline, and production value. We have done the Lost Tomb, Vampire Hunter, and Assassination rooms, and they were all amazing! Tons of fun and fully immersive story for each room, with top-notch production value. Assassination is 80 minutes long, and it is definitely the BEST escape room we have done to date. None of the puzzles rely on traditional locks, and they are challenging, but fair. The staff is also super friendly and accommodating, and you can tell they are passionate about what they do. This is a must try! read more

We played both vampire hunter and assassination escape games. They both were very fun and immersive. You really need to pay attention to details to escape these rooms. There were no locks involved. By doing tasks correctly, things are revealed. That's what makes it exciting and a bit scary. The assassination room was much harder. Details!!! The staff there were really nice compared to one other escape venue we played at in Vancouver. They want you to enjoy the games and want to help you escape if you need help. There is no gimmicky extra costs to give you advantages in the games. They will explain to you at the end if you want to understand how to escape. Overall we will come back when they have their 4th room. Customer service is important to me. They had much nicer staff than in G...the one guy we met there should learn better attitude,be more genuine. read more

One of the best escape rooms in Vancouver! They don't rely on combination locks to keep you busy, but instead have some really interesting and unpredictable technology in there. We have done three different rooms and each one was full of surprises. Highly recommended! read more