So far we've done two rooms at Nerd Escapes, both were incredible experiences!! Each other was stuffed full of intricate, thoughtfully designed multi-layer puzzles that interrelate and weave incredibly well into the narrative. Great staff that are always friendly and professional. My friends who brought me are big fans of escape rooms, and they assured me, this is one of the best escape rooms around. I look forward to come back and experiencing more rooms!! This place is a ton of fun!! read more

Sadly, this is not my favorite escape room place. I've done two of their rooms, both in the yellow building (which is confusing in itself) and the first (art museum) was solidly "fine." Some clever puzzles, decent concept, mostly good experience. The Chernobyl room, however, was kind of terrible. I do a good number of escape rooms, and it wasn't that it was too hard, but more poorly conceived. It was a mix of super niche or hard to find clues combined overly easy ones, starting with an uncomfortable and somewhat pointless lock. It was also very linear, so a large group would likely have people standing around because there's not much going on at once. The most frustrating thing was the ending has a very finicky piece of equipment that we couldn't master. We ended up giving up because, while we felt we solved it, we couldn't get it to work and just wanted to be done at that point. Plus, our experiences outside of the room were super awkward, not offers for ceremonial photos. Will not be trying another room. read more

My first-ever escape room: it was such a fun experience! My friend, an escape room aficionado, and I did the City With No Sun room- we were in the dark the entire time! Our host was very nice; we were running pretty late due to traffic & he was super flexible in accommodating us. He also gave clear instructions at our arrival & was available for hints throughout our time in the room. There are a few parking spots behind the building or street parking. 10/10 would recommend! read more

My niece and I were in Raleigh for a couple days and she had never done an escape room. What an awesome way to fill up a little open time in out trip! The workers were friendly and helpful. We did the Dracula room. The props and decorations were fitting. Our only complaint was that two of the puzzles we solved didn't work quite properly and slowed us down. Even though, we recommend! read more

Such a great experience. We did The Showdown at NERD Escapes. We had two competing team and both groups enjoyed the experience so much. Would absolutely recommend. We solved ours (with a just a couple hints) but could never get that combination lock to open (and we had the combo). Five of us tried over and over until we got help in the end. No spoilers but this exceeded any expectation and definability recommend. read more

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TLDR: Excellent escape rooms in downtown Raleigh. Plenty of options to choose from that vary in back story and difficulty level. NERD escapes has two houses with 7 rooms total. The red and yellow color coding identify which house you go to. We completed the Chernobyl and the Return rooms with about 5 people. We had a blast in both rooms. The back stories were engaging and the rooms are detailed and well kept. Reserving rooms is quick and easy on the website. We were even able to book last minute. Hints are allowed although we like to save them as a last resort. An employee kept up with our progress to provide appropriate hints when requested. We did need a few hints, one related to difficult to use equipment. The room were challenging without being impossible. We ended up needing nearly an hour to escape from both. Unlike most escape rooms they do not offer to take your picture at the end. We remembered after the second room, but forgot after the first. They have an area for pictures with props so it was surprising that you have to request a picture. Parking: lot available behind the houses as well as street parking. Price: typical escape room price of $30 per person per hour Customer service: excellent. We were greeted upon arrival, received clear instructions, and allowed time to use the restroom before starting. read more

Nerd Escapes - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Very challenging escape room. We had a great time though. We did solve the crime but it took over an hour. This is a great activity for critical thinking and teamwork. read more

Nerd Escapes - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Visiting the Raleigh-Durham area for work and a colleague suggested a team building at NERD Escapes. I was apprehensive because this was my first escape room. We had SO much fun! The young lady who welcomed us and provided clues was super - friendly, welcoming, and she didn't laugh at us when we couldn't figure out the most obvious of clues. Best part? We solved the mystery with 5 minutes to spare! A super fun activity in an older wood frame house, this is a sure fire way to bring your team together. Highly recommend! read more

Nerd Escapes - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Had so much fun doing the showdown and the gallery! Definitely recommend doing this for a team building exercise or with friends.

The personnel were great and the puzzles were clever and fun. The backstories were also clever. We had a couple of major technical issues, though. On two separate puzzles the mechanism was broken and we wasted so much time because we'd figured it out but nothing was happening. It was frustrating and kind of dampened our enthusiasm a little bit. read more

William, at Nerd Escape Room (Chernobyl) in Raleigh, made our experience today a really awesome one! He was kind, encouraging and celebrated with us escaping at only 58 seconds to spare! read more

Went to Nerd Escapes for my first escape room experience and am so glad I did! I am pretty sure I would have been trapped had I not gone with smarter nephew and used the plentiful hints the staff provided. It's clear the staff takes pride in their work and all of the details in the room. I'm really looking forward to going again and trying a different room! read more

Had the best time here!! My best friend and I came to Raleigh for a weekend getaway and concert and ended up here twice. We did the Chernobyl one first, which was immersive and had objects and puzzles I've never seen before. I've done around 6 or 7 rooms so far and I enjoyed it. However, I loved The Return even more! It had so many creative puzzles and I loved that there weren't any red herrings to get stuck on. Each object only gets used once so it almost makes it easier to complete. But, with two people only, we really have to put our brains together and strategise. The staff were all friendly and welcoming and gave helpful hints when requested. Overall, highly recommend and will be back if in town again! read more

I just moved from California this past year and I came with my friends (party of 5) to celebrate one of their birthdays. We all love escape rooms and have been to several) Nerd Escapes was new to us but we have been to their neighboring escape rooms at 5280 and thought it was okay. Here's my two cents about the difference between the two buildings. If you're new to Escape Rooms--start with 5280. It's just one room to solve. If you've been to several, Nerd Escapes is an intellectually satisfying one with multiple rooms to go through. We tried "The Return" and it was great and enjoyable experience (without being scary haha). The storyline is fun, the rooms are well decorated, and every item counts. You also get unlimited hints if you ever feel so stuck you can't move on (I think we asked about 2-3 times). We're definitely looking forward to coming back and recommending our friends to come here. We also appreciated the kindness of the staff (Jack?) who helped us take pictures inside and outside the building. Thanks a lot for the good memories, Nerd Escapes! read more

We've been to Nerd Escapes twice, first playing The Return, then playing Chernobyl. We successfully escaped from both rooms and had a lot of fun in each with great game masters and some unique puzzles we hadn't seen before. The only downsides were: 1) Like its neighbor, Room 5280, Nerd Escapes is located in a repurposed old house with creaky floors and relatively thin walls and doors. This means that, even though each experience is relatively immersive, you may be abruptly returned to reality at times by the sound of players in other rooms. 2) We've played at several escape rooms in the Raleigh-Cary-Apex area now, and these two have been the easiest by far even though The Return is classified as Intermediate and Chernobyl as Advanced. Each time we escaped with more than 15 minutes left on the clock. While this may be partially attributed to our increasing ease and experience with escape rooms, I do feel like the rooms could have been more difficult. 3) SPOILER: Chernobyl includes a puzzle that may be unsuitable for anyone suffering from claustrophobia and/or intense fear of the dark. We were fine, but it would be a good idea for Nerd to note this in the room's description on its website. Overall, Nerd Escapes has provided great, albeit slightly too easy, experiences in the two rooms we've tried so far. We recommend checking them out and then heading to The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery across the street for a victory treat afterward. read more

Nerd Escapes - Standing in front of the photo wall at Nerd Escapes - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

This place was a lot of fun! We did the Chernobyl room and it definitely kept us on our toes. The staff was also really friendly, I'll be back really soon to try another room! read more

Nerd Escapes - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I would call myself a bit of an escape room connoisseur and have played most of the escape rooms in Raleigh/Cary and always do escape rooms when I travel around the states. NERD escapes is one of the best in terms of theming, secret rooms, and unique puzzles without it being so cluttered. Some escape rooms have too much going on, puzzles that malfunction, and do not have a logical flow. NERD escapes is just difficult enough where it feels like a challenge, but is extremely logical and don't require random leaps of faith to complete a puzzle. Do yourself a favor and go here!! read more

This place was awesome! The puzzles are engaging and fun and the person running the place (I think his name is Joseph) was extremely friendly and gave us hints when we got too stuck. Would definitely want to come back and try the other rooms!! read more

Friendly staff. We escaped Chernobyl with 11 minutes to spare! Had a great time and will return.

We have done 2 rooms here. It's so fun to work together to figure things out. It's great for team building. It also reveals who is the smartest person in your group. LOL read more

We went in on 8/16/22. The host was very welcoming and seemed to be a character from a movie tbh lol. We chose the Chernobyl room and it was a blast! The host was amazing in assisting us anytime we needed a clue. Very cool place!! We WILL be back! read more

Great fun! My family laughed so hard when we could not get out but we still had an amazing time.

We visited Oct 19 at 8pm and did the room The Return! I don't remember our hosts name but she was great!! We've done many escape rooms but this one might've been my favorite. The puzzles were so creative and the room was full of surprises. I would highly recommend. Also, whoever host was, she deserves a raise! read more

NERD Escapes was a very fun experience going with my family we did the escape room that is about your butler locking you in a room and it was a fun experience 5 stars. read more

Went with 4 friends and we had a really good time. joseph was the man. He was incredibly helpful and so sweet. 10/10 would recommend - Deanna, Emily, Kate, Megan read more

First of all shout out to Annabell or game master and rock star she was very attentive to when we needed help and what steps we were at. GREAT EXPERIENCE!!! It was a cool room I liked that when puzzle was solved, it had some mechanism to let you know the puzzle was solved. We had a great time definitely returning. Annabelle recommended Chernoble and we will be back to do that one! read more

The room we did was so well made! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience that Nerd escapes provided!

Came for a birthday, we did the Art Heist room, and it was so much fun!! The room was so well set up and the friendly staff made it so enjoyable. Can't wait to go back and try out the other rooms! read more

The process was well explained before hand and the clues were difficult but not overwhelming and YES WE ESCAPED. There were 7 of us from 16 - 60 and all had fun and were engaged. read more

Absolutely amazing experience! I went with my family of 8 (for most of us it was our first time)! The staff was extremely kind and helpful (I wish I can remember her name, she was great!) We did the Chernobyl room and we had a blast! The clues were both challenging and intuitive! A perfect experience and definitely one of the highlights of our trip! If you ever make your way to downtown Raleigh, Nerd Escape Room is a must! read more

My wife and I played Chernobyl yesterday. It was her first escape room and about my 10th. We loved it! The game was very well designed. There were several unique puzzles that I hadn't seen before. It was also obvious when you got a puzzle right and something popped open. Lots of fun surprises like that. The puzzles were, generally, straightforward and clear. However, there were two puzzles we solved that we had to finagle a lot before we were right, and this caused us to doubt our solution and made us lose a lot of time. Our guide was really helpful. He was a nice Belarussian man and his accent did help compliment the Chernobyl theme. :) He was super helpful and several times he chimed in and said something to the effect of "go back to what you did two minutes ago in this room". Without that we probably would have lost. The theme of the room was SPOT ON, and I really did feel like I was imprisoned by the KGB (in a fun game way not a scary way). Seriously everything was in cyrillic - so cool. I can't wait to play all of the rooms in this company! read more

Nerd Escapes - , ! - Escape Games Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

So much fun. We did Chernobyl and it was amazing! Can't wait to come back and try a different one! 100000% recommend Nerd Escapes!! (And you get a cute departure gift). You get multiple rooms and the storyline is great! The staff is super kind too!! read more

We had such a fun time doing the escape rooms at Nerd Escape! We enjoyed our time doing The Gallery room so much that we came back and did the Chernobyl room the next day! The rooms were kinda tough and make you think, but they do unlimited hints, which is helpful if you get stuck. Jake was so fun and encouraging, I highly recommend coming here!! read more

We went there tonight and had a great time. Joseph greeted us when we arrived and gave Us all of the information about our experience. We booked "The Return" as our escape room. This room was so much fun. We were a group of 6 players and we had each done about 2 rooms before coming to this room. It was challenging - but not overwhelming. Joseph was a great guide during the game. Gave us just enough information to provoke questions and answers to help us progress. We even finished the room with a minute and a half to spare!! We will definitely be back to try the other rooms. read more

This is an AMAZING escape room! This was my first time ever doing an escape room. I had a blast! Jake was our facilitator and seriously made the experience so much fun. Honestly -- it was so much fun we went back the next day to do another room! Both rooms we did with 3 people and it was perfect. I recommend The Gallery and Chernobyl. read more