We had an amazing time at The Escape Game in Austin! TLDR: Highly recommend - You should play!!…read moreStaff were fantastic!! Toby was a very friendly and genuine game guide that made us feel great about our accomplishments and CJ was an awesome and generous host that got us hyped and left us feeling elated. I was visiting from The Bay Area, California for my birthday, and we decided to play The Heist. There were 5 of us, and 4 had played escape rooms before (not at this company). The room design was awesome, very intricate and detailed, and the puzzles were really well done and very fun (Zelda Ocarina of Time vibes in one puzzle). It had plenty of things for us to do and find solo, and then still come together to solve the puzzles as a group. We smoked it, escaping with over 20 minutes left, with no clues, so we were ecstatic! We got out of the room and much to my surprise they made me a hand-drawn birthday card!! So incredibly sweet, and totally made my day. Coming off of our high of escaping The Heist, we decided to try their hardest room, Prison Break (with a discount for playing same day!). We were split into two cells at first, which proved difficult because we weren't communicating as well as we should have been. We needed a little bit of guidance in the beginning, but once we were out of the cells we started working better as a whole team. The final room was my favorite, I completed a really cool chess puzzle and then there was a detailed bookcase one too that I managed to figure out! I personally felt very accomplished in this room and we managed to escape with around 7 minutes left! Overall, these rooms are meticulously designed and sets were immersive. The puzzles were clever and made you feel very smart when you figured them out, which made the rooms that much more fun. They really focus on teamwork, which amplifies the connection and good vibes of your friends and family. Guidance was kind and not overbearing, allowing you to struggle on your own before gently nudging you towards what was blatantly obvious in hindsight. You can tell that the staff there have a unique bond and really enjoy making the guests feel special. They made my birthday a super memorable one and I'm so happy I decided to come here. Please check them out, you'll be glad you did. My birthday was the bestest because of you all! Thank you so much Toby and CJ!!

We had fun, took advantage of some clues, and Aubrey was super nice!…read more I suggest better a/c because it was an oven in the rooms!

If you're looking to kill an hour of time, consider doing an escape room. If you're around central…read moreAustin, PanIQ Escape Room is a decent option. For $38 PP, we booked the Pirates of Tortuga room about two hours ahead of game time and lucked out with having the room all to ourselves. Parking is easy on a Saturday afternoon for this very convenient location. Compared to the many other rooms we've played in and outside of town, this one was pretty mid. I liked the general flow of the room but thought production value really dampened the overall experience and made it less immersive. Mechanics/equipment of the puzzles were worn down or finicky, decorations were minimal, and service was lackluster - felt a bit like we were being hurried into and out of the room. It would definitely help to have more lighting in the room, too. That said, there were some interesting puzzles that tickled my brain and required good ol' teamwork with the husband. The lobby and bathrooms were well maintained which is always nice. We may return for a different room!

I have done two games through PanIQ. The pirate room and the drug bust room. Both were super fun…read moreand engaging while being a good mix of challenging. The employees are super nice there too.

Sunday marked a great one year with my current girlfriend and someone who means a lot to me. We had…read moreall these ideas on how to celebrate and spend time together, but the weather in the forecast really killed any ability to plan an outside adventure. Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve and called an audible by suggesting the new Stranger Things: Catalyst experience at Sandbox VR. My girlfriend is a huge Stranger Things fan. It's one of the first shows she was following from the first season until the finale that she got to be a part of the zeitgeist with. The moment I suggested this, any other plan went out the window because to her, this was a must. This was not my first experience with a VR attraction. I got to try The Void when it was still in business at Disney Springs doing a Star Wars experience, and I remember having such a blast with it. This was my girlfriend's first time in a virtual reality space like this. Sandbox VR is the modern, surviving version of this doing a similar concept of suiting you up in a crazy VR suit with a headset, headphones, and a bunch of other bells and whistles before you enter a new world. The one thing that is different is that The Void had you walking through their space in their experience while here you're set in a box for the most part. Sandbox VR keeps you in one space for the entire duration and plays it out like a rail shooter arcade game. Different concepts, but both highly enjoyable. The staff were helpful in making sure we were all suited up and ready to go and we had our pictures taken right before they put us into the room. Once we had our headsets on, the experience started immediately. What's so fascinating about an experience like this is how immediate your brain just tells you that this is reality. You just believe what you're seeing is real. The avatar of my girlfriend is moving in real time, the catalyst is a tangible object I am holding. I am a Stranger Thing or whatever they call it. From the get-go, you are given a brief tutorial as a training and then suddenly the game goes from 0 to 100 and ramps up expeditiously. My girlfriend was hootin' and hollerin' the whole time as demogorgons (and democreatures as she calls them) were flying up on us and attacking us. You're genuinely in panic as these things get close to you. The anxiety feels real. The audio, the visuals, and everything in between just gets you immersed in it. The experience lasted about 30 minutes and by the end I was sweating profusely. I'm in pretty decent shape, but I was an absolute mess by the end. After all the equipment was taken off, we got sat next to a TV to show us our scores to see who leaves with bragging rights and is crowned the MVP (it was me by the way). On top of that, you are shown three videos of the VR experience that are recorded during your play. It scenes from the virtual world with a real camera that's pointed at you acting like a fool. Here, we got a dance scene from the end of the experience, a vertical video, and a horizontal trailer. Each were extremely humorous and given to us free of charge with our purchases. I know it works as free advertising for Sandbox VR to give you those videos to post online and all that jazz, but places like this still seem to charge for the memories. To get them included for free as a little keepsake is an incredible gesture and makes me want to try another experience. As for the videos themselves, they are still frying me, and I've watched them numerous times since the experience. If you are a Stranger Things fan, the Catalyst is a must-try. For someone who's only seen 3 episodes but has a good understanding of the show through osmosis from my girlfriend, I had a blast. Even if you're not a Stranger Things fan, there are 10 other experiences to try. The price with everything considered was pretty fair, and we truly had so much fun that I think it was worth it with what value we got out of it. The 20 second video we got of my girlfriend screaming the entire time might get played at our wedding one day. Who knows! RIYL: An experience out of this world

VR gaming had been on my bucket list for a long time and finally got to try it with a group of…read morefriends. The staff was very accommodating and flexible when a few members of our group arrived late, which we really appreciated. The facility itself was clean, spacious, and comfortably cool. Getting geared up took some time as we put on a vest along with arm and leg trackers, and there was a safety briefing and instructions before the game begins. The VR experience started off with a few technical hiccups. There were some audio echoes and glitches in the headset at first, but these issues gradually cleared up as the game progressed. Once we got into the action, the experience was incredibly stunning. Battling Demogorgons in the Stranger Things world was immersive and exciting, and coordinating with friends made it even more fun. You could definitely hear our screams echo through the facility while we were at it. We also celebrated one of our friend's birthday with a cake in the virtual world. It was a memorable experience!

Do you like time travel? Local art? Solving puzzles? Walking and exploring SoCo? This experience is…read morefor you! This is a whimsical escape game that took place in South Congress St in Austin. If you're down to get a bit silly in public and solve riddles while exploring the area, this is for you. Bring water, a hat, and good walking shoes - it can take up to 2 hours but is very fun with a group of 4. Also, make sure someone has strong internet connection - it is necessary for some of the clues. You only walk 2-3 blocks one way and there's plenty of places with shade and tables to rest in between, so it is very doable for anyone of any fitness level and the puzzles are accessible to all. Plus, Mission Control is responsive for when you're stuck and meets you in person throughout the experience! Very fun! And lucky for us, it was a cool-ish summer day, so not horrible for walking around. Become a master of time travel!

I really wasn't sure what to expect. But to be honest, we were more than happy and excited about…read morewhat we did that day. I was tasked to plan a fun team building activity for some out of town quests. So I thought this would be great as the weather here in Austin was cooling down to get outside of the box. As we know when it's hot here, it's super hot and that's just no fun at all. There were 12 of us, and we broke up into two groups and were each given a suitcase that we were tasked to do different adventures in East Austin. We were greeted by our tour guide, who gave us everything that we needed to make sure that we had an incredible afternoon. And we did. I could not recommend this more if you've got five or more people coming in I wanted to go out and have some fun in Austin. You'll make lots of memories have lots of laughs and see lots of things you may not have seen before. So don't be afraid that people are gonna be bored, because they won't. Lots of great memories :) thank you One more thing. You'll want to wear some shoes that are comfortable. As you will be doing some walking. Also - choose your end spot - the restaurant we had was not my favorite.

I played a Cluetivity game at the Domain and had such a great time walking around with my friends,…read moreexploring the area, and working together to solve the puzzles and riddles. It brought me back to my childhood love of puzzles, and I thought it was so unique how it incorporated the GPS and the sites around us. I brought my 5-year old daughter to Austin Cluetivity downtown yesterday to play a game, and she has not stopped talking about it. She was so mesmerized by how the augmented reality worked and is already begging to play again. I look forward to going back soon with the whole family. It's such a fun group activity unlike anything else we've done.

We were not impressed. The 'game' requires you to carry an ipad along with a number of other…read moreitems. That should be enough to get through the activities but at one point we were directed to use facebook messenger to communicate with someone. We were given no advance warning and neither one of us had messenger set up on our phones. At another spot we were directed to get a secret word from an employee. She didn't know what we were talking about so she called her manager who also didn't have the answer. Some of the 'challenges' were also very odd.

We were celebrating family birthdays with a group spanning ages 9 to 80+, and Game Show Battle Room…read morewas exactly what we needed. We were looking for something inclusive that every single person could enjoy no matter their age or energy level, and this hit the mark perfectly. We played the Classic Showdown, and it did not disappoint. Devin (our host) and Kayla (our producer) made the whole experience unforgettable. They gave us an opportunity to create our "on air" names and team names; and kept the energy high from start to finish. The competition got surprisingly fierce in the best way, and everyone from the youngest to the oldest in our group was laughing and fully engaged the entire time! If you're looking for something fun and inclusive for a family gathering, birthday party, or group of friends with a wide age range, this is it. 10/10 would recommend. Ask for Devin and Kayla if you can!

Came for an event and had such a wonderful time with the group! We were split into two teams and…read moretaken into a separate game room. The experience was set up like a TV game show, which I absolutely loved -- especially the trivia portion. The second half added a fun twist with games inspired by classic "drinking game" style activities (think cornhole, flip cup, etc.). They were definitely entertaining! Not exactly my strong suit -- I'm terrible at those -- but I probably should've had my college kids give me a refresher beforehand! Overall, it was such a fun and interactive experience. I'm already thinking about convincing my team at work to come here for a team-building event!

This is an activity that would be fun for families with young children. However, we were four…read moreadults who each paid over $50 to go on a self guided tour and walk around with an iPad to find a VR troll and "collect gems" for points. The "haunted" part of the Austin Haunted History Tour was that a few locations had a history of ghost sightings. We cut our "adventure" short because it was ridiculous that four grown adults had spent an absurd $200+ between us to walk around town with an iPad and play a game that was best suited for 7-12 year olds. Thankfully they were kind enough to refund our money, which we appreciated. So if there are kids invloved in this activity, I'd maybe give it three stars but the price is just really not worth what you get, which is basically an iPad rental.

The whole experience was pointing a iPad at a single table inside a restaurant. The whole…read moreexperience lasted 9 minutes and could have been done at home.