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Cedar Rapids, IA

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The Fantastic Escape

3.0 (1 review)

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3 years ago

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Cryptiq Escapes - Graveyard escape room

Cryptiq Escapes

5.0(3 reviews)
26.9 mi

A group of 8 of us visited Cryptiq on a Thursday afternoon as a coworker team building activity…read more All eight of us could have played one room, but I divided our group in two and chose Hotel Hostage and Parole Denied. We all had a great time. One of the owners was present and got us checked in. Super friendly. My team's Game Master, Payton, was awesome. They have 4 escape rooms to choose from with varying levels of difficulty. Not sure how often the themes change, but if you've played all four I'm not sure you'd be a repeat customer. I've only been to one other escape room prior to this, so not a lot to compare the experience to. I'd definitely return to Cryptiq to try some of the other rooms. Clean establishment, aesthetically pleasing. I like that the owners chose some Hawkeye themed colors and decor. A nice activity to have in Iowa City. A team-building/family/friend activity I highly recommend.

Great addition to the escape room stock in Johnson/Linn counties! My group has done most of the…read morerooms in the area and were excited to see another option pop up, but held off for a while because of the pandemic. Very happy that we finally decided to go. We chose to try Parole Denied, a well put together prison break story. While many are an hour in length, this room is slightly longer at 75 minutes. We were impressed by the variety and uniqueness of the puzzles, they kept us engaged and on our toes the whole time. This room required some serious teamwork, and it made it so much more enjoyable when we got out! Everyone was masked up and it didn't detract from any part of the experience. We're already planning a return trip to try another of their rooms.

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Cryptiq Escapes
Cryptiq Escapes
Cryptiq Escapes - Grandmas heirloom

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Grandmas heirloom

Bustout Live Escape Game

Bustout Live Escape Game

2.2(12 reviews)
67.5 mi

This was my second time attending an Escape room type of place. We really enjoyed it both times,…read morehowever this establishment is not nearly as clean, well maintained or professional as the other one we played at. While we enjoyed the challenge and the game, the overall atmosphere was definitely a let down. The rooms we unkempt and sloppy, with an over all unprofessional 'trashy' appearance; cobwebs, dirt and debris in the floor, unfinished walls, scratched dirty paint, musty smell...The clues and puzzles were about the same as the previous place I played at, however the room decorations here were minimal, broke down and bare. It should also be noted that you actually need to leave the facility, go down a dark and unlevel hallway (think, trip hazard) to get to a bathroom in a different facility (the laundry mat). In addition to this, the staff on duty appeared to be bored and uninterested with no desire to engage except for the necessary bare minimum required to explain the game. All that aside, I think the Room Escape experiences are good ones, and if this is the only option available to you, then I guess it would be better than nothing. I enjoyed the 'bonding' experience of attempting to solve the puzzle with my husband.

Disappointing. Not a lot of effort was put into the pirate room. The Dollar Store skeleton and…read morepirate flag didn't give it a pirate feel. The puzzles were more confusing than challenging, and not in a good way. An escape room should be clever, challenging and engaging. This wasn't any of those. The group I was in also did not appreciate the attitude of the employee who was "on call" to give clues if needed. She was rather rude and snarky. We had a group of 7 people, so they made $175 from us that night in a poorly made escape room with $25 worth of decor and clues. My personal opinion is that if you're going to make a business like this, it should be well-thought out and not conducted like easy way to make easy money. That was the impression I got. If you're going to spend the bucks on an escape room, look for one in a bigger city with established businesses who have done the rooms for a while and made them enjoyable and challenging. One I did near Minneapolis was fun and exciting. It wasn't anything fancy, but the room fit the theme. And although our team didn't get out "alive," we had a blast and wanted to do their other room right away. You could tell the people took pride in their business and wanted it to be a fun experience for their customers. I gave this room two stars instead of one because I hope that the owners will improve their rooms and put some more heart into them. My friends and I had been excited to do the room, but it wasn't very much fun. Especially for $25 a person. $10 a person would have been more appropriate, at least at the level of what they're currently offering. Improve the room with the customer's experience in mind, and then charge the $25. Your customers will greatly appreciate it.

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Bustout Live Escape Game
Bustout Live Escape Game
Bustout Live Escape Game

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The Fantastic Escape - escapegames - Updated October 2026

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