Environment: You need to take the elevator to go up and when you enter, you need to wait for them to open the door. The entrance is a bit small, especially if there are parties waiting or finishing. Staff: very friendly and humorous. They were very nice when we booked on the spot, helping us get started with the game, and during the game, too. Game: we just decided to try this place out with reservations at around 8pm we picked the poker one and I think they said that was a medium level or so. I'm not very good at these games but it was a very good experience. We asked for hints when needed and they provided subtle suggestions which made it more fun for us instead of being direct (they checked with us prior). I also appreciated them asking if we wanted pictures after playing and allowing us to be in the room for that. This escape room was simple, as in there were two rooms, we didn't have to crawl or go through a tone of rooms and such. BTW, with the 3 of us total, we escaped with about 7-9min left haha. I finally escaped an escape room! Also they have bathrooms and if we needed water or just a breather/destress, we were free to go out and do so which was thoughtful. read more

The games are so fun, and Lucia is an amazing game master. The facility is clean and have fun games. read more

We went to this escape room on a whim. As a walk in, they were able to fit us in easily. After getting the options, we decided on the two hour room "escape the colosseum". As a mythology nerd, it was pretty fun to see this theme! While it was a linear room and not terribly complicated, as a party of two, we did need a couple hints to finally escape. Some of the puzzles were a little bit on the not working side (I won't spoil what they were) but our game masters were able to step in and help. Some of the puzzles were definitely user error on our end if we missed something obvious lol. Overall, it was a lot of fun and we appreciated be able to play last minute! read more

Great experience with the escape room! We chose to do Rob The Mob: Break-In At Bubba's (Up to 8 Players). We had 60 minutes to "escape." Ours had 3 rooms with different puzzles to solve. It's truly a team effort. The rooms are rather small so I think 4-6 players is ideal. Make sure to arrive 15 minutes early to sign the waiver. Also bring a jacket or sweater because they keep it freezing inside. read more

The Great Escape Room Chicago - Lobby - Escape Games Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Such fun place we went few times already! Definitely a great birthday or just friends get together idea. read more

Came here with a group of friends to do the two-hour Escape from the Colosseum room. In total we had seven people and I think that was the perfect amount to work together. The lobby is spacious and they have some practice puzzles you can do while you wait. It was a unique experience to have four different rooms linked together. We had 30 mins per room and got out of 3/4 of them. I thought there was a good variety of problems to solve and when we asked for hints they gave us solid ones! I would definitely come back. read more

This place was pretty terrible. They cut our time by 7 minutes claiming we were late, but actually they were distracted and did not serve us even after we filled all the forms on time. Also the girl on the front desk was totally checked out. As for the puzzles, there were many locks, but no real puzzle diversity. There are much better places in Chicago. We will not be back. read more

Such a fun experience. Abby made it an even fun experience! Highly recommend for a team building

Had a great experience!! We did Midnight heist and it was just difficult enough. Abbi was very kind and lovely!

Second time here. The cleanest, most fun escape room we've come across, and we try them in several states! Many places look janky or built with cardboard, but this place is legit! Try the Doctor room! read more

Good lord this place was a DELIGHT. My group of 6 did the Haunted Hotel room, which was the right number given the room's intermediate challenge level. The puzzles were smart, surprising, and exciting, and we appreciated every clever turn and design choice along the way. A couple hints were needed, I'll admit, but we solved it with 3 minutes to spare, and what's more, the resolution was even kind of moving (!). Guides Laron and August, along with front desk helper Mayah, did their utmost to create a fun and memorable experience, so much so that we all left making plans for a return visit. Highly recommend! [And to the salty 1-star reviewers: remember to look under the candles, and better luck next time.] read more

best escape room I've had in Chicago. We did the coliseum and it was a blast. Abby was our hat and they were extremely kind and totally made us feel like we were geniuses. highly recommend read more

Lawron did a great job as our game host and giving us hints! I would go back again :)

Our team had a fantastic time at The Great Escape Room. The puzzles were creative, challenging, and encouraged real collaboration. Michael and Laron the staff member were friendly, organized, and kept the energy high. It was the perfect mix of fun and teamwork -- we'd definitely recommend it for any group looking to connect and problem-solve together! read more

1 adult, 3 teens. We really enjoyed the Mountaintop escape room! It was quite difficult but our moderator, Laron, did an excellent job guiding us with clues so we did make it out with 2-3 minutes to spare. Lots of number/letter type locks in this room. read more

This was a lot of fun! I had never done an escape room before so I was a bit apprehensive when our team decided to do this during a recent work trip. The staff put our minds at ease and suddenly I found myself in the most difficult room (the infirmary!). While we did have to rely on a few clues, we still managed to have a great time and come in first out of our work teams. The staff took photos of us afterward and everyone walked away saying how much fun they had. read more

Came in to play The Coliseum. 120 minutes of play. Moira and Killian are great at their jobs! We made it through with 6 minutes to spare. Nice and challenging. Props and puzzles are fun to play. I highly recommend this business. read more

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Have done a couple escapes here, one of which was an "encore" after a pretty rough experience. Some broken and confusing puzzles, but what they lack in puzzles they make up for in set dressing/theming and customer service! Recommend. read more

While not our first choice, what caught our attention was that they offered a 2 hour escape room. I've only seen 1 hour ones so I was interested to see what they could offer. Was it more puzzles? A lot more immersive? Had to try to find out. The theme was escaping the Greek Coliseum and the puzzles were pretty well laid out. I was a little worried because it comes with audio recordings that act as clues. What if we missed it? Or what if the quality was so poor that we couldn't understand it? Luckily, it was clear to listen and we could notify the game master to replay it if we missed it. Most of the time, he would offer "nudges" instead of hints, which doesn't hurt your score if you're trying for the leaderboard. In the end, we beat the game in 69 minutes (nice) with 0 hints! Broke the record! Since it's a 2 hour long escape room, it was more expensive than usual. While I'm proud that we broke the record, we didn't even need the full 2 hours so we felt like there could've been more to do in the room, to take up the full time we paid for. Nonetheless, I would come back if ever in the area to try their other rooms. read more

We had a bit of extra time during our visit to Chicago, so our group decided to do an escape room to pass the time. This place caught our eye because of the option of a 2 hour escape room, which we've never seen elsewhere. We ended up booking this room, which was called Escape the Colosseum, for our group of 8. My first impression was that the staff was very friendly and welcoming. In terms of the room itself, I felt that everything was nicely set up, and the puzzles were challenging, but still made sense. When I heard that there would be audio components of the room, I was a bit worried, since I've had problems with past escape rooms where audio was extremely muffled, making it hard to gather pertinent information. However, we didn't have this issue here, as the audio was pretty loud and clear (we did have a larger group so we just had to hush people occasionally when the audio was playing). My only complaint would probably be that we finished the room in slightly over an hour, so I feel like it would be better advertised as a 90 minute escape room rather than 120 minutes. From what I remember, the room had a 39% completion rate, which seems really low for 2 full hours. However, overall I really enjoyed my experience and glad we chose to do an escape room here! read more

So fun and a solid challenge. Our groups of 6 came in on randomly on a Thursday night after dinner and a few drinks at Sunda and had a blast. It's just about a 10 minute walk and really made our groups evening special by doing something we don't normally do. I hate to say how many times I've walked past this location and had no idea. It's just to the west of Hampton Social almost directly underneath LaBriola. After taking the elevator to the 4th floor and ringing the door bell we were promptly greeted by Moira and she was fantastic! She made this experience so much more exciting and is so welcoming. She really got everyone in the mood and ready for a challenge. We did the colosseum room and we made it though without a hint, but we did have to get 1 object re-opened after someone in our group closed it on accident and out of excitement! We completed the room with 46 mins to spare but I will say there were quite a few pieces to this puzzle that really had us stumped for longer than I'd like to admit. I blame drinks and a sushi dinner on a bit of brain fog initially, especially in the first room - it took us about 26 mins of the 2 hour time limit but once we we're warmed up we got the hang things and for the most part we got through the next 2 rooms in about another 40 ish mins. It truly takes team work to figure out these puzzles and you will have a blast doing it. Don't give up - you're more clever than you think you are! Definitely give this game room a try! read more

The people were nice! We did 3 different rooms in one week and in one room the game master would just tell us where stuff was instead of giving hints when we asked. When we needed help some of the employees weren't to happy to do so even after the game ended. The other rooms were fun and the hints were actually hints. If you know you're going again make sure to buy encore tickets when you're there. We got caught up talking to the employees and it slipped everyone's mind which caused it to be more expensive the next time. read more

I don't write reviews often but The manager Carrie was terrible. She lock any costumers skills. Every question we asked was answered with attitude read more

HI JACOB THANKS FOR THE LOVELY AFTERNOON My friends and I (4 of us total) did the President's Bunker! We had one hint and got out in 52 minutes. I'm glad we got a private room to ourselves. Well made, custom clues, and tons (maybe too many) red herring props in the room. Some of the puzzles were fun and rewarding, some were way too difficult/specific, some were much easier with prior knowledge, some were more difficult with prior knowledge (didn't follow expected conventions), and some were too silly to be a plausible puzzle that we'd ever... ask a president to solve. The last puzzle also malfunctioned, and we didn't get the proper celebratory ending I was kind of hoping for. Still, so fun, and a great way to spend an afternoon with friends (AND JACOB!) read more

Awesome. Much better than others. Even if you are experienced, this roll challenge you. Staff very friendly. Highly recommend. read more

Just came here yesterday for a work outing and we signed up for the infirmary- surgical crisis! Without spoiling the details it was def a tough fun room with an interesting assortment of puzzles and machinery. U r also allowed to ask for hints but if u ask for too many then u don't get ur name on the leader board when u finish ! Overall I thought the puzzles were pretty fun and involved diff logic from math to word play. The only thing I wish they did better would be to utilize maybe a walkie talkie or better intercom since with the background music it was difficult to hear the host or the discussion. Also I wish they would link the rooms to make it more interactive. It was a great time and would def recommend it for anyone interested in escape room in Chicago ! read more

The Great Escape Room Chicago - Team drug dealers turned cardiovascular surgeon - Escape Games Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place was litttttt! Super great experience and sam was great and super theatrical! Will def come again. I recommend on a Sunday going.

First time was a huge fail because they double booked our reservation. I was so frustrated because I had been looking forward to going there. They made it up to us and we got to go a few months later. Great people, great puzzles, and tons of fun! Everyone was sooooooo nice and helpful. We loved it! read more

This is my second escape room; first at The Great Escape Room. I came as part of a group as part of a team building event. The staff is very cool, we had the option of splitting up into two groups and choosing the room we completed. The largest group is suited for about 8 people. I liked that they have metrics on escape rates and fastest escape time based on group size. I won't give away the actual challenge, but I will say that some clues were really hard to find, so be thorough. There's a person in the room supervising; he was very nice, but I kind of wish he was harder on us. When he gave us clues (which we asked for/earned), I feel like he steered us a bit too much. Some people find an employee being in the room the whole time odd, I did not. The only odd part to me is that unlike other rooms (like Trapped in a room with a zombie), he hangs out; there's no gimmick to his presence. We escaped and we bested time for a group our size in the library. They have signs, etc. for you to take photos with at the end. I really liked that they email you your group photo and your stats; we didn't get that at the other room I did. Overall, it was fun and I'd come here again. read more

Having played almost one hundred games all across the United States, I can confidently say this was the WORST ESCAPE ROOM EXPERIENCE we have had!! We spent $300 and drove from another state to play. We booked the Coliseum for 5 players. We were told by the employee who greeted us that he was leaving and a female employee would be taking over. That seemed fine, until it wasn't. In the very first room technical problems happened. Some of the puzzles in the room weren't reset and they opened without having to solve anything. That room took about 5 minutes. When nothing happened and we couldn't move onward or get more hints we had to exit the game into the hallway to find help. That's when we were told she was the only employee working and had to do all rooms herself and asked us to be patient. We were then told the communication system wasn't working. She opened the door for room 2 and immediately upon entering, all the mag locks opened, dropping keys, etc. WTF? We stood around again, went into the hallway, looking for help. She asked us to go back into the first room to reset the second room. All the lights went out and we waited at least 5 more minutes before we, once again, left the immersion of the room to seek out assistance. The flow of the entire game was ruined by the lack of staffing, room prep, and technical difficulties! When we finished the game we exited and waited around in an empty lobby. No one in site!! When the employee showed up, she apologized and said she didn't realize we finished and was in the bathroom...there was no "good job, you finished" , upsell for future games, or merchandise, which is the norm for the industry. We even had to ask her to take our picture. It might have been a great room, but who knows? I would NOT recommend this place to anyone, unless you have never been to an escape room before and wouldn't know any difference. What we experienced wasn't worth $20, I deserve my $300 back . Definitely more training for your one employee a shift is needed and get those technical issues fixed. read more

Came here to celebrate my wife's bday. We did the Game-room , it was really hard but great time. Add on that we had an Awesome judge , Jacob. Highly recommend! We will go there again for sure! read more

The Great Escape Room Chicago - Escape Games Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Had such a great time here! Ander, Nine and Nina were all really helpful, the atmosphere was overall just really relaxed and welcoming, and the rooms were well put together, highly recommend! read more

I've done two other escape rooms, and this place was my least favorite. We tried the LIBRARY scenario since I was with three others that have never done an escape room, and it was labeled easiest. Weird to have an employee in the room with you as your working. Especially weird if that employee is brand new and not knowledgeable. Four puzzles to solve in the room, one with 21 pieces, and if you didn't find the decoder, you were screwed. I actually popped the "secret" door (which opens to a wall!) before finding everything, to which he hurried and told us that we were ahead of ourselves and closed it back up. Pretty lame I thought, and so very different than my first two. read more

I've done three previous escape rooms in Chicago. This is one of the best especially for the price! We did Professor Moriarty's Gameroom. Typically it is a scavenger hunt room. I think the only difference is that we had to find a TON of little pieces around the room the solve the puzzles. This room was $32 a person. We also had the clue giver in the room with us. He was fun and super helpful. I think you have to have at least 4 people to participate in each room. Anyone can enjoy this escape room. I will be back! read more

it was all perfect i loved that so much that was my 4 time its pretty dificult but we never give up the hints are awsome we loved that escape room so much we recomend youu to go we all were hanging out pretty fun specialy in bob escape room and collusem thanks so mich the great escape room thanks for that super awsome experience read more

Visited this escape room yesterday with friends after visiting another the night before so my rating is largely based on comparison of the two. I would have given this 3 stars just because it was sooooooooo complex in comparison to the other. I do believe that you'd need to do escape rooms on an expert level to solve this within the 60 minute time period. It was still lots of fun but after visiting another one the night before, this one isn't my first choice. The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 3 comes solely down to the customer service. The representative was extremely nice, welcoming and friendly. I accidentally double booked and they gave me a refund on the second one with no issue. I booked this last minute and the fact that they had openings was great to me. And most importantly, when you book (minimum of 4 people), it's only you and your party in the room. Other companies charge an additional fee if you'd like to have the room privately. I feel like during this time with covid, it shouldn't be so many people in such a small place so I was appreciative of that. Overall, I'd go back if I were invited. read more

Yeah, don't waste your money.... Go to any other one in Chicago. This place is very make shift. The owner stood in the game with us, slightly weird. Also, all the clues we had to find seemed nonsensical, not intellectual at all. I would have been way happier if it didn't cost that much and the own didn't have to stand in the game with us... Again, so weird! read more

We had so much fun. We did the Gameroom, which was very challenging/. Derrick was our game master. He was funny and as helpful as he could be. The puzzles were definitely challenging, and you need to work together. We managed to "escape", which looked dicey for a bit. All in All everyone was friendly and helpful. Definitely a nice way to spend and hour or so with a group. read more

Shoutout to Tim for showing my group of 8 a great time and being a grat game master :) Shoutout to them for having weekly puzzles that results in giveaways on their FB page! Twas how I won a free private room for up to 10 people. Usually you would win 1 free ticket but I lucked out and won during their 100th puzzle. After several phone calls and emails, I was able to reserve a room. I'd imagine it'd be a lot easier to do so if you were paying for it since you can do that online with a credit card. It's about $29 and some change for 1 ticket. My group came late but luckily it wasn't a busy afternoon and Tim was extremely accommodating. I'd rec'd The Great Escape room if you're looking for one of these rooms to do. I know there's a lot of options for these types of activities but this is a solid option! read more

Very fun time and challenging! Worthwhile activity. We would have preferred to be in the room without the guide but Tim was such a nice guy. I would highly recommend this activity! read more