Countdown Live Escape Games

This is my second escape room and we escaped!
I went with a group of six, three who’ve never experienced an escape room and three who had one previous experience. We were so pumped and excited despite being the latest time slot of the day for the tiki palace. We arrived with our game faces on and were determined to win! I felt confident yet hesitant since it says that the tiki palace’s difficulty level was challenging and the escape rate was relatively low.
I don’t know why but I felt like there was a missing factor to this room. Maybe it was the bland ending to our victory where we exited the room, and felt «oh that was it?» Or the part where all the puzzles were jumbled and somewhat confusing. My group loves brain food so regardless, this was a fun experience. We make the best of situations and contribute and work well together.
There was also an extra game that you can figure out and have a chance to win awesome prizes but just a warning: focus on escaping the room first because both the actual escape game and extra game are time consuming. Also, make sure you DON’T leave the room after you’ve solved it if you want to try the extra game. Basically once you crack the code to the room, just work on the extra game and do not exit! Once you escape that room, that’s it and there is no going back. It’ll make more sense once you’re actually there and given the scenario.
The staff here was nice! This escape room gives hints and for this particular room, they tell you to hula as a group if you guys are stuck on a puzzle, but due to our experience of doing it for almost a minute with no response the first time, we sort of got irritated because we felt like we wasted time. Maybe they were busy helping others? The second time around when we were really stuck, they helped right away so I guess it somewhat makes up for it.
Overall fun experience, bring friends when you guys have nothing else to do. They sometimes have deals so look for those too.
Would definitely want to try the Krampus room since it’s been raved about, but I hope our experience is better the next time around.

SO this business is under new management and they invited me and my friends to come back and try out their new changes.
We did the Tiki and Krampus rooms.
I’ll start with the Tiki room because it was AWESOME. This room is difficult. Definitely more advanced. The set design is gorgeous. You are legit transported to a resort in Hawaii. The puzzles are sooo creative and theme-​appropriate which I think is what makes or breaks a room. Every single puzzle has to do with the theme. They have you running all over the room interacting with stuff and there are so many cool surprises and things I’ve never seen before in an escape room. This was a 5-​star experience for me. My group and I had such a blast!
The Krampus room is the update of the room that my original review addressed. They’ve improved it GREATLY and I would say this is now a 4-​star room for me. The first half of the room relies heavily on keys and codes which got a little monotonous. It was more focused on the contraption or code than on the theme. Almost like things that are thrown in for the sake of having you open another safe or use another key.
The second half introduces puzzles that are much more creative and that involve different things around the room that got us interacting with it more which was very cool and made for more exciting moments. This is also an advanced room and I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners.
I want to thank Brian (the owner) for being SO kind and inviting me and my friends. Overall a great experience and definitely worth trying! I look forward to trying any new rooms they’ll be making in the future.

First time playing an escape game, I know what it’s about but wasn’t sure what’s the expectation. Overall it was a fun experience, we had just enough people for our room so we didn’t have to be in room with strangers and we were out just seconds before the time ends. Haha so it was pretty exciting. Although I think we had one friend who has been playing couple of games and know how to read the clues better.
We did the krampus room. They said is the most difficult room. We were able to escape but didn’t figure out the bonus boxes. the bonus boxes were pretty difficult, but if u r able to figure it out, u get a chance to win stuff like free games !
The people working there are fun and even though we were a little late, they waited for us for the game. if it can be even cheaper I think I would come back and play more often :)

My boyfriend and I decided to take a drive to LA and explore and wounded up at Countdown Live. We did all three of their rooms (Spaceship, Tiki and Krampus).
Place was easy to find and it has free parking… yayyyyy! The waiting room was awesome and inviting. My boyfriend and I were the only two in all three room. I guess people sleep in on Saturday mornings… lol.
Room 1-​Spaceship. We were told this was the easiest room so we did it first. I will say there was nothing easy about this room. The décor was awesome and I felt it immersed us in the storyline very well. It was confusing as we did not know what we could and could not touch. I think it took a lot of our time trying to figure out the flow of the room.
We did not complete this room. We were advised we completed about 80%. I felt if we had 4 people maybe even three we would of escaped.
Overall it was a very fun room.
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Room 2-​Tiki room. I really loved this room. The décor was awesome. It had some unique puzzles I had never seen before, which is alway a plus. My boyfriend and I enjoyed this room more than the spaceship room as we were able to figure out the room and puzzles quicker and they flowed better.
We did not complete this room either. We did better this time completing 90%. Still had a awesome time.
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Room 3-​Krampus. We were told this is the hardest room. It definitely has the scare factor. I like these types of rooms. This was my favorite room of the three.
I personally felt the puzzles were not as difficult as in the first two rooms. I forced or shall I say pushed my bf into certain rooms or had him open things first as I was totally freaked out. The employee told us that he was cracking up watching us as I kept running away and leaving my bf to do all the scary stuff. And of course I had the flashlight. which left him in the dark most of the time. (sorry babe) lol.
We did not complete this room either but we went the farthest in this room and made it to the very last puzzle. Sooo close.
I highly recommend this place. Its a ton of fun. If you get here early or book several games and have time in between or even after to go next door for a quick bite… I highly recommend it. I don’t remember the name but its right next door. The food is super yummy and the ham and cheese sandwich is the bomb!

Do you want a fun team building activity? A unique date (uh…make it a double or triple date; the more heads the merrier)? A challenge? Countdown has your back. Escape rooms have been popping up everywhere nowadays, but I thought that Countdown made for a great immersive experience, with nice props and fun ways of interacting with the room.
After multiple failed attempts at trying to get into the Countdown Elite events, my boss surprised us with a trip here after work! None of us aside from one had ever been to an escape room, so it was quite exciting. Of course, she had to pick the Tiki Palace, which is the most difficult one of the three… but you get 60 minutes to take a crack at it. The price listed on the website says $ 30 a person, which seems kind of expensive, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the fun we had. It seems like they do Groupon deals and the such, so watch out for those if you think it wouldn’t be worth it.
I cooled off before our reservation began with a free Dr. Pepper, thanks to the check in perk. I left it on the table inside the room after we started and people thought it was a clue, haha. Obviously I won’t give the fun away, but they ask you to put all your stuff in a box before (no cheating!), and the room is a fun mix of hunting around and actually solving puzzles. We had to hula at the cameras for hints, and we did this embarrassingly often. The hosts are very good sports about it though, and try their best to keep with the theme during their calls.
They say the max is 10 people, but we had 7 people and it felt kind of crowded at times. You would think that more people = faster, but when you are all huddled around the same puzzle trying to figure out how to solve it, it gets counterproductive. They do have «side quests» for the ambitious, but honestly we were so caught up in the main goal that nobody attempted those. But if you manage to solve those, you can get prizes in the end!
NO, we didn’t escape :(…but to be fair the escape rate is 20%, so at least we weren’t totally at the lower end of the bell curve! I think with 10 more minutes and eliminating some of our more silly fumbling around we could have made it. Maybe.

Right off the bat, let me just say that the Krampus room scared me shitless. I honestly should have known better than to agree to a horror-​themed escape room when I am an absolute BABY, but regardless we made it out with 2 minutes to spare and I didn’t cry once (but I came close).
The Krampus Room gives you 60 minutes to find the missing children and escape from the door you entered from. The room is a living nightmare with almost no light and blood spatter on the wall, but it was a fun challenge and definitely gave my friends and me a run for our money.
At this escape room location, there is also a Tiki themed room and a spaceship themed room for those who don’t want to go through the nightmare of Krampus (I would have preferred to do something less scary, but nobody asked me)
The manager here (Brian, I think) is extremely friendly and provides a lot of help both before and during the escape room via phone should you need it – but try not to need it!
Definitely work as a time when in the room to get out as quickly as possible. It may be tempting to try to solve everything on your own but teamwork and musing over our thoughts out loud was key and is how we made it out before our 60 minutes were up :)

Escape rooms are great fun, especially for those that like to solve puzzles ie. board game fanatics. This was my second escape room (Tiki Room), and while I thought the clue to get out was a bit hard, it was still really fun working with people I met that same night. This place is great for its FREE PARKING in back, really friendly staff, and the room was spacious and not cramped at all for someone who is a bit claustrophobic. I liked that they don’t actually lock one of the doors (for safety reasons) which didn’t happen at my last escape room, and that there was a box for our belongings in the room with us.
The room was well organized, although I did find that some of the frames on the wall were a bit hard to replace to the right area once I removed them to check for clues, and a part of the décor did fall forward as we were looking for clues. Other than maybe attaching their props that shouldn’t be moved a little more stably, great room and place, and I would definitely return!

4.5 stars
Tips:
–Check in for a free drink!
–Free parking in the back. Enter on Figueroa.
–Dress comfortably. It gets really warm in the room.
–I wouldn’t recommend this experience if you are extremely claustrophobic.
–Use the whiteboard given to you and communicate with your fellow teammates.
–Restroom is available in the back.
This was my fourth escape room experience. There are currently three rooms: Spaceship, Krampus, and the Tiki room. I did the Spaceship room and it was actually pretty difficult (at least for me). Maybe it had to do with the fact that I did the room with a group of strangers. But anyway, the room itself was well decorated. I get that it’s part of the theme, but it was still really dark. We found a couple of flashlights, but they weren’t that bright and one even ran out of battery. For the people running this, I highly recommend providing better flashlights for this room.
My only real complaint is the temperature of the room. It was extremely stuffy and I felt lightheaded after a little while. My other teammate also got a headache. I’m not sure if there is even AC running in the room?
Anyway, it was a very fun experience. It is one of the best decorated themed escape rooms that I have been to so well done!

Awesome! Lots of fun!
Did the tiki room. Clues and hints aren’t difficult, except the last code to escape was a lil too much lol. Maybe because my group did not make it out.
Towards the end, phone does ring, with the last hint on how to solve which ever puzzle you’re on. We had a group of four, which I believe is a perfect size for small room.
A lot of fun! Still a lil salty about not escaping but I am returning for the other rooms. Couldn’t stop talking about it to other friends who missed out. I’m confident I’ll be escaping the next room for sure!

A fun, fun time. My group did the Krampus room and we totally felt the spooky atmosphere as soon as we walked into the room. There was one room in particular that I was scared to walk into until someone else did.
The hosts were fun and light-​hearted. The set the atmosphere really well. The lobby and walk to the rooms were all really well done.
NOTES
— Some tough search puzzles
— For horror fans, scare factor
PROS
— Fantastic production (light, sound, set decoration)
CONS
— Color dependent puzzle could’ve used a touch up
These games are located close enough to downtown and close to USC as well. It might seem like a sketch area of town but it’s actually in a lively, well traveled part of Figueroa. There’s a parking lot right by the building that was free.

After doing the Crampus room with the Unilocal group, I did the Tiki room tonight with my husband. We were one step away from escaping but the last puzzle is always the most difficult. What I was curious about it how we would work together and we did fine, no frustrations or divorce.
I love that the people who run this place are designing and changing these rooms, so they are pretty original. Gamers definitely have an advantage just based off of puzzle experience. We will go back and do the spaceship. Very worth the 30 dollars. Also, they will walk you through what you missed at the end if you fail. That’s nice. I wouldn’t. I would use sleeping gas on people who fail and drop them off in random locations around Los Angeles. Good they’re running this place and not me.

I’ve done at least a handful of these escape room games and this one is definitely one of my favorites by far!
In terms of production value, puzzles, and difficulty, I would say Countdown Live Escape Games really stands out from the rest. I’ve played two of the three rooms so far and both were really enjoyable (Krampus and Tiki Palace). Krampus has the lowest success rate and is one of the scariest rooms I’ve been in and also my favorite. Shout out to Team SCREAMERS who got out with more than 1 minute to spare after getting stuck on the very last puzzle. we even made it on the hall of fame!!! For the Tiki palace, we had a team of 7, but unfortunately we did not escape in time. I think teamwork plays a huge part of the game and every one definitely needs to work as a unit to solve the puzzles together.
Here’s a description of the following rooms that they currently have:
–The Krampus
Krampusnacht is here and children have disappeared. Can you find the missing kids and escape the twisted holiday lair before the Krampus Killer returns for your soul?
–The Spaceship
Submersed in a new world, can you traverse the flurry of new tech and survive this sci-​fi adventure?
–The Tiki Palace
Tropical paradise, exotic resort and one very active volcano? Can you escape before the eruption?
Special thanks to our host Brian for explaining the rules and assisting us throughout the game!
Tips*
–use the restroom and drink water beforehand (you will be locked in a room for an hour)
–place belongings in the box they provide you or leave them in your car
–try to solve puzzles without using any hints (they call you on a phone inside the room to give you hints if you need them)
–work as a team and be observant to your surroundings
–wear something comfortable, it gets hot and stuffy inside with everyone running around
–Yelp check-​in for a free beverage!

SWEET, SWEET VICTORY.
I came to Countdown for a free Unilocal Elite event a few weeks ago and took on the Tiki Palace with five fellow Unilocalers. This was my second live room escape adventure – to be perfectly honest, I am still not over the crushing disappointment of my failed escape attempt back in April, and a second failure might have smashed my ego and spirits to smithereens.
We showed up en masse at 8:00 at night. Parking was easy, in a lot out back. We gathered in a small lobby, where we were offered complimentary sodas and waters. The staff was super friendly. The manager, Brian, briefed us on the concept and rules of the escape rooms and got us started.
My group had forty-​five minutes to solve puzzles and escape from the Tiki Palace, a room set up to resemble a tiki resort hotel. It was a tight forty-​five minutes – we were scrambling, talking, and thinking the whole time, with the countdown running in the background. It was adrenaline-​intensive and enormously fun. We started working out the last clue with about a minute to go, and I think at that point, all of us thought we were going to fail. When we finally punched in the last code and the door opened, none of us were sure if we’d escaped or if Brian had simply come to escort our loser asses off the premises. But it turned out, we escaped, literally on the buzzer. It was a Jack Bauer-​with-​a-​time-​bomb level close call.
We were the only one of the three groups who escaped. Apparently the escape rates hover around 20%, so we were pretty fucking proud of ourselves. I left Countdown feeling high and light, and when I got home, I played about a million room escape puzzles on the internet. In fact, I’m still playing them pretty much daily three weeks later, so really, this brief victory cost me a whole lot of wasted time. But no matter. I’m a winner. I have the «I ESCAPED» wristband to prove it.

This is my very very first escape game experience. I would say «As good as it gets», but I wouldn’t know that.
Let’s begin with finding the place, it is located on Figueroa next to a bakery called «Etchea». It is very easy to spot, and there are amp amount of free parking behind the building. Upon entering the business, staff greeted the group, and handed us some forms to fill out. Safety first, very good business practice. As we are waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, some people began to fiddle with puzzles and locks laying on the comfy couches in the waiting lounge. I attempted a couple myself, and it does take some effort to work them out. Fun time.
As the group gather, a narrative staff went over safety instructions with us, and also had that voice of an NFL host. Super. Cool. We were guided into the Tiki room, and there was an video containing pertinent information regards to how to escape. As soon as the video stopped playing, the timer began to count down. 45 minutes, tic toc. Our group was very good and we made it out right at the last second, no joke. It was a nail biter, the dimmed light, the music, and the suspense! I would definitely recommend to go as a small size group, between 4 – 8. There are web-​like clues, if you are going on a date, it would be quite frustrated to sort out all the clues. If your group has too many participants, then some might not be able to contribute.
Price is $ 30 – 35 per person per game, please do call to make reservations, especially if it is a special occasion. It would be a great, fun, intense, yet stimulating experience you won’t forget, I promise.

Escape games have been around for quite a while apparently, but I don’t get out much anymore so I’m a few years late to the party. I haven’t had fun in years, so I was grateful for this unique experience that forced me to think. And for those who like to read the ending first, this is one party ‘I didn’t make it out of.’
This visit was to attempt the new ‘Krampus’ domain for the holidays, which took over the ‘Psycho’ theme that they had before. Although it’s under a different name, this would still be the most sinister room on offer. Among 6 – 7 other people, we were without our phones (which was WONDERFUL, at least to me) but even if we were to have them, they would not have come in so handy here. You couldn’t possibly cheat unless some moron out there remembered everything that had to be done, and posted it somewhere online. This was purely relied upon by working as a team, and we worked together quite well.
45 minutes was the timeframe we were allowed, and we went straight to sleuthing once that door shut. Not to give too much away-​as thankfully other reviewers have done the same-​it was crucial that things were to be done ‘in order’ and if not, you possibly had to backtrack, which of course, takes up the most precious commodity: time.
13 minutes to go, and we were stuck on ONE particular course; we just couldn’t get it, even though the group of us were trying to contribute. But we «Almost Escaped» which was good enough.
I will admit, I did jump at a certain point which was kind of embarrassing, but I’m sure worse has happened… I hope so, at least. Just a note: nothing in here was particularly violent, just a little more on the creepy side.
Specific to this room, if the phone rings, GET IT! It’s not a crank call.
Brian and staff were enthusiastic which in turn got the rest of us hyped up. It was a little nerve-​wracking going in not knowing a soul, but it was great to see everyone working together. I imagine if you went with a group of people you were mostly familiar with, it’s a great way to find the Alphas of your team, and then you could tease them for life if they lead you astray.
For this visit, I’m happy to say there wasn’t a slacker in the bunch… unless it was (gulp) me.
Parking: FREE (!) in the back lot. Just enter off of Figueroa

My first room escape experience! We all went to the hardest room. It was definitely a challenge, and we were so close to escaping. If only we had five more mins, we would have got it. They do call in to give tips throughout, so that’s cool.
Come here, checkin, and get a free drink as well! (Non-​Alcoholic)

There are so many escape game room nowdays in L.A. It is hard to pick which one and really you should really try them all if you fan of those room haha.
Every room are different, what i make this one more stand out is that it only limited you to 45 minutes to escape !
Price is the same despite is 15 minutes shorter, I like the design of the room but is noticeable smaller compare to other. Instead of running room after rooms for puzzle clues. this one has much less walking back and forth to get clues.
They offer free drinks (non alcohol) but I see monster and even 5 hours energy were included.
There’s a lot in behind with pretty of parking spot and is free !

I thoroughly enjoyed myself here. Countdown Live is located super close to the convention center and if you blink your eye, you might just miss this hot spot.
Free PARKING ! A major perk and unheard of especially in downtown la!
Countdown Live has a total of 3 rooms, Tiki, (the hardest and biggest room that holds a total of 10 people comfortably) Spaceship, (their most newest room) and Psycho, which is going to be revamp very soon!
I chose the Psycho room with 35% success rate of passing and supposedly the easiest. I enjoy the scary theme as I was barely getting over Halloween. Psycho truly gave us a few screams. I am not going to ruin anything for the rest of you but def. brought out the goose bumps!
I highly recommend paying them a visit!

Came here on a Saturday night with a group of seven for the psycho room in the spirit of Halloween. We arrived at 6 p.m. for our 6:15 p.m. reservation and the staff immediately got us signed in. We signed our waivers, ate some candy, checked in for our free beverage, and used the restroom prior to voluntarily locking ourselves in a psychotic killer’s room for 45 minutes.
The only other room I’ve done at Countdown was the Tiki room and my group and I escaped. So the new group I came with this time around heavily relied on my knowledge of escape techniques. Unfortunately being the big wimp I am, I designated myself as the puzzle solver who stayed in the lit area.
The décor for the psycho room definitely fit the description of what it is suppose to look like and the overall experience was one worth remembering. The psycho room was pretty challenging especially since my group and I over– analyzed the clues we found… unfortunately we didn’t escape.
Overall, I enjoyed the psycho room and I’d highly recommend it for people who are into scary movies. As for myself, I’d much prefer the tiki room because I can thoroughly explore the scene and look for clues without the limitations of fear and my imagination as a drawback.
Venue: There are 3 rooms here: Tiki, Spaceship, and Tiki. Both rooms I’ve attempted are very detailed and well thought out. The limit for most rooms here are 6.
Staff: Love the people who work here! They are all very friendly and informative.
Parking: Free right around back! Parking lot is located to the left of Countdown, pass the millions of speed bumps, right around back.
Price: $ 32 per person unless you’re lucky and find it on groupon or living social.
Tips: Check in for your free beverage!

The Service: Very friendly staffs~ Gave us very detail instructions how the game works. We are one of the testing groups and they monitor us through out the game. When they saw us struggling, they would come in the room and give us some hints. They are definitely want to improve the games and make it more challenging and entertaining.
The Game: 45 minutes to find the key and get out the room… shouldn’t be too hard right? WRONG! This is the time you really really really have to THINK! Everything in the room can be clues. Love the timer on the big screen TV… made your heart pounds so fast! We want to escape!
This is a great outing with your family and friends. You can have maximum 10 people per room. It is all about TEAMWORK, people! If you like to be challenge and love to work under pressure, this is definitely the game for you.
The Parking: Parking in the rear. The store is right next to Etchea Café. Huge parking lot behind the building. FREE!