Escape The Room NYC – Downtown

I really enjoy doing escape rooms and have done many across the country and the world… I still think their Theater room is one of my absolute favorites! It has great and innovative clues with the use of some creepy but cool technology. I went for my birthday and it was an awesome activity for all of us to do.

A few years ago my kid wanted me to do an escape the room… it actually sounded a little scary TILL I learned its so much fun
looking for something different that a group of friends can do together this is perfect.
the concept you are locked in a room or rooms decorated with a theme or concept
I have done one on the Anthem of the Seas one in Pittsburgh and now this one in NYC.
Great thing about LES part of Manhattan you can usually find parking.
You need to make a reservation on line or give them a call.
This escape is located in an old PS which the building was interesting all by itself
we went upstairs and were warmly greeted by the staff.
We chose the the rec room
an 1980s theme
room is decorated like a living room tv 80s posters etc
and you find clues which help you unlock boxes get keys things pop open music plays
I don’t want to give away too much
but I was singing along and could have sat and relaxed on the couch played pong and I would have been happy
Korey our game guide was great friendly and since it was just my daughter and I working the room… we needed help.
just go do an escape the room then my review will make perfect sense. You will have fun
I will for sure come back to try the other themes

This place is AWESOME! The game is so well designed and is actually much more difficult than I thought it’d be. Working alongside total strangers with a common goal was a great exercise and we successfully escaped the room! Woohoo!
Our quiz master Joey was so kind and funny and super helpful… We definitely couldn’t have done it without his help! Perfect experience… Can’t wait to try the other room and the other location in midtown! :-)

my coworkers and i played the 80s room and had a lot of fun together. this is a really cool, unique experience that can help with team building or just for fun. prepare to be extremely interactive with the room and engaged the entire time. the clues were really tricky (much harder than i expected) but we didn’t get frustrated since the hour goes by quickly.
our guide was really nice and i was surprised how clean the room was even though i’m sure it is used all the time. already i’ve recommended this to my friends and would really enjoy going back for another try at a different room.

Can I give this place 3.5 stars, PLEASE Unilocal?! When will you ever allow that feature?
This is an absolute GREAT activity for any group of friends, big or small! My only suggestion would be to do one of the «smaller» groups: ours was a max of 9 people (or so says the website) however there were 10 in the room. There were way too many cooks in the kitchen; we were all over the place, finding clues that likely didn’t connect and/​or not taking it one step at a time. We did the 80s theme; don’t worry, you didn’t NEED to have the 80s background, although it likely helps at some point. I’d venture to the midtown location and do the ones with a max of 6 people.
Without giving anything away, the clues are a bit… odd. I thought it would be more analytical problem solving, but at [most] times it was just x+y=z… or even just x=y.
The ending was super anti-​climactic; we «escaped» the room but all that happened after solving the last clue was our cluemaster just stating the fact that «congratulations you escaped the room». There was no announcement, no magic key, no doors opened. A bit odd given that had the clue master not been in the room with us at the time, I’m not sure any one of us would’ve realized that.
Also, don’t steal or break any of the props, jerks! One of our clues had to be improvised by the team (nice work, Escape the Room!), but fa realz, don’t be that person.

So much fun!!! I went for the first time with three of my friends. We were in the Theater Room which is played by 12 people, which meant we would be playing with 8 strangers. We made it work but next time I will definitely book a smaller room that I can do with people I know. Working with strangers makes it difficult to think strategically when you have so many personalities you are unfamiliar with.
And no, we did not make it out in 60 minutes!

Not really the venues fault, more of a live and learn experience that might be helpful to others…
Me and my best friend took my daughter for her 13^th birthday to do the theater escape. She was really excited but unfortunately the other 9 members of our party were college aged and kinda over took the whole game from us, not really including us and mostly her in any of the clues. There was times I had to stop them just so I could see the clue and show my daughter. It’s really expensive to rent out a whole room just for yourselves but I definitely recommend knowing who you do it with. It definitely can be for all ages but for a sole kid it’s hard to be really included by a bunch of 20 yr olds. Staff was nice and helpful.

Played the theater room last Sunday w my fiancée and about seven other people we didn’t know. The building is not clearly marked so it took us a few minutes to find it, but on the whole it was SUCH a good experience. I was nervous that I’d feel completely stupid but it was so much more fun than I was expecting. Our guide, Liz, was awesome. She provided hints at just the right times and was really rooting for us to finish. Each person in the room contributed to solving the puzzles (although sadly we didn’t escape) and it was a good atmosphere. Can’t wait to do the other options, Will definitely be returning.

My friends and I attempted the great escape for my birthday and, while failing to escape miserably, we had a blast! I have never done an escape the room before, so I had no idea what to expect going in.
Everything was set up really well, from the easily accessible location, to the spacious and comfortable waiting area, the super nice, accommodating and helpful staff, to the room itself. The way the room was set up was amazingly clever (who comes up with these great ideas!). The puzzle of escaping was really interesting to work out and while we did not manage to escape, I am itching to try again with another room to see if we can fare any better this time.
Definitely do it! It’s like nothing else I’ve ever done. I really tried to channel my inner Nancy Drew but… well maybe next time! :)

I had a great time here with my friends as part of a birthday celebration. Originally we had a group of about 12 – 13 people which was nearing the max but they agreed to let us all fit into one room. Then the blizzard hit and the date had to be moved but the people were accommodating, allowing us to rebook, although we had to split up.
Be sure to show up 15 minutes before the time slot so you can maximize the time to solve clues. The waiting area has cool games to keep you entertained as you wait your turn. I’ve always seen the Bop It commercials but I finally got to try the game out today.
Finally it was our turn to enter the Theater room. Liz, the attendant, told us how to proceed and that we have three hints we can ask for. We were off to a slow start but with some suggestions and hints we got pretty far along. Unfortunately we ran out of time and weren’t able to solve all the puzzles to escape. It was certainly entertaining but I must say some of the puzzles are difficult. It would have never crossed our minds to think to solve a puzzle a certain way. Liz was super patient with us and was rooting for us to finish. All in all it was a fun experience and I would come back to try another room!

We went down last night, and had a blast. We got there about 10 minutes late, so we had to play catchup, but we got out in 49 minutes! Our guide Liz was awesome, she even reset the room without most of us noticing.
This is something everyone should try, we are definitely going back to try out the other rooms.

I called to buy a gift certificate on December 22^nd to be able to give to someone in time for Christmas. The lady on the phone told me the only way to buy a gift certificate was over the phone, so I gave her my credit card information and email. I was supposed to receive a receipt for the transaction immediately. I didn’t. I called again later the same day, and only after the lady on the phone resent the email did I see it in my inbox. She told me the certificate would come after 1 – 2 business days. I called again the next day, and was told to wait one more day for the gift certificate. I called again the day after, no one picked up. I called for the next 3 – 4 business days, and no one picked up my phone.
I still haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone, and as you can expect, no gift certificate.
I didn’t expect to be cheated by such a well-​known business, but I think I have been.

Escape the Room’s downtown location, pretty similar to the midtown one in that it isn’t well marked and can be difficult to find, hits the same marks as the main one. There are only two rooms here, but both are fairly large and can fit 8 – 10 people. We participated in the «Apartment» room, styled like a typical tiny apartment. The clues were fun to solve and it does seem doable in the time limit, but we ultimately failed. I thought 90% of the clues were good, but one or two were a bit of a stretch and we lost significant time on them. Luckily you can ask for hints. The experience is great fun and excellent for team building as it requires lots of cooperation, communication, and some creativity. If you can find the actual place, you’re halfway to being able to escape.

My co workers and I (a big dental office) came here as part of a holiday party. We were 11 in the theater and 10 in the apartment. We re a pretty intelligent bunch but it was still so difficult! I did the apartment and my group escaped with 59:59. That last minute was nerve wrecking. I must say its a team work effort. So everyone must participate. We had a blast.

This was my first time doing an escape but it was one of most fun hour I’ve had! I did the apartment theme in downtown with 5 other friends and 4 random people (whoever signs up for the time slot gets it)
I won’t say too much about the game but it definitely was hectic and confusing as everyone was trying to solve the clues.
Afterwards you get little signs and they will email you the photo. So fun! Highly recommend.

This was my 4^th escape room experience and this was by far the worse. We choose the theater scenario. We asked when we arrived how many people booked. The girl told us it was only 4 total booked. My bf and I were actually excited by that. So we were surprised when a party of 5 actually arrived to play. These people were the worse to work with. The room itself had a ton of locks but the group of 5 decided to hog the clues and wouldn’t even show us what was written in the papers. It got so bad I eventually just sat down and didn’t even bother participating. We actually tried to leave but were locked in so we just waited.
The place overall isn’t the most fancy place. It’s just average. The staff weren’t the most pleasant. We’ve been to places where the staff was way more enthusiastic even with it being the end of the day. We won’t be returning. There are way too many options in and around the city to even bother giving it another shot.

Came here for a staff development exercise. We booked the Theater for the ten of us and were excited to solve the mystery.
Just before we arrived, we found out that the capacity for the Theater was 12 so there were two random people joining the activity with us. Awkward much?
Anyhoo, it was still fun. I didn’t expect so much math, though! We didn’t escape the room but were literally two steps away from doing so. Just needed an extra two minutes.

I came here on Thursday with a group of co-​workers, only one of us had ever been before. We decided to do the theater themed room. Some things I think might help you if you’ve never been. Basically, you have an hour to escape from the room. You ARE allowed to leave to use the restroom, but you have to get permission from the attendant in the room. There is an attendant in the room at all times, and you are under constant surveillance on camera with someone outside the room watching. This made trying to drink out of our flasks extremely difficult. The group is allowed to ask the attendant three questions in total during the hour.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, I think our biggest misconception was that the clues would be based on outside knowledge and logic. DO NOT make this mistake, the clues are extremely literal. It was really exciting to see how all of the clues interacted and linked together, many different puzzles to solve, locks, riddles, buttons, etc! I love that there were a lot of surprises and it was pretty challenging, the experience being so different was very fun for us. We as a group did not feel that the clues were overtly sequential, although at the end, the attendant explained them as such. For example, one could have easily found where one of the last locks was hidden in the beginning. Also, if not for my co-​workers I would literally have no idea how and where to start. I do feel that the attendant giving the clues really helped tremendously! We did not finish within the time, but we were three steps away from finishing! I would recommend trying to get enough people to book an entire slot. We had two strangers in our group, and while it was amicable, I could tell they were annoyed with us and some of our group was annoyed with them, can become very easy to «hog’ the clues. You want to have fun with your friends and pass the clues to your friends and see them try to figure it out, not random strangers!
While there are some flaws, we all had an absolute blast! Sometimes it’s annoying when the only thing to do when going out is eating or drinking… escape the room was something different and definitely a lot of fun. Again, I highly recommend going with a lot of friends. Theater was an interesting theme, puppets galore! Great team building exercise. Any co-​workers who work in the city should definitely consider trying it out!

No wonder Escape the Room is so popular!
1. Failed the Marionette room. Lots of distraction clues!
2. Our room mentor was helpful but also seemed disinterested by constantly laughing at stuff on her phone and looking at the time. (We were the last group that day)
3. Very cool concept. Initial set of clues given, but as you unlock more clues and keys, make sure you don’t fixate on something you’ve already used. Not everything has a meaning!
4. Wish we had gotten out. I would definitely go again!

I hate puppets, they creep me out.
A group of friends and I did the Theater scene, which we came close to completing, but ultimately failed. At $ 30 a person, it’s a bit expensive for only 1 hour of entertainment. But the creativity that goes into making these puzzles makes it worth it.
So the point of this place is, they lock you in a room and you have to solve puzzles in the room to unveil a button that opens the door to the room. Not too much effort put into the back story of why you’re locked in the room, but that’s not too important to me.
There are a million locks in the room hiding the buttons, keys, and clues that open the other locks. And apparently, there’s an elegant solution to everything.
Yeah right. Not gonna give it away, but there’s totally one part of the theater that doesn’t have an elegant solution at all. Which was a bit frustrating since that had been my idea 5 minutes into the start of the game.
I’m not one to follow the rules. They may have said there’s an elegant solution, but they didn’t forbid the use of force. I totally could’ve forcefully opened the locks. Or messed with a few switches with a pocket knife. Or unscrew the hinges keeping things locked. But that kinda ruins the puzzle, and my friends would’ve been annoyed if I just cheated lol. I might try that next time though, just for a laugh.