If you’re looking for a fun activity to enjoy with family or friends, then Escape Rooms are a great choice – and in Chicago there are plenty to pick from.
(Photo: Theescapegame.com)
Escape Rooms involve teams of players being tasked with unearthing clues and solving riddles in live physical rooms in order to accomplish a particular goal – usually culminating in you needing to escape the room within an allocated time. These challenging but fun-filled experiences have grown hugely in popularity in recent years and can be found in cities across the length and breadth of the US and beyond. We’ve picked out 5 of the best currently available in Chicago.
Gold Rush
This Escape game revolves around the fictional story of an eccentric and reclusive prospector who upon his death left his immense fortune to his heir. As a distant relative, you’ve been asked to gather to view his final will and testament, only to discover that the late gold-hunter proposed a final game from beyond the grave. Your job is to find the gold and claim your inheritance before news reaches the nearby town – all in just 60 minutes. The game is available for groups of up to 8 players, with various time slots throughout the day.
The Quandary
(Photo: The Quandary Escape Rooms Chicago)
Have you ever wanted to jump into the boots of Indiana Jones? Or how about dawn the deduction cap of Sherlock Holmes? Maybe you’ve always wanted to sit in Captain Picard’s chair. An independent, immersive escape room venue, The Quandary has curated a series of games featuring stories that will make you feel like you’re in a movie. Among the most popular is Lab of the Lost, which gives you 1 hour to defeat a collection of dinosaurs that have been brought back from extinction by a team of scientists and make it off the island.
Art of Escape Room
Think outside the box and use your instincts, senses and wits to solve the puzzles and accomplish your mission while having tons of fun at this acclaimed escape room venue. Lasting for 60 minutes, the games include Casino Heist, which casts you and your group as a mafia seeking to take back a million dollars stolen by a rival gang; and Kingdom of Night, inspired by the famous eponymous series, which places your group amid a severe blizzard with the task of finding and killing an army of mysterious enemies.
Escape Factor
(Photo: Escape Factor)
Dedicated to bringing high-end interactive experiences in a mind-boggling and challenging environment, this escape room venue is all about completing your mission in a fun and fulfilling way. Perfect for large groups, the venue’s immersive 60-minute games include The Bonus Fun Time Game Show Challenge. As a contestant on a vintage game show set, you’ve made it to the final round and have just minutes to win the grand prize. The plot thickens, however, in a bizarre turn of events.
Book at Escapefactorchicago.com
The Heist
Recover a priceless work of art during this enthralling escape room game. The story begins inside a prestigious art museum, where you learn that a recently stolen masterpiece is presumed hidden within the office of the museum’s egotistical curator. With the help of your intelligence agent on the outside, you have one hour to find your way into the dreaded curator’s office, recover the prestigious painting, and slip away before he returns. Up to 8 players can take part in the game.
PanIQ
(Photo: PanIQ Escape Room Chicago)
With two Chicago locations – an original in Fulton Market and a more recent addition in Logan Square featuring brand-new, 3rd generation escape rooms – PanIQ offer games that are fun, challenging and imaginative. Seek redemption for past sins and escape a medieval torture chamber, track down a terrorist and prevent a national disaster before it’s too late, or put your magic skills to the test and see if you can complete wizarding trials. Each game has been uniquely designed to take you on an adventure you’ll never forget.
Team vs Time
Offering immersive environments, logic and tactile based puzzles, Team vs Time is a renowned Chicago escape room venue. Their games include Save the Queen, a suspense themed game that takes you back to 14th century AD England to play a royal court member that ruled the province during that time. You get captured by a group of knights, who had been plotting to dethrone her Majesty the Queen. Can you figure out how to escape the chamber and reveal the truth to save Her Highness, or will history as we know it be changed forever?