Best Escape Rooms in Chicago, Illinois
1
The Escape Game Chicago
Address: 42 E Ontario St, Chicago, IL 60611
The Escape Game Chicago, located in the heart of downtown Chicago, Illinois, offers an immersive collection of expertly designed escape rooms featuring diverse themes and challenging puzzles. Their well-maintained facility showcases detailed room designs with creative storylines ranging from heists and prison breaks to gold rush adventures. The venue accommodates both private and shared experiences, with friendly game masters providing just the right amount of guidance while maintaining the perfect balance of challenge and entertainment for groups of all skill levels.
What People Are Saying
Difficulty Level: Many reviews mention the challenges and difficulty of the escape rooms, with some describing them as "challenging yet fair", "difficult but well worth it", and "the perfect amount of difficulty". However, other reviews mention the puzzles being not too hard and easily solvable, and some needed hints.
Themes: Reviews mention several themes including "special ops", "mystery market", "gold rush", "prison break", and "the heist".
Puzzles: The reviews indicate that the puzzles involve a mix of logic, searching, and problem-solving. Some puzzles mentioned specifically include codes and sequences.
Mystery/Detective: Several reviews refer to the games as "mysteries" and involve solving puzzles to "escape", strongly suggesting a mystery or detective theme.
Prison Break: The "Prison Break" theme is explicitly mentioned in multiple reviews.
Heist: The "Heist" theme is explicitly mentioned in multiple reviews, involving stealing valuable items.
Kid-friendly: Several reviews mention family participation and kid-friendly experiences. One review specifically states that it is "kid-friendly".
Party: Multiple reviews explicitly mention birthday parties and family celebrations taking place at the escape room.
Large Groups: Reviews describe experiences with large groups, including parties of 8, 9, and 10 people, suggesting the suitability of the escape rooms for large groups. However, several reviews also mention concerns about too many people in the room.
Discounts: Reviews mention discounts for repeat customers or for booking multiple games on the same day. One review mentions a 40% discount for doing two games in a row.
Price: Some reviews describe the price as "acceptable" and "great", while others find it on the higher end or "a little dear".
Not Noted
Scare Factor: No reviews mention scary or horror themes. One review even specifically states that the room was not terrifying.
Zombie: There is no mention of a zombie theme in any of the reviews.
Tomb: No reviews mention an Egyptian theme.
Parking: One review mentions that parking is difficult.
2
The Great Escape Room Chicago
Address: 160 E Grand Ave #400, Chicago, IL 60611
The Great Escape Room Chicago, located in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, offers an immersive collection of themed puzzle rooms ranging from haunted hotels to historical adventures. This entertainment venue features multiple challenging rooms with varying difficulty levels, where groups can work together solving intricate puzzles and decoding clues while racing against the clock. The facility stands out for its well-designed spaces and helpful staff who provide just the right amount of guidance to keep the experience both challenging and enjoyable for everyone from beginners to experienced escape room enthusiasts.
What People Are Saying
Difficulty Level: Reviews mention various difficulty levels, with some calling rooms "very challenging" while others found them "moderately challenging". Several reviews mention successfully escaping with time to spare, while others did not, suggesting a range of difficulty.
Themes: The reviews mention several themes, including Haunted Hotel, Mountain Top Murders, Roman Colosseum, Heist, Sherlock Holmes, Poker with the Presidents, and Infirmary. This indicates a variety of themes are available.
Puzzles: Many reviews praise the "clever puzzles", "well-designed puzzles", and "logical puzzles". The reviews suggest a mix of logic-based, search-oriented, and perhaps some physical puzzles, though this is not explicitly stated.
Scare Factor: Multiple reviews refer to rooms as "spooky" and "scary", specifically mentioning a "Haunted Hotel" room and "gory images" in "Mountain Top Murders". This suggests some rooms contain scary or horror elements.
Mystery/Detective: Reviews frequently describe the experience as a "mystery" or involve solving a "mystery", implying a detective or mystery theme in multiple rooms.
Prison Break: One review mentions a "prison guards" theme, suggesting the presence of a prison break theme in at least one room.
Heist: The reviews mention a "Heist" room, indicating the inclusion of a heist theme.
Kid-friendly: Several reviews mention bringing children and having a good time. Reviews specifically mention rooms being suitable for families and that the staff was great with kids.
Party: Multiple reviews refer to birthday parties at the escape room, indicating it hosts these events.
Large Groups: Reviews describe experiences with large groups, including bachelorette parties, work outings, and large family gatherings. The facility is mentioned as being able to accommodate several large groups.
Discounts: Reviews mention a discount for booking a second room the same day, and one review refers to discounted tickets bought on the day of their visit. This suggests there are discounts for repeat or large group visits.
Price: Many reviews refer to the pricing as "affordable", "reasonable", "great price", or "unbeatable". However, one review mentions concerns about pricing for young children, suggesting some price variation.
Not Noted
Zombie: There is no mention of a zombie theme in any of the provided reviews.
Tomb: The reviews do not mention any Egyptian themes.
Parking: Some reviews mention parking challenges or suggest using a nearby parking garage, while others do not mention parking difficulties. This suggests parking availability may vary or be limited.
3
PanIQ Escape Room Chicago (Fulton Market)
Address: 1200 W Lake St, Chicago, IL 60607
PanIQ Escape Room Chicago in Fulton Market, Illinois, offers an engaging variety of themed rooms including a mob experience, prison break challenge, and an insane asylum adventure. The venue features cleverly designed puzzles that blend both thought-based and action-based challenges, creating an immersive experience that's suitable for both newcomers and experienced escape room enthusiasts. The facility maintains a perfect balance of difficulty levels across their rooms, with helpful game masters who provide just the right amount of hints while letting teams work through the challenges at their own pace.
What People Are Saying
Difficulty Level: Many reviews mention the rooms as both challenging and fun, indicating a moderate difficulty level.
Themes: The reviews mention themes such as "The Mob", "The Prison", and "Insane Asylum", suggesting a variety of themes are available.
Puzzles: The reviews describe the puzzles as involving logic, deduction, and searching for clues, indicating a mix of puzzle types.
Mystery/Detective: Several reviews describe solving mysteries, such as "The Mob" and "Prison" escape rooms, indicating a mystery theme in many rooms.
Prison Break: Multiple reviews specifically mention a "Prison" themed escape room.
Kid-friendly: Reviews describe families and groups with children participating, suggesting the rooms are suitable for kids, though parental supervision is likely needed.
Party: Several reviews mention birthday parties being held at the escape room center.
Large Groups: Reviews mention groups of various sizes, including groups as large as thirteen, participating successfully. This implies suitability for large groups.
Price: While one review mentions the games being "a bit on the pricy side", most reviews suggest the experience is worth the cost, indicating prices are reasonably acceptable to many customers.
Parking: Several reviews mention easy and free parking, indicating that parking is readily available.
Not Noted
Scare Factor: While some rooms have intense themes like "Insane Asylum", no review explicitly mentions jump scares or other classic horror elements. The "creepy" description of the Asylum room may be subjective, but not necessarily "scary."
Heist: No review mentions heist themes like bank robbery or stealing a valuable item.
Zombie: There is no mention of a zombie theme in any of the reviews.
Tomb: No reviews mention an Egyptian theme.
Discounts: There is no mention of group discounts or special event pricing in the reviews.