4 Dreams Escape Game - Austin — Attraction in Austin

We had a fine time in this game, but what really made the experience poor was what we later learned about how the team here misleads their players.

As for the game itself: This room is a three-in-one linear experience that takes you through three small rooms in 20-minute increments with a basic story connecting them. Three groups are playing the game simultaneously, so when you enter room 2, another group enters room 1 and so on. There was only one GM moderating three groups during our game.

We most enjoyed the second room, which had more traditional puzzles and the most complete theming. The other two rooms had minimal decor and featured what I would call “mini games” rather than puzzles, including memory tests and dexterity games.

It was interesting to incorporate some games into the traditional escape experience, but the drawback is that you could easily fail to complete the rooms in time due to failing a dexterity test, even if you solve everything else, which feels frustrating and cheap, not to mention not very accessibility-friendly.

We ultimately solved everything with the exception of one puzzle in the final room. Our GM later confirmed that we had in fact solved it correctly, but the sensors in the prop malfunctioned.

The experience itself was underwhelming but fine. But what really surprised us was what we learned about the game afterward.

We spoke with the GM after our game and he led us to believe that everything in the experience was designed and built in-house by himself and the room’s owner. He also told us that it was an independent room (not a franchise). We were impressed to learn that everything was built from scratch. There were some very cool props and mechanics on display, and while the decor in 2/3 of the rooms was pretty basic, it was impressive coming from a brand new game designed by a team of two.

However, we did some research about the game afterwards, interested to learn more about their story, and discovered that none of this was true. There are several other 4 Dreams locations throughout the country and based on their websites, they all feature the same game with nearly identical rooms.

The most impressive props and puzzles, we learned, came from a props company that specializes in turn-key escape rooms. In their catalogue we found most of what we had just seen at 4 Dreams.

4 Dreams is promoting a Jumanji game, and we also saw this “Jungle Game” premade room available to order from the same purveyor — using the exact same photos and videos 4 Dreams is currently using to promote theirs, despite the GM telling us that they were currently designing and building it.

To be clear, I don’t believe that purchasing puzzles or props makes a game bad. However, if you are using a premade room, I expect that saved effort to be spent on making the rest of the experience exceptional. When I believed 4 Dreams was built and designed entirely by a two-person team onsite, I didn’t mind that there were some glitches, or that the spectacle was lacking. But knowing that they bought their most impressive and complex pieces prefabricated leaves me very disappointed in the lackluster attention paid to everything else.

And most importantly: We were lied to about all of this when we talked to the GM about the game, praised specific set pieces, and were told that he and this location’s owner created them.

I would happily replay a lackluster game that improves over time, but I have no interest in returning to a business that has misrepresented its product and lied to its customers.

As a final note, and take this with a grain of salt: There is currently a 5-star review of their yet-to-open Jungle Game on another forum, from a user who has reviewed all of 4 Dreams’s offerings and praised its owner. If they are comfortable lying about their game design, I wonder if they are also comfortable...

Edit: The owner reached out personally to offer a refund or a free game as compensation. Although I didn't take him up in either I really appreciate his professionalism and customer care. I'm bumping up my rating by one star as a result. To clarify one of my points below, the types of puzzles/props themselves felt dated (apart from some things simply not working), even if they were recently installed. I wouldn't expect those types of issues since this is an escape room chain with multiple identical rooms at other locations.

Staff was very friendly and welcoming. The room (dream room) was very sub par. Everything felt dated and the puzzles were not at all intuitive. There was no way for the puzzle master to speak over the speakers so he was constantly coming in and telling us exactly how to do a puzzle, especially when the puzzles weren't working. Some of the puzzles were dexterity based, so even if you knew exactly what you were supposed to do, if you made a mistake you had to start all over again without making any progress. Several of the puzzles in the second room had to be completed in order rather than at the same time so much of the group just had to stand around and wait for one person to complete a particular puzzle before the next would become active. There are three rooms to get through but you only get 20 min per room and they force you on at the end of the 20 min even if you haven't completed everything in your current room. They do this so they can run multiple groups through the game. Unfortunately I can't recommend going to this particular...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We had such a great time at 4 Dreams Escape Rooms! From the moment we walked in, the staff made us feel welcome and set the perfect mood for the experience. The room design was creative, immersive, and full of clever puzzles that kept us thinking and working together the whole time.

What I loved most was how balanced the challenges were—tricky enough to keep us on our toes but never so impossible that we got frustrated. Every clue felt rewarding once solved, and the storyline really pulled us in. The attention to detail in the room design made it feel like we were actually inside the dream world.

If you’re looking for something fun and different to do in Austin with friends, family, or even co-workers, I definitely recommend checking them out. We left laughing, talking about our favorite puzzles, and already planning which room we want...