PanIQ Escape Room Austin — Attraction in Austin

I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt because we did book the latest slot on a day I’m sure wasn’t too busy, and anyone would be tired at that point. I have done over 20 rooms and my roommate has done over 40 rooms, both of us have work experience in this specific industry that spans over years and we both really really like escape rooms. We visited from out of town and PanIQ was the highest rated by far. From the moment I called asking which room they recommended, the game master seemed confused, but ultimately suggested the Wizard one, so we booked!

When we arrived, we were pretty impressed by the lobby. It was very cute! The vibe was very much there! But the game master — again, benefit of the doubt as it was 10 pm — just seemed pretty disinterested overall and lacked enthusiasm for the job and the room itself. The questions we asked were not treated with care and sort of just one-and-done, they did not wait for us to ask follow-up questions at the beginning OR end, sort of stumbled through the walk-through on a part that was particularly confusing to us where I guess we “stumbled into the right answer” but did not provide any clarity, etc. I read on other reviews it’s possible one GM runs multiple rooms at the same time which is disappointing, as when GMs run multiple rooms at the same time it’s hard to give the undivided attention that is really needed for an experience like an escape room, and I hate to say this, that is truly worth the price. We were not offered pictures before OR after which is fine, it was just puzzling and it seemed like the GM just wanted us out and the room done with so they could go home.

The room itself was also pretty lackluster. The puzzles had no real flow to them, the hint system in general was so impersonal it felt like we were just a number in a line especially with the pre-recorded dialogue, the next gen aspects were cool a lot of the time but had no real connectivity and flow to them, and the victory at the end felt extremely hollow. Our game master didn’t tell us what time we had completed our room in, just gave us a vague answer, and directed us to get our stuff out of the locker.

I wanted to like this room and I really wanted to like the game master. After sitting with this overnight I just found I couldn’t in good faith. The only reason this isn’t a one star review is because I know it was late and I’m hoping this GM just wasn’t on their a-game because of that. I would strongly suggest looking at other rooms...

Update to the below review: The manager reached out and gave us a free room for the inconvenience. We did the Tortuga room which was really fun. The rooms are a lot of fun and the manager says they're working on having better service. If they can fix that problem this will be a great spot. Despite the customer service issues, the rooms are a blast.

This place was good when it first opened but had gone down hill drastically. We came and did the Wizard room and they hadn't reset it fully so there were things that were already opened that shouldn't have been. Then on the 4th of July we scheduled their Tortuga room. When we showed up no one was in the building and there were 3 other groups of people also waiting. One of the groups left while we discussed what we were going to do since we had driven 45 minutes to get there. When we were about to drive away about 20 minutes after arriving, the guy showed up apologizing about a staffing issue. When we got inside he told us something was broken in the room we had reserved and that we weren't going to be able to use it. He offered a refund or to move it to a different date. When we asked for a free room for the inconvenience of driving so far when they should've informed us before coming, they said the most they'd do is give us 30% of the next room. This is the same discount they offer you every time you do a room with them. Also their air-conditioning isn't working and I was feeling a bit claustrophobic throughout our game. I'd suggest going to The Escape Game in Austin better. They have wonderful customer service and...

We were not able to escape because the last puzzle in the experience wasn't reset correctly making the puzzle unsolvable. We spent 10 minutes on that puzzle, asked for clues multiple times only to receive the same one 5 times with no response to our stating that we couldn't solve the puzzle. When our time was up the game master came in and attempted to solve the puzzle and confirmed it was not solveable. He gave an apology that indicated they took no responsibility and went so far as to say the group before us did it just fine but offered a discount on a future experience. What would have really mended this for my husband and I would have been a sincere apology, owning the reset mistake, and at least allowing us the satisfaction of finishing the experience by telling us the information and letting us press the buttons. I confirmed with the game master that this was the last puzzle and that this was the only information we were missing. There was no manager to speak to when we left but I was given their business card when I asked to speak with someone. After taking some time to cool down I realized it wasn't necessary to speak with the manager. We just won't be returning. I do work in the escape industry so my expectations may be too high, but this was not a good experience for the hype this...