Escape 618, Escape Room — Attraction in Belleville

We found Escape 618 online, looking for a suitable venue in the Southern part of IL. After a call to discuss their rooms (currently 2), we decided to try the Haunted House.

Escape 618 is a block off the fountain in downtown Belleville. Best bet for parking is behind the adjacent store (Ben's). Once you walk into the lobby, you first notice that the owners have spent a LOT of time and effort building out their business. Elaborately decorated, it is the complete opposite of a generic, 4 white walled lobby. After brief introductions, we entered the Haunted House. We did escape, but only after 49 minutes of creepy interactions with Alice, the spirit of the departed girl haunting the house.

Without divulging any clues or hints, we found the House to be extremely well constructed. Only open for 5 weeks, no corner was left ignored in the build out. It is creepy and spooky! The Alice voice will send chills down your spine. If you have done "haunted house" themed escape rooms before, you will not be bored in this one. The tasks and interactions are quite unique and reflect the owners vision of an escape room.

We chose the Haunted House because our group was 2 people, and their second (currently) room requires at least 4 people. Despite that, the owner convinces us to try their other room, Detention, with the caveat that no group of 2 had ever completed the room. Although we are competitive, we agreed to try Detention, knowing it would be putting it in the L column.

Detention is definitely also worth playing. Again, not going to give things away but there are things in this room we had never seen in 70+ escape rooms. We were very happy we tried the room.

The owners have plans to build out more rooms (9 in total) and have a third room almost ready to go. What made Escape 618 so unique and worth a visit is the people that run the games (first class) and the effort put into the rooms. They have purposefully not played a lot of Escape Rooms because (a) they dont want to just recycle other ideas and (b) want to create rooms with their own vision and idea of what an escape room should be.

We were very glad we found Escape 618 and will be watching for the next room to be open. We...

I'm convinced this location will end up on a list of top escape rooms in the U.S. by the time they are done building rooms. At the time I visited, they had two rooms open. The lobby is gorgeous and you can tell that everything has been really thought out for the mental experience of immersing you in a storyline.

My partner and I both did Detention and Haunted House. First, I'll discuss Detention- this one has a lot of unique puzzles. I appreciate this room has none of the cookie-cutter puzzles that seems to recur across many places, instead each of these puzzles were on theme and original. I have to brag a bit that we were warned that this room is not meant for two-person teams and that none had finished in the 60-minute time limit before. But, my partner and I are escape room enthusiasts who have been traveling to many different cities to play their best rooms and we did manage to escape (proof in picture). These puzzles were creative and starting off locked into desks brought a new element of urgency that I really enjoyed. I would recommend this room for groups to build communication skills.

The second room we did, Haunted House, was probably the best Haunted House themed room we have ever done. The voice elements and jump scares are on point and some of the puzzles/reactions give you a spine-tingling sensation. This room was very good about feeling like it's own unique type of unnerving adventure instead of just a room to beat puzzles and leave. It had a logical and dark storyline and I appreciate how it liked to push the limits in new and creative ways. I would not recommend this room for small children, but certainly is a must for a group of friends that love...

After months of trying to get to the Escape room, I finally took my 14 year old twins and we loved it! The reviews online are precise...from the moment you walk thru the door so much catches your eye. After our Escape room we have even more fun just playing the games in the lobby. We did the Detention Room and it was really fun. The way things were put and you had to figure out the correct order to Crack codes, but if you got stuck the staff was there to provide hints. This room really makes you think. As we figured things out the boys got very excited just to move to the next. We were able to solve everything in the allotted time.

This is a must that you go to this place. It's fun for all ages. The boys wanted to do the haunted house last night...so we'll go back soon!

To top off this wonderful night, this establishment has an awesome staff and owner! The welcoming was very inviting! You can tell they care about your experience and your family having a great time! They even provided feedback from our adventure.

Even after they closed, they still allowed us to continue our games in the lobby. My son and I played checkers...he also provided my son tips on how to play.

This was an awesome way to end Christmas break.

Thanks you Escape Room for a...