60 To Escape - Milwaukee Escape Rooms — Attraction in Greendale

Give me a minute to pick my jaw up off the floor!

Look, my family and I love LOVE escape rooms. We've done over 30 around the country, and we have pretty much exhausted our options here in SE Wisconsin. But this was our first time at 60 to Escape, and it blew away every other escape room we've ever done!!!

Why? -Price: they offer a discount for large groups (9+}, which made it very reasonable compared to other locations we have visited with our big group (9-11 people) -Set Design: our particular room (name redacted to avoid spoilers) was spread over 7 different chambers, each big enough to hold most of our 9-person group at once! With crazy attention to the artistic details, and a ton of integrated technology (touch sensors, hidden magnetic locks, animatronics with recorded dialogue, automated musical stings and sound effects when events happen...). Every puzzle item worked fine. -Story: This was one of the funniest, twist-iest and yet most logical rooms we've seen! There were puns hidden in the puzzles and art design, just for fun. The choices we faced were hilarious. The way the story unfolded kept us all hooked. -Puzzle logic: There's nothing we hate in an escape room more than "escape room logic gone bad," where the puzzles are not connected to the story, or are illogical even after you've solved them. This room does NOT do that. The puzzles are logical to solve and reasonable to exist within the story of the room. They're hard (we did one of their most challenging rooms), but satisfying, and even the puzzles that we had to get clues for made sense once the clues were given. -Clues: This location runs with a minimal staff, but they manage that by having an automated clue process through the video and audio system. You get 6 clues for the game, 1 clue unlocking every 10 minutes, but you can save up the clues to use when you actually need them. When you call for a clue, it provides a simple logical solution to your current puzzle, instead of cryptic hints. (You can post an extra $15 for "unlimited" clues, which I've never seen at any other escape room... That seems like a money grab to me, and we felt like we had plenty of help with the basic 6-clue option). -Miscellaneous: The crew are very friendly, the foyer/registration area has plenty of space and seating, the waivers are fast to fill out using QR code through your phone. Free parking in the mall parking lot (Park by the Food Court entrance, walk into the mail main passage, and go up the escalator, it's on the 2nd floor above Dick's).

A comment about kids: they allow kids of all ages. Our room had a few elements (complete darkness for 30 seconds, hidden panels popping open with light and audio sound effects which gave everyone a startle, and funny-yet-gruesome body-horror elements that intentionally put the players in an ethical dilemma) which might be scary or inappropriate for young children! Talk to the staff about your specific room ahead of time if you are bringing younger kids.

We loved this place, we will definitely be playing every single one of...

Three problems, from least to greatest.

This was our first escape room and it completely demoralized us. It’s like they didn’t actually test their ideas. We had to watch a video about being gentle with everything, but the very first task involved pulling a magnetically connected part off a prop as if we were expected to know it wouldn’t break. This was the first puzzle, the clock was ticking, and we already needed to use one of our hints.

The second problem was a test of skill. We were expected to know it is okay to throw things, after being told to be gentle with everything, through a hole, into a locked room, into another hole. We almost ran out of shots. What would have happened if we missed with all of them? I assume the guy would have triggered the next step out of pity.

The biggest issue, by FAR, is the lighting. It is WAY too dark. Sure, some of the puzzles were on the difficult side, but we often didn’t see them. (Phones are not allowed, so no flashlight mode) When we would use a hint, it would tell us exactly where to look and how to solve it. “You see that key out of reach? You need to…” No, we didn’t see the key! “That wall has an X, go…” What X!? Where!? Oh, now we see, and it obviously does something simple. It was very disappointing to have things solved for us before we saw them.

At one point, a secret panel opened and we lost more time wandering around because we couldn’t see it, and the next clue inside. And seriously? Translate symbols? In this light? Imagine how much time we lost doing that in the dark. Providing one lantern for us to carry around might have made it enjoyable. We did beat the thing, but we needed every hint, and we had less than two minutes remaining. We paid $95, felt robbed of what the experience was supposed to be, and each had a time when we wanted to quit, but we got two stickers…

Oh, and there were bonus puzzles we never even started. They said save it for just before the end, as if we could know when that is. There was a bonus prize for these extra puzzles. Maybe it was...

My son (13) wanted to try this escape room for a special treat during spring break. He has been to 4 different places and this one was his favorite. (I had been to one other with him). It was a great experience from beginning to end. We did the storm room, because according to the website, it was the least difficult room of them all. (Unbeknownst to my son, i did pay for unlimited hints when I booked online. Being that there is only 2 of us, I think it makes it a bit more challenging to try to figure everything out in under an hour and it gets a little stressful ;) I think we probably ended up using 8 or 9 hints. I was really impressed with the whole theatrics of the room. Without spoiling anything, it was very cool with the sound effects, wind and set design. The story was fun and the puzzles were challenging but solveable. We liked how it wasnt just a bunch of opening different locks. The staff we interacted with was very friendly and informative and made suggestions for what we should try next. Trust me, we will be back...my son is already talking about 'next time'. He bought a storm magnet on the way out and I'm guessing he is anxious to add more to that collection. Great...