The Quandary Escape Rooms — Attraction in Lake View Township

I did the 90s-themed escape room recently and while it could have been fun, we had numerous issues occur that collectively made for a much-less-than-enjoyable experience.

Firstly, the worker who led us to the room said he would let us know when our time starts but after 15 minutes, there was no indication our time started. We had to leave the room to ask the worker if there was any reason our time had not started; he stated it was supposed to be on the computer screen but it had malfunctioned and did not display our time or notify us when our time started until he fixed it. I falsely assumed that we would start our 60 minutes over but we never got our 15 minutes added back to our time to complete the puzzle. Starting our time over seemed like a very simple remedy to the issue, especially as it was the last time slot so there were no groups doing the escape room after us.

Secondly, as we were working on the puzzles, we wanted to ask for a clue but the AIM through which you communicate with the worker was not set up properly so we (again) had to exit the escape room to ask the worker to come in to fix it (losing another few minutes of our already shortened time).

Thirdly, there was a malfunction with one of the lockboxes where we had the correct code but it would not open (both of us tried it multiple times throughout the already-shortened-time we had to complete it).

Overall, there were multiple issues with the escape room but what was the most frustrating was how apathetic the worker was to our qualms. We brought up the issue with lockbox and he stated very apathetically that "sometimes the lockboxes can be finicky." There was no apology for the lockbox issue, the communication through the computer not working initially, and the lack of notification that our time began. So, we essentially paid $100 to have 15 minutes-less time to complete the escape room, a malfunctioning computer system, and a malfunctioning lockbox without any apology for any of these issues. What could have been a fun time turned into a waste of our...

I did the "Left at Home" and "Lab of the Lost" rooms today and was really disappointed in the quality.

It seemed like the person who built "Left at Home" just woke up one day and decided to slap some stuff together and call it an escape room but never bothered to update them or ensure they could withstand long-term use as an escape room. The "Left at Home" room was SUCH bad quality; I can't imagine it took more than a few hundred dollars to build that room. I don't know where to begin. There are a few puzzles that need to be updated (the Santa pieces puzzle and the darts puzzle both need serious revamps) and there was peeling/missing wallpaper (not part of the theme), pieces of tape on various items, and many of the props and overall set looked cheap.

The Lab of the Lost room was better in regards to the theming but we had so many technical difficulties throughout our game that it took away from the experience. I'm not sure how to share the technical difficulties here without spoilers.... there was an issue with a phone that resulted in the game master having to come into the room to check why a device wasn't working properly, and the big ending of the room also didn't work properly so the last items we gained access to ended up being pointless because none of the tech worked correctly. This room was aesthetically better than the previous room and looked as though a bit more time was put into it but if you're going to use tech to enhance the experience, you've got to test it out regularly because otherwise you make the experience worse.

If I would've paid $20-$25/person for these rooms, I wouldn't sweat it so much but it was $40/person for 2 people. $40/person for an escape room is on the higher end and I would have expected some better quality rooms at that cost.

The game master was fine. This review is strictly in reference to the quality of the...

Escape the 90s is amazing! Super immersive with tons of 90s memorabilia and a great mix of throwback hits playing while you work to escape. The puzzles have an impressive variety of mechanics to make you think in different ways. One is so amazingly well-done (designed? programmed?) that it will blow your mind, but of course I won't spoil it. Suffice it to say that my inner-90s child was having a blast! I appreciated that the room is designed so that multiple puzzles can be worked on simultaneously, which I enjoy more than a linear-style room where it is easier to get stuck on one thing and potentially frustrated. None of that here. I was having so much fun that I didn't feel like I was paying much attention to the timer at all. The hint system is unlike any other room you will have done, and anyone who lived through the late 90s will be absolutely delighted by it. Our game master Katie was super friendly and funny and made the already terrific experience even better! Can't wait to return and try the other rooms....