Just Escape Room — Attraction in Lyons Township

To preface this review, our group of 12 people have done many escape rooms. We've done some with incredible set design, some with incredible puzzle ideas, and others with mediocre mix of both.

This is the first time playing an escape room with good puzzles, but mediocre set design.

We spoke to Jordan a little bit before we started- he seems like a great guy who's genuinely interested in escape rooms. We can clearly see this is his passion project, and while it may be hard for set design in this location, the puzzles are well thought out. We also did Split Personality, which Jordan said he didn't renovate the set design for, so that may have played a factor in our experience.

Since our group was large, it's hard for everyone to have something to do at all times. And during those downtimes, usually when there's immersive set design, it can really help elevate the mood and atmosphere. With this being somewhat of a clinical environment, it was hard to keep that fun feeling for members who were just spectating.

I'd love for Jordan to keep at this business and expand what he has right now. I really think the puzzle ideas are there, but without the environment it doesn't feel like an escape room anymore, but more so a list of puzzles to solve. I would love to have a more compelling plot line, and something to keep us motivated to escape as well. There should be a story to tell through the puzzles that are solved. I would also love to see a larger escape room with more areas to explore.

All this is said in the hopes that this can grow to becomes something amazing. I think if you are a couple of people on a casual day and you happen to be in the area, you should go for this one- you will have a good time! But if you're coordinating an escape game for a large group, I unfortunately don't think this is the place.

Jordan- if you're reading this I hope you'll understand where we're coming from. After talking to you, we really think you have the passion to make this a better and more interesting experience. Wishing all the best for you and...

We did the Secret escape room at Just Escape recently for my daughter's birthday and had a disappointing experience.

My daughter has never done an escape room before and wanted to do an escape room birthday party for over a year now. We chose Just Escape since there were reviews from folks who had brought kids there and The Secret seemed like an easier room. I called ahead to ask if it would be a good room for kids and was assured it was. I asked if the parent could be there to chaperone but not participate since I thought it would be more fun for the kids to do the puzzle themselves -- I was told that was fine.

When we did the room, I found it to be hard and a little overwhelming for a group of 9-11 year olds to navigate themselves. We asked for clues, but they still couldn't figure them out. About 20-25 minutes in, they started to feel defeated and confused. I went to the front desk to get more help, and the person came in and rattled off a bunch of clues at once. These were helpful but a little too much and too fast.

Some of the puzzles were better suited for adults and the kids lacked context for them. In the end, they asked for tons of clues and came close but didn't finish. I knew it was likely they wouldn't finish, but I wanted them to feel happy and successful -- and they didn't have that feeling either.

The place felt understaffed -- there was just one person there, and he needed to manage our group, another group that walked in at the same time, plus calls and letting people into the lobby. This was our first escape room so I didn't know what to expect -- but I think we should have been told up front that it would be helpful for an adult or two to work the puzzle alongside the kids in order to give them a better chance of solving it.

My daughter left disappointed and didn't want to be in the pictures at the end. Later she told me that it was "kind of fun," and I know some of the kids who attended had...

Jordan did a really great job with watching us and making sure we saw the things that we missed. All of the puzzles were pretty tricky, but we pushed through and solved them all. There were two puzzles that we solved but didn't quite realize what happened after the solution happened or appeared, and Jordan made sure to tell us that we need to do the solution again and pay attention to what it did and the general area of where we should be. I really had an amazing time and I would like to thank Jordan and his team for making this room as challenging as they did, because it felt really great to escape before the hour was up. I really didn't think an hour was enough time, because it felt like barely 10 minutes went by, but somehow we pulled it off! It was a rewarding experience and the best part was the comradery and working as a team to solve the puzzles and escape the room! 5 out 5, will be coming back for the...