The Great Escape Room Boston — Attraction in Newton

I did the Grimm Escape room with one other person, we did not "escape the room" in the 60 minutes, probably got it 80% complete.

Pro's: There are a lot of simultaneous puzzles to solve which makes it a good experience for larger groups The room(s) were large and not claustrophobic Many of the puzzles were challenging (some variety of logic, word puzzles, etc.) One of the only escape rooms in the area unless you can get into Boston.

Con's: Decor of the room was significantly below par compared to other escape rooms. Our room was supposed to be an "enchanted forest" but they had to tell you this because it was not obvious by the decorations. There were just tree shapes painted on the walls and the ceiling was not even decorated with foliage (ceiling was literally like the plumbing and pipes). Plus there were a ton of bookcases and dressers in the room to hold clues, but why would there be dressers in a forest? The cottage room was similarly disappointing with most "decor" just painted walls, no 3 dimensional sets like many other escape rooms. So much time was required just collecting a bunch of items from around the room that are randomly scattered. Puzzles were not cleverly hidden and required clues to find, there were just like a hundred items stuck with Velcro randomly to all the surfaces in the place. A lot of just finding keys that open locked boxes. Otherwise not a lot of moving parts and not really any "WOW" moments that other escape rooms have. One of the puzzles was not working properly and the room attendant had to actually "solve it" for us because it was broken, and it was the only puzzle that had moving parts so disappointing that we couldn't see that work. Room attendant was actually in the room with us and he was really awkward. A lot of his clues were unhelpful. And he seemed so preoccupied with getting the room re-setup for the next group of people that he would be putting stuff away as we were still working which made it hard to determine what we had already completed.

Overall: I have seen much better escape rooms, especially since the price of this place was the same as the other places. But it was convenient and fun. If you are looking for a full immersive experience this may not be the best place for you, but if you just want to solve some puzzles this is a...

Thank you Justin and Joel!

I brought my 7 year old and 4 year old here with me, and we did the Midnight Carnival, AND WE GOT OUT. What an amazing time!

Now the rest of the story: With school freshly canceled from the virus we were looking for fun things to do. I was impressed with Puzzle Break's commitment to safety and cleaning, so it seemed like a completely safe, albeit unorthodox, activity to pursue. I'm so glad we did!

I've done a number of escape rooms and 2 things REALLY stood out about this one: the UNIQUENESS and the DIFFICULTY. Right from the moment I walked in, I thought, "This is going to be good". The circus theme and the cool contraptions really make an impression. There were SOOO many things to do. Not hard at all to keep the kids engaged at the outset. I'd say more, but I'm not going to spoil the surprises.

I'm not going to lie though, 4 years old is too young for this. Little dude had fun for most of it, but he made the room harder because he was like his only little puzzle to manage: how to keep him entertained and engaged throughout and away from mischievous behavior.

But the 7-year-old was able to solve some things that I did not; sometimes adults overthink things and miss the obvious and that was the situation here. How did we end up getting out in time with just 1 adult? Pacing and clues more than anything. I asked for a clue whenever we had stalled for too long just to make sure we kept moving. Ended up using quite a few clues but also got to solve plenty on our own too. Anyway, it all added up to a lot of fun.

Forgot to mention, even the 4-year-old found a critical object that I'm reasonably sure I would have not found in time, so bring everyone who has any interest or ability. They can make the difference between success and failure! Getting out with less than 2 minutes left was very gratifying, especially for the kids, but we would have had a lot of fun still if we hadn't.

Definitely coming back here for the other 2 rooms at some point but with...

Regina and Joe made it all so nice for our group. Recommend it for a small group (2-4ppl) or a private event (12 ppl). We enjoyed Puzzle Break Newton each way. Tips below!

Tips

Try it out with a few people. See if it is your cup of tea. It surprisingly works well for adults and/or youth. Two of us tried it out in October, really liked it and had a party there in November. You may go back a couple of times.

Talk with Regina and Puzzle Break staff. They were nice, honest and helpful. They directed us to the right games for our people, making sure we had a great time. They also made event planning a breeze.

Choose the best game for you. 20,000 Leagues was challenging (adult-level) and fun for a mix of mostly adults. Midnight Carnival worked for a group of mostly youth. Can't wait to try Grimm.

Be smart about parking. Newton loves to give parking tickets especially in Newton Centre. Get a good spot. Use enough quarters.

Check the location. It is a little tricky to find it the first time. The entrance is on the east corner of the building close to Santander Bank. You then walk downstairs. Second door on the left.

If you have a group, there here are more tips...8 to 12 people can work really well. Corp/Friend group and even can work for middle school or high schoolers. Talk with Regina. Puzzle Break does so much to make a party easy. Bill's Pizza was quite good. Everyone liked it though slightly greasy. Be sure to get a good group leader. Joe was incredible with us - enthusiastic, pleasant and helpful. Joe and Regina made the event work much better than one we had at five wits. Puzzle Break was better organized, cooperative and well-executed. Our schedule was 1. pizza/drinks, 2. orientation, 3. escape room (almost 1 hr) , 4. dessert and 5. puzzles (gave snake puzzles to everyone).