Hawaii Escape Challenge — Attraction in Oʻahu

We had a bad experience. Our group of four did the Cellar. In short: the equipment didn’t work, the Game Master wasn’t engaging, and the room broke immersion. I’m getting re-frustrated just remembering all of this.

Full review: The puzzles weren’t extremely challenging, but the Game Master was slow/not responsive to requests for help. The batteries were dying on the walkie talkie, but you’d expect the Game Master or managers to check equipment before we started. They weren’t watching the cameras to see us waving for help. I think the employees were “checked out” and they may have just wanted to get home. They took forever to come in and change out the walkie-talkies. We didn’t even get an offer for extra time after so much was wasted.

I spent 45 minutes separated from the group in my own room. I only spent 15 minutes solving all my puzzles. My friend was stuck in his room the entire 60 minutes. He also only spent ~15 minutes solving his puzzles. There was a camera in my room, so they should have seen me just walking in a circle waiting for something to happen. A simple statement on the walkie-talkie or screen like “there’s a way to get out of your room” would have made all the difference. Instead, the Game Master let us stay frustrated thinking we couldn’t leave the rooms. They were very disengaged.

I’ve been to a lot of escape rooms (more than 6) - the room setup was really immersion breaking. The furniture in my room was falling apart like it was just thrown together when we arrived. Pictures of a “victim” were headshots of an actor from a famous movie. I could see through holes in the ceiling to outside the escape room.

I don’t want say too much more, but our expectations were high and we ended up having a really bad time. It’s a bummer because it could be so much better.

I'm hoping for a response from Hawaii Escape Challenge to see if they offer some type of reconciliation or to hear what they have to say because I'm still so...

Finally tried out an escape room. Been trying for a while now with no luck at some of the other businesses because our groups were too small or we didn't book in advance. Great customer service allowed us to walk in and learn about the games and book an open room on the spot. They say online reservations are recommended for larger groups, which makes sense and I will totally do when we want to book the cellar*.

Through Mark's recommendations and timing we ended up signing up for the Virus escape first. Nearly kicked our butts but we got out with just under 2 minutes left. No spoilers but some of the tricks they use are awesome and definitely get you into the mood. We had to use clues so we wanted redemption which means we took a break, got some lunch, and came back for the Nuclear Launch... oh my.

This room was recommended for a minimum 4 people, and we thought we could conquer it in 3. We were wrong lol. We got to the last few puzzles and time just ran out on us. It was a ton of fun and definitely worth every cent. I'm also glad they don't just have a single room because we can go back for more. I We plan on coming back and doing a warmup on the Diamond Heist, before tackling their newest room the Cellar. I hear this one splits you up, so we need to recruit a couple more people first. But we will be back... and no clues,...

I won't say what room my group attempted, but we left feeling like we wasted our time and money due to some of the shady practices of this establishment.

First of all, we had to keep asking the game master to repeat statements and comments because we genuinely could not hear half of what they were saying. I understand that this is a job, but being treated like an absolute annoyance because you wanted to go do something really kills the vibe.

We were instructed to watch a video that told us there'd be no physical tests during the escape room, which ended up being a lie. We lost about a quarter of our time due to a piece being stuck in such a way that it felt like there was glue holding it in place. The game master kept treating us like we were not understanding the hint despite our explanation of the stuck piece. We were then surprised by a second physical test that was actually intended and wholly unwelcome at this point.

This place used to be really good, but it feels like it isn't being maintained anymore, which is kind of sad. I hope they're able to make the experience as good as it was before, but in its current state I would just recommend...