Boxed In Escape Rooms — Attraction in River View Township

Tl;dr I've played 82 escape rooms, and Search for Sasquatch is the best game I've played to date.

My girlfriend and I visited St. Louis on business and played eight escape rooms on the trip. We drove 36 minutes to Festus to play at Boxed In after seeing all of their rooms at the top of Morty, an escape room tracking/rating app (download it). We booked 3 out of the four rooms they had, choosing to skip the Christmas room since we've played so many Christmas rooms already. The owners, J.R. and Heather, greeted us at the door and spent plenty of time getting to know us before we played our games. I always appreciate seeing owners on-site because it lets me know they are actively invested in the business's day-to-day operations. In my experience, most escape room owners manage by abdication. As the adage goes, "When the cat is away, the mice will play," but J.R. and Heather are passionate about what they do and take a hands-on approach to their business. Their care and attention to detail shows in every square inch of their large facility, which houses four oversized games (soon to be 5).

Search for Sasquatch: This is the best room I've ever played. I've done escape rooms all over the country, but none were as immersive as this one. Stepping into the room felt like the scene from Coraline when she walks "around the world" in the land of the evil mother. I was entirely inside a new dimension. The puzzles were intuitive, no outside knowledge was required, and they flowed seamlessly. If you walked through the game and stopped at every puzzle, you would be able to find an answer to the question, "How would I know to do that?" – a question all of us veteran escape room enthusiasts have wondered at many points in our lives. The set design was the best in the business. Every sense was used. It was as high-tech as anyone could ask for in a room, and it will be a hard room to top for me.

90's Nostalgia: This room was so much fun. Everything flowed well, and there were many easter eggs throughout the game. We got tripped up on some easy puzzles that made us laugh when we realized our mistake, but we made it in the nick of time. Millennials will enjoy this room a lot! Younger kids will miss out on the subtle references and may have difficulty with some puzzles, but this one is a must-do for millennials! Every puzzle flowed nicely, as with all of the games at Boxed In, and I will remember this room for years to come.

Dinner Date Disaster: This was our third game of the night and our seventh game within 24 hours. We were EXHAUSTED. Luckily, our game master was so attentive he knew precisely when to chime in for an extra nudge to get us through it. The room is well-decorated, but it is lockbox heavy. This may be a turn-off to some veteran players, but If you're in the area, just do all of the rooms here, as every game is lightyears better than the vast majority of rooms in existence. Dinner Date Disaster had some puzzles that I really enjoyed, it was difficult to know which lock the solutions went into, but that's okay. The attention to detail and craftsmanship of the room more than make up for it!

Santa's Naughty or Nice: We enjoyed the three rooms we did at this location so much we couldn't leave without finishing them all. We signed up for another Christmas room to add to our repertoire. The room did not disappoint, and despite being fatigued from the last three games, we did pretty well. The puzzles all made sense, and the special effects in the room were really fun. Boxed in has really enjoyable ways of hiding codes. This room ended up being one of the favorites of the trip, and you can't go wrong with it.

I read some reviews that complained about the price, and they’re laughable. These rooms should be WAY MORE expensive than they are. Honestly, it’s robbery to be able to play games of this caliber at such a low price. So use that money you’ve saved and tip your game master or purchase a shirt to remember the time you played the most immersive escape room...

Boxed In is such an amazing offering for Festus Main Street! These escape rooms are VERY well done! Great puzzles and AMAZING theming. So far, I have experienced Search for Sasquatch, 90s Nostalgia, and, most recently, Santa's Naughty or Nice. Loved them all! Shoutout to Kelleigh for being our room attendant for Naughty or Nice! They did a great job of keeping us in line lol:)

The only thing I would critique is maybe offer a better system for asking for clues. Right now, you are asked to wave/dance at the screen. Other escape rooms I have been a part of have an actual sign you hold up towards a camera when you are officially ready for a clue. The reason I suggest this is when I did the 90s Nostalgia room a while ago, clues were given to us by the attendant if they saw we struggled for too long on one spot. We didn't ask for help yet because we wanted to get it ourselves, but a clue was given anyways, and we were counted as receiving clues when we didn't ask for them. Obviously, it ended up helping us and getting us out in time so we weren't upset because we had fun, but some of my team members in the room who do escape rooms more competitively were trying to escape with no clues used.

This is a 10/10 experience, regardless, and I will be back again and again to experience their new rooms! Super fun group activity 🤗✨️ it is a must do if you're in the...

I had the pleasure of playing two incredible rooms at Boxed In Escape Rooms with my wife and 2 friends (4 of us total)—the 90's Nostalgia room and the Christmas-themed room—and I couldn't have been more impressed! Both rooms were brilliantly designed with puzzles that were not only creative but also the perfect level of challenging. Each one required us to really think, collaborate, and problem-solve, which made the experience incredibly rewarding.

The 90’s Nostalgia room was a delightful trip down memory lane, packed with fun references that brought the theme to life. The Christmas-themed room, on the other hand, was festive and immersive, making it feel like we had stepped into a holiday storybook.

The attention to detail, the variety of puzzles, and the seamless integration of the themes into the gameplay were outstanding. Whether you're a seasoned escape room enthusiast or a first-timer, Boxed In Escape Rooms delivers a fantastic adventure that’s both challenging and loads of fun. I can’t wait to come back and...