Think In A Box - Escape Room — Attraction in San Angelo

I was able to jump into a booking as a solo player and was only able to do one room (Tesla's Coffin) while in the area for a business trip, but overall I had a lot of fun and it was a great experience.

Pros: I appreciated the professionalism of the staff and the check-in went smoothly. There are plentiful props to make you appreciate the story. At least in the room I did, I didn't see any true red herrings... and this was a big plus in my book (I hate wasting time when a puzzle ends up not meaning anything) - most objectives were straight-forward. It seems like there is a good rotation for rooms, being that there will eventually be a new room that replaces an older one. I appreciated the nudges and I believe the whole group did, but I would have loved to see a way to proactively request a hint rather than wait for the nudges. I liked the wall of fame for those who completed all the rooms - not a lot of places do this (they only do records boards). I felt like the puzzles matched the difficulty rating and there was a plentiful variety of them so that everyone could work on things and contribute. I loved the little quirky fun things that lurked in the room and how interactive some of the door contraptions were. Always nice when the escape room moves you out of the initial room you are placed in and into a new space.

Notes: The online booking is not feasible for solo players, and this might be by design in case some groups have minors or another reason you wouldn't shove a random person in with others - once a group has partially booked the room, I kept getting an error that I needed more (5) simultaneous bookings to continue. I did have to go in person to see if I could drop in a room - may be nice to have a "standby" option in case there weren't any bookings. I understood the pricing for a group, but I wish there was a discount as a solo player and for military as a solo player - I ended up paying the full price (which I do believe was worth it, but I didn't see where you would get a discount until the 3rd and 4th player in a simultaneous booking). As far as the room, there were instances where paint/markings were rubbing off or barely visible and a few instances where the intended functionality of the room failed to work (at one point the game master had to pause the game to allow us to retrieve an item that was supposed to have popped out). I think things just kind of get worn out over time (requiring a few tries to get things to work) and other things just required some level of intuition because there were no specific instructions on how to do something when we clearly knew what needed to be done (requiring a nudge). I've seen it happen before at other escape rooms, so it's not a knock on Think In A Box, just something to be aware of in case you are fairly sure your solve is correct (try it again once or twice).

Big shout out to the staff and owners. The last few times I've been in the area (many years ago), San Angelo didn't have something this cool for team building. Shame I can't stick around and do more rooms, but maybe one day...

Man, in a world that's always trying to pull your family in a million different directions, finding one thing that everyone can truly enjoy together is a rare gift. We took our family to Think in a Box tonight, and I just have to say what a blessing it was. We went with my wife, our 11-year-old son, and our 3-year-old daughter. I was honestly a little worried about how the 3-year-old would do, but she had the time of her life just being in the middle of the excitement, looking for clues and feeling like a big part of the team. My son was completely locked in, working with my wife and me to figure out the puzzles. It was more than just a game. It was an hour with no phones, no distractions—just us, in a room, working together and communicating. Seeing my son’s mind at work and watching my wife solve a tough clue... these are the moments that really matter. The whole experience was fantastic, and the staff was great. When we finally solved that last puzzle with just a few minutes to spare and the door opened... Oohwee! The look on my kids' faces was something I won't forget. We weren't just a family playing a game; we were a team that accomplished a mission. We'll absolutely be back. If you're a family looking for a way to connect and build a great memory, I can't recommend this...

We had a room booked and reserved but no one showed up when we got there. The reasoning is bazaar, they wanted to charge us more and make us pay for 5 people because we were paying for 4. They just updated their 'policy', but did not bother to update their booking software which let us book and gave my friend a confirmation code that the time was booked. While a bit scummy this would be fine, but she just decided not to show up because my friend did not answer his phone when she called about this.

When we all got there and called the owner she just berated my friend for not answering his phone and blamed him for all this, even though he had no access to his phone and was working like crazy with me in a military training where he was not allowed to have his phone. We have limited free time and this was hard to coordinate so this was rather annoying.

Only reason I am giving 2 stars and not 1 is according to my friend the place is pretty fun if you go on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and join a group. Just do not try to use their booking system on the other days on you will be outside getting yelled out for not reading fine print of there booking confirmation email that is apparently not a booking...