Mastermind Room Escape - St. Louis — Attraction in St. Louis

This was my first time visiting an escape room, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but given the cost and positive reviews I was a bit disappointed with our experience. Overall it was a fun way to spend an hour, but I'm taking off three stars for the following reasons.

The room is basically a series of padlocks that you have to gain the combinations for by solving riddles and puzzles. At any given time there were roughly 4-6 unopened padlocks, so if you think you've solved for the code you have to try it on all of them. Many times we had a code that we were either guessing or solved via a riddle and several members would try the exact same code on the exact same lock and it wouldn't open until the 2nd, 3rd or 4th try. Because the locks didn't open easily WITH THE CORRECT CODE, we assumed we guessed the wrong code or chose the wrong lock and would move on. The reason for this is that the company is using personal use padlocks in a heavy use, commercial setting. Many of the locks were jammed or overall very finicky. The fact that you are guessing both a code and which lock to try it on, I would expect them to open smoothly and easily on the first attempt with the correct code. (Yes, we were entering the code into the correct spot as instructed on the video). They should upgrade to commercial quality locks or replace them more frequently. This really hindered our experience. We used most of our clues just to find out we were entering the right code all along, but weren't finessing the lock enough to get it open. If this place cost $10 per person, fine. But I expect better quality out of $26 per person admission.

On a specific riddle that we had, we had to find 4 individual numbers. We found those numbers and entered them in several logical orders on all unopened locks to no avail. This was a huge sticking point for us. After our game was over (we didn't escape) our game host confirmed that we found the correct 4 numbers and she entered them into the lock. We asked how she got that order and she said there was no way to solve for order, but rather expected us to try ALL possible combinations. We asked why they would do that and she said they can't make the game too easy. I'm guessing the designers of the game failed their math classes because 4 individual numbers can make 24 different combinations. At this point in the game we still had 4 unlocked padlocks, so that would have meant entering 96 different codes (24X4)!!! Obviously we didn't have time for that in a 60 minute game.

My brother called ahead of time and asked if we needed specific baseball knowledge in order to solve the riddles in the Cardinals room and they said no. That turned out to be wrong. There was one instance where you had to know team names and cities based on the team logo, a second where you had to know specific rules about scoring, and a third where you had to know player positions on a chart. One of our clue cards failed to specify which outfield position a player played, so even our host couldn't solve the riddle!!

Anyway, for what we payed I expected a more thought out game with functioning equipment. Other than that it was a cool, unique experience. In the end I think we used 2 out of 3 clues and 1/3 of our time trying to open locks that were stuck, jammed,...

If i could give this place zero stars i would. Alyssa has some serious issues. Buyer beware. She's extremely loud and aggressive with her words. Our experience.

We walked in to locked doors and no place to park with no instructions on where to park. After dropping our crew off at the door we proceeded to attempt to use the restroom. It has a code. Hold four and two twice then press three.

Instead of giving the code she announced it's for customer use only after we already verified we were customers to be let in the main door. she needed the person who made the reservation to check in. We were the only people in the place.

Alyssa then checked us in after signing our releases. We watched two short movies that told us the rules.

We entered and couldn't even get through the first phase. After ten minutes she gave us the clue to enter. She was nice enough to not use one of our clues to get us into the next room. We entered the next room. We messed about slowly finding clues. Every time she came through the radio she was sarcastic and loud except when she was actually giving clues. My daughter tried to reuse a key. It opened the door because it was very easy to manipulate. She yelled at our group multiple times on the radio even as we tried to explain the lock opened easily. She yelled at us even after we stopped talking to her. She ruined our experience and called us out for being all of 10 minutes late for our pre check in time. We were on time to start at our start time. My husband became so tired of hearing her voice screeching through the walky talkie that he turned the microphone down. At that point we were done. She fast forwarded the time and we came out. She virtually screamed at us with the most sarcastic voice to have a great day!!!! My husband told her we will and we will be leaving a good review. This went on back and forth as the last word queen wouldn't stop. She kept provoking until I had to step in and tell her to stop. She then proceeded to tell us that we disobeyed the rules otherwise it would have been a great experience. Only it wouldn't have been. She kept provoking and shouting as I begged her to just be quiet and allow us to exit. I begged her again and again letting her know she was ruining a child's gift. She even continued provoking after she closed the door after we left. She needs to be fired. I've never had anyone treat me in that way in my entire life. I will never be back. And every person I see will hear this story everyday for the next 6 months in hopes that people will be aware of the way Alyssa's...

Make sure to Arrive at least 10 minutes before start time... #noexceptions Aaron was very helpful and polite although we were 5 minutes late and RESIDE 9 hours away from St. Louis. Visited 3 other Escape Games in various cities and this is the first in St. Louis we were unable to attend. Aaron explained we would not be participate in our scheduled game room due to our tardiness and the "no exception" policy was provided on the Master Minds website. Agreed and understood, however #1 had issues booking the room at fault of Pay Pal - understood. #2 very disappointed me and my group traveled 9 hours from AL to tour the city and Master Mind was first on our list of activities. Aaron explained policy was strictly enforced and that this business operated as that of other businesses in the area and that tardiness was no exception. Every other escape room I've visited a 15 minute window was provided but ok.. this one is unlike the others. Aaron also explained allowing exceptions to his policy results in disappointed customers for those who have already started the game which I can understand. So I asked Aaron if there was possibly another time my group and I could possibly fill if they had any openings(@ a discounted rate of course).... he stated Saturday was full and Sunday was not an option. From a customer perspective, I was very disappointed although fully aware of "policy" BUT customer service and experience trumps all else in good business practice and ethic. The main issue was that he did not want to disturb other customers experience for those who did make it on time so as an alternative I asked Aaron if we could be on a waiting list for the weekend since my group and I were in town for the weekend. Aaron explained we could not due to potential customers even walk-ins... Bottom line, make it there on time even if you can't..... business may be more important that consumer loyalty. True enough, policy probably creates more revenue than customer Experience. Use my experience as a...