Brainy Actz Escape Rooms Temecula — Attraction in Temecula

OK, so first off I'm from the UK and I've done a couple of rooms before, but I'm no expert. I'm visiting for a couple of months and my best friend told me about some new escape rooms in the area. So she made the booking and we decided to try Brainy Actz in Temecula. This will be an overall review based on our experience doing both the Jungle room and the Pirate room; and I will try my best to prevent any spoilers.

First: We did the jungle room 2 weeks ago and the pricing was about average for an Escape room. We had a 5 person group and when we got there we were greeted by this young man, who looks like he was still in highschool. He didn't seem to enthusiastic but he was nice and friendly. When it was time to do the room, we watched a short video and off to the room we went. We were glad to see a well decorated room. He gave us a brief story as well as the rules. We were given a radio for communication and for use of 4 given clues that we can use at anytime. Needless to say we had fun. Used 3 clues and just barely completed our "Mission's in about 57 minutes.

Second: The following week my friend and I decided to do the Pirate room. I was specially excited because this room had a discounted price that we found on the internet. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a different person from when we did the jungle room. This girl was super enthusiastic, but you can clearly tell that she's faking it just to get through the day. While conversing with her, it almost seems like she's agreeing with everything you say. She then explained to us that there was going to be another group joining us. So in total there was me, my friend, and 6 others. I did not mind because I've done a room before with strangers. Like last time we watched a video before doing the room, but I have to admit that this video was way better and much more entertaining than the last one. After the video we were taken to the room and I for a second I was excited because it was the "brig" of the ship. But while in the room you start to realize that it was not very well decorated. It was basically an office with pirate flags and chains. It did not rise to the expectation. When it was time to begin she gave us the rules and no story since apparently the video already did. I couldn't wait to start but this host did something I've never experienced in any escape rooms I've done. While explaining the rules she clearly told us how many rooms we were going to experience from beginning to end. She said that time management was crucial to doing the two rooms. Well duh, you have a 1 hour time limit. What part of that isn't time crucial? For what I gathered she would spoil that to her customers to ensure the time limit was exhausted to her benefit. What completely ruined our night was that our group did not finish within the hour. Now in most cases the host would be gracious enough to show us how it was completed so we can see how far we were in completion and to have already experience what it would have been like for if we had completed. But no, she did not. We were kicked out because of a group that was already there about to do the Pirate room themselves. Also, don't worry not a spoiler since it's in the very start of the game, but the first part of the room was very heavily reliant on black lights. It did not go with the story and the timeline of the experience. We were very disappointed with our...

My least favorite of all escape rooms that I've done thus far. The Temecula location is in what appears to be an apartment building, and has zero signs stating that Brainy Actz is located inside. This leads to confusion and wasted time. If this is your first time going, give yourself extra time. The door to the location locks after 7pm, and you have to call so someone can come let you in. This is written on a small piece of paper and taped to the outer most door. In reference to #1, this piece of paper is not visible from the car or the parking lot. One must walk up to the door to see it. They did not provide a locker for purses. Just took our cell phones and locked them in a box. The escape room we did (The Legacy) was literally one, single room. Other companies typically have you transition through at least a couple of smaller rooms as you move through the game. I'm not sure how 10 people would work in this one (that is the max they have listed for this room). The riddles were very poorly designed. I've done many escape rooms and these riddles were not well-thought-out. One of the locks wouldn't unlock even though we had the right combo. The attendant finally came in to do it and stated "Yeah, it sticks sometimes" after we've wasted at least 10 minutes of game time on that lock. There is no loud speaker for hints like other escape rooms with other companies. They give you a walkie-talkie. When or if you get a hint, you have to make sure all members are near to hear it. The attendant also wasn't always quick to respond, delaying our progress. The attendant gave us incorrect and/or unclear information in a "hint" that had us going down a rabbit hole (wasting more time) for nothing. It took us asking AGAIN to get her to restate and correct herself. Not sure what the issue was but that's not acceptable. Some of the markings that were required for a riddle were old and worn out, thus when we found the object to decode the markings, it was still exceptionally difficult to make out the numbers. The correct numbers were crucial as they were part of an equation. My daughter and I sat there doing the equation over and over again, trying different possible numbers even though once decoded, we should have been able to tell what the correct digit was! More wasted time. The grand finale didn't present the way it should have...suitcase filled with money didn't pop open for that "wow" effect, and we were confused as to whether this was another puzzle until the attendant came in and said "oh I don't know why it didn't open...." No offer to take our group picture with some of the props. Ultimately, I do not recommend this place. It was approximately $125 for the 3 of us to leave irritated and disappointed. Try one of the other escape room companies in the area. They are so...

Unfortunately, the group and I had a very disappointing and bad escape room experience. I had called immediately after we were finished with the escape room, but the person I spoke to on the phone asked me to email our dissatisfaction. I emailed the company 3 times, with no response.

The dissatisfaction was mainly in part of the customer service, game master, and high noise levels. During our game, the noise levels were so loud outside (unsure if it was from the staff outside or the rage room a couple doors down), that my friends and I had a difficult time concentrating and even hearing the clues. We had to ask the game master multiple times to replay the audio that was part of the storyline because we could not hear at all.

Secondly, the game master we had was not good at all - he did not pay attention to where we were at. When we had asked for clues he had asked us how far along we were in the game, and what we tried to solve the problems. We felt that he should have known what progress we made as 1) it was one room 2) there was a camera inside the room for him to monitor.

There was also rubbish in the room - in which we didn't know if that was part of the escape room or just a previous group had left it - example: a half filled water bottle.

Lastly, what made us very upset during our game was when we finished the game (opening the cabinet to find the gorilla/monkey)...we were left in the room for 5-10 minutes. We had thought we had to continue with the game because the gamemaster didn't come in. Since we couldn't figure out if there were any more problems to solve, I had asked the gamemaster over 3 times if he could help us. There was no response through the walkie talkie. After 5-10 minutes, the gamemaster ran into the room and he said he didn't realize we finished the game, and he asked us how long ago we finished. The clock in the room was not even working for us to really know how long we were waiting.

With all of that, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ESCAPE ROOM. I have done multiple escape rooms, and this was the worse...