5 Wits Albany — Attraction in Town of Guilderland

My 18 year old ASD son brought me here for a Mother's Day treat since we both enjoy escape rooms and logic puzzles. We made a reservation for a Monday evening and it was pretty empty so we had our choice of all the options. My son enjoys fantasy LARPing so we opted for Drago's Castle. It was pretty fun. The young man who set it up for us was very nice although he had some trouble with the secret bookcase opening. The only thing we didn't like about it was that you have x amount of time to do it and if you aren't making sufficient headway there is an automated script and a voice that gives you hints to push you through faster. We inquired and apparently there is no way to disable this. We would have prefered having a bit longer to work through the clues ourselves since we were confident we could do it. I do hope they look into changing this, or at least give more time before providing hints.

There was a tunnel in one area which I couldn't do since I have had knee surgery, but we were informed of this - as well as a work-around - in advance, which I appreciated! The dragon is pretty scary (even for this 61 year old!) and might frighten younger children but it was a really cool effect. At the end we were offered 50% off if we chose to do another adventure and we took advantage of this to do the Tomb.

The Tomb was harder than the castle but also fun and the effects were good as well. My flashlight shut off and I went looking for help only to be told that that was part of the game! The musical puzzle was hard as there were only two of us but my son managed it. The final puzzle is crazy hard and we needed a hint to get it and even so it didn't work very well. We weren't sure if we got it or if it just timed out and sent us through, but nonetheless we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

It's hard to imagine how this place stays in business since once you go through it, you really don't need to do it again, but apparently there are secrets and Easter Eggs that you can look for in future visits.

We will definitely come back and try the space adventure. It was a fun thing to do and something my son and I could BOTH enjoy. The staff was friendly and attentive and gave us a great experience.

One word of advice: if you are not from around here, leave yourself extra time to find the right place. We used GPS and where it told us to park was clear on the other side of the mall. We had to walk quite a distance to find it. I suggest parking by...

Rushed experience, staff more interested in gathering 5 star reviews than actual user experience.

We did all 3 of the escape rooms here; we did 2 on March 25th and 1 on March 26th. We bought all the tickets in advance, if we had not prepaid, we would not have come back. The experience here is very rushed. If you like hour long escape rooms this may not be for you, each experience is around a half hour and there is no time to try different things or even think... if you are not getting a puzzle in the allotted time, they either automatically give you strong hints or move you along to the next task anyway without actually completing the puzzle. After the first room (the one with the dragon) was complete the woman asked us for a 5 star review and told me that they would give me a free game if I did. We were prepaid so I said no and she walked away and we had to chase after her to take a picture of us with the signs saying we completed the room which she was clearly annoyed about.

Next we did the space room and that was a mess. They tell you that you solved riddles even if you didn’t just to move you along. When we got out of that room no one was there to get us, and we had to walk around and find someone to tell them we were done. One of the puzzles was broken and we told the woman before we left and she said yeah that happens, we'll have to reset it and that was that. Again, they just wanted the review before we left and we had to chase someone else down to take our picture.

The last day we came back and did the tomb. That one they must schedule it back to back because once we moved to a different room to do the next puzzle we could hear people behind us in the room we just left so you have to move quickly so you don’t overlap. Again, we had to plead for a picture at the end.

We have done other 5 wits games that were an hour long at another location and had a good experience so this one was really disappointing. The staff asks you for 5 star reviews constantly which is very annoying, especially when you're not having a good experience. We've done 40+ escape rooms and unfortunately these rate near the...

We recently went to 5-Wits with our family (including our two kids, ages 7 and 9). The kids chose the Deep Space adventure because it was recommended as my 7 year old was a little nervous (but she ended up having a blast and has been begging to go back).

You can pay ahead of time online, or in person. Our Deep Space adventure could vary from 20-30 minutes (depending on how long you take to do the challenges), so we made sure we were comfortably dressed, and that the kids had used the restrooms beforehand. We brought in what we had with us (jackets, purse, etc), but there are both lockers and restrooms available if needed (I would recommend waiting to do your shopping until after, or leaving anything big in the car).

We had to wait for a short bit while the group before us finished, and the screen over the entrance tells you exact wait time plus previous scores (so check it out when you leave as well).

Our guide led us to where the adventure starts, and after watching a quick intro, we entered our adventure room. The experience is pretty cool - you really feel like you are in a video game or on a movie set. After being "teleported", we were in what looked like a cockpit of a spacecraft. It was pretty cool to be left in a room full of buttons and have to figure out what to do.

There was plenty for everyone to do, and work as a team to get through all of the challenges. My 7 year old, despite her anxiety, had a great time. There were a few moments where the lights go off completely, but she stayed next to me and was fine. There are cameras in all the rooms if you do end up needing help at any point.

Fun for the whole family, and definitely something unique to do! I was impressed by the rooms and thought the whole experience...