Crypto Escape Rooms — Local services in Newmarket

As a returning group of customers to Crypto Escape Rooms, we were excited to try another room on a Friday night a few weeks ago. We booked “The Extraction” and were looking forward to breaking another record as we’ve done at many other establishments. Unfortunately, this experience left us less than satisfied.

Without giving away any of the details of the room itself, the decor and theme were well-executed. That being said, the storyline and flow of the experience itself were disappointing as there seemed to be serious technical issues throughout the game. Most of the time, we solved a puzzle and had to wait anywhere between 30 seconds to a full minute before an audio recording, sound effects, or physical changes in the room itself were triggered.

While this sounds like a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, it made the entire experience underwhelming and impacted how immersive the game should have been. We found ourselves confused and frustrated after each puzzle, which made each step of the way less rewarding. About halfway through the room, we had already resigned ourselves to the fact that we’d need to wait for the slow system to respond and stood around chatting while waiting.

As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, we completed the room and the staff member did a quick congratulations announcement while telling us we had 2 minutes left. We looked up at the game clock that had been running the entire time, which showed we had over 10 minutes remaining. We politely left and didn’t feel the need to clarify the results as frankly, the amount of dead wait time between puzzles already meant that the total time elapsed was meaningless to us. To be honest, we were ready to leave the place anyway.

As experienced escape room players, it’s difficult for us to not compare rooms from various establishments; of course, we’ve frequented other businesses with worse escape rooms, and many others on the other end of the spectrum. This one was definitely a disappointment, especially because we could see the amount of thought and effort invested into the decor and storyline. Perhaps it was a technical glitch in the system during the night we visited or something specific to the room / staff running it. Our first experience here was much better. We’d like to believe this is not representative of the quality of their escape rooms.

I did feel bad for having invited my friends out on a Friday night to a frustrating experience that just fell short of...

I had the utmost pleasure of visiting Crypto Escape Rooms for the first time tonight, and if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m struggling to find the words to properly detail my experience.

From the moment I set foot in the lobby, I knew I was in for an above average experience here, and after playing 60+ escape rooms across North America, that’s all I can ever really ask for. What I wasn’t prepared for was having to pick up my jaw after being firmly cemented on the floor.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Crypto is on a different level, and if I’m being perfectly honest, one I didn’t know existed until tonight. I’ve played good rooms before, many of them in fact, but these rooms were GREAT, and even that feels like too light of a word.

My group played Below Zero (an award winning room very much worthy of its accolades) and The Lost Shipwreck, the latter of which is the newest instalment in Crypto’s series of experiences.

Both rooms stand head and shoulders above nearly everything else I’ve played as being two of the most immersive and technically impressive escapes I’ve laid eyes upon. One look at the decor and you’d swear you’d been transported to a movie set, and the puzzles are brilliantly designed, maximizing the fun factor and the reward. They do a wonderful job of making the stakes feel real, without ever throwing so much at you to dampen the experience.

The games were both relatively linear in the best kind of way, and there was clear direction inside both rooms that never left you scratching your head wondering what to do or where to look next. Both rooms flowed freely and did a tremendous job of keeping all members of our party engaged.

If that wasn’t enough praise, the staff at Crypto also go above and beyond to make your experience the most enjoyable it can possibly be. Everyone we interacted with was a delight to talk to, and they went out of their way to make us feel both welcome and at home. I can’t say enough good things about the team here, which only helped to elevate our evening just that extra little bit.

Final thoughts: if you’re an escape enthusiast like myself, or someone who has never played a room before and are looking to dip your toes in the water on a fun night out, believe me when I say there is no better option in the GTA or beyond. Crypto is as good as it gets.

5 Stars, and that doesn’t feel...

Wow. This place is special. I've done a lot of escape rooms and Crypto has some of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. The production design is on a whole other level and all of their puzzles are extremely fun.

Kilgore Cabin is perfect for a spooky night out with friends. The Cursed Temple is delightful and perfect for a date night out. The Extraction is funny, dop-dead-gorgeous and a logic lover's dream. The Lost Shipwreck is so cool, magical and filled with so many WOW moments. And Below Zero is pretty well a perfect game, it's stunning and has such a fabulous variety of puzzles.

These games are sublime on the eyes and stupid fun. The stories are also really fun and the lighting packages were great. The staff are excellent, friendly and very knowledgeable. We were welcomed so warmly it made it feel worth the 15,000km trip.

Crypto is suitable for newbies, enthusiasts, family groups, friends, couples or even kids (with maybe an adult or 2). This has got to be the best escape room business in Ontario. It is worth the trip. DON'T SLEEP ON THIS ONE. You...