Red Lantern Escape Rooms — Local services in Brea

This place raises the bar for what to expect from an escape room in Orange County. The environment is truly immersive. Too many escape rooms are nothing more than a bunch of puzzles strung together by a loose story; plot is too often an afterthought. But at Red Lantern Escape, you really feel like you're part of the story. I won't spoil anything about the story, but I will say that I was genuinely excited to make it to certain plot points.

The production value is very high. Often times escape rooms seem a bit run down, as though they've been handled roughly and slapped together by amateurs who barely know a hammer from a glue gun. You can see the "zipper on the monster suit" if you will. But Red Lantern does something I didn't really think was possible, you could suspend disbelief and really feel like you were in this exotic location. They've spent a lot of time getting the atmosphere just right.

The design of the escape room is also top notch. Again, I need to be careful not to spoil anything, but I will say there are some pretty clever elements to the design: non-linear puzzle sequences, a transforming environment, and clues hidden in ways I had never seen before. You'll look at the environment completely differently at the end of your 60 minutes.

I can't recommend this place enough. You need a large group—at least 6 people, I'd say. But if you have a large escape room crew, or if you play well with strangers, give this place a try. You won't be...

This wasn't an escape room in the sense they physically lock you in a room and you need to find a key, it was more of a themed mystery room where you use clues to solve various puzzles in order to "escape." I've been to a similar attraction previously but it was a tiny room with lots of people and they actually locked us in and if we needed to use the bathroom we had to do a "pee dance" in front of a camera in the hopes they would see us.

This was a huge room which they didn't overcrowd, and the door was unlocked and I could use the restroom anytime. There weren't enough people in our party to do the room ourselves, so we joined with some other people which was nice because I'm not sure if my friends and I would have completely solved it ourselves. It was New Orleans themed, and there were probably a dozen puzzles some of which were easy and some were pretty tough. I admit there were a couple that I don't think I personally would have gotten had I sat there all day. But they do help you with clues if you want.

The people there were really friendly, the challenges were fun and they made you work together. We met some new friends and had a great time during our visit. They said the puzzles change every so often and they're opening another room so when I do another escape room, it'll definitely...

I'm pretty disappointed to say the least. I came here with a group of friends last night, and some of us had a couple of drinks before we came.

Upon our arrival, the two gentlemen at the front desk immediately asked if we had been drinking, and that they "would not be able to accommodate us if we had been." They also mentioned that "it wouldn't be fun for anyone if we were intoxicated." Umm, ok.

They let us in anyway, the guy did some lame magic tricks and then showed us where our first clue was. We proceeded to try and decipher the first set of clues, while the guy awkwardly watched us. It was pretty clear that he was uncomfortable with our presence. After a couple of minutes, he said "clearly you guys are intoxicated, this guy right here is slurring his words. I will provide you all with refunds, goodbye."

SO RUDE. It's one thing to call us intoxicated, but to call someone out on "slurring their words" is another thing. These guys are total jerks and put a bad taste in my mouth. I will definitely never return to this wack escape room. I do...