Cryptiq Escapes — Local services in Iowa City

1st time at Cryptiq Escapes and it was a great experience! The windows of the building are tinted on the outside so you cannot see in at all and when we walked inside, there is a cool waiting room on the one side and the other side looks like a formal Den with bookshelves with antique trinkets on it. It looked like both rooms went no where until a wall magically opened up and Robin (our GM) greeted us. After this cool 1st interaction upon our arrival, I knew Cryptiq was going to have some cool rooms.

The Curse of Colechester Cemetery was their easiest room, but after a day of baseball games, it was a perfect room for us. Cool graveyard environment where the temperature even made it feel like you were in a cemetery in the middle of the night. There were multiple rooms to explore and they were well done with life-sized props.

Lots of fun different puzzles, and nothing too difficult, so we were able to enjoy everything and not rush. There was a surprising amount of cool tech in this room where you would use a Ouija Board and something cool would happen. Every time it happened, it was a cool moment.

Flow of the game was really good and we used zero hints. Like I said, this was their easiest game, but still a fun experience and a well done room for beginners or couples.

GM (Robin) was really nice to talk to before and after our game, talking about her favorite rooms at Cryptic as well as some of her favorite games from California, where she use to run games. She also told us about Cryptiq’s other rooms and what they compared to, so I look forward to trying their other games when we next...

My sisters and I had such a great time doing two of the rooms, Family Heirlooms and Curse of Cochester Cemetery. It was our first time doing escape rooms so I have nothing to compare it to but I will say I had no idea how intricate it would be! Incredibly well thought out and such a surprise! I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t give detail but I would totally recommend it to anyone and we’ll be going back for the other two rooms when we have a couple more people with us (the other rooms are recommended for slightly larger groups).

The staff were very helpful with hints if they were needed. They only gave just as much info as needed.

One huge recommendation I have for the Cemetery room is headlamps!! We had quite a bit of trouble with locks while holding flashlights. If they can’t be provided Cryptiq might suggest bringing one if you have one. We’re all in our late 40’s / early 50’s and only one of us brought our reading glasses. We all needed them. DO NOT FORGET READING GLASSES IF YOU USE THEM especially in the Colchester Cemetery. It’s a dark environment and the darkness makes it even harder to read

Regardless, we absolutely loved our rooms, especially Family Heirlooms, and it was all we talked about for a couple...

Update to original review: Last year we did Patole Denied and had a great time. This year, we did Hotel Histage, and while we had a lot of fun, the reduction in stars is maily because if the games master. From his initial greeting, he acted like we were an inconvenience for him. Very unfriendly, gave the bare minimum introduction and instructions. When we asked for a hint, he literally asked what hint we wanted. We were clueless as to how to proceed, were at a standstill for about 5 mins...and his response was always "what do you want a hint about". Usually, when you are done, they offer to explain what you didnt get done. We had to pull it out of him. And this is the first time the games master did not offer to take a group picture. We were literally saying goodbye to him whrn he closed the door on us. I will probably go back, but my enthusiasm has been dampened! Original post from 2022: We did PAROLE DENIED and it was awesome. Great details, and it was very challenging. Very helpful and informative staff. ...