Escape the Mystery Room — Local services in Kingston

This “escape room” is a complete joke. After doing 15+ escape rooms I can confidently say this is the worst one I’ve ever done. All these 5 star reviews are clearly people who have never been to escape room before. For starters when entering the room I immediately knew how it was going to go. The “room” was essentially an office cubicle with 4 walls that had a completely open ceiling. With that being said, we could hear everything, including the workers walking around, and other people playing in other rooms, which was distracting. Additionally, the props when entering were very underwhelming. We did the Alcatraz room, and the only detail that made it “Alcatraz” was a enlarged (poor quality) picture of a cell plastered on the wall, and a bed with a pillow under it. It was a very creepy environment, and not in a “woah this is so realistic way” but more so a creepy abandoned department store😂. When starting this game the staff told us the door was locked which was a bit strange to me as I have never been actually locked into a room before when playing an escape room. Also, there was a fire alarm about chest level high and was located right next to a prop in the room. This fire alarm was NOT apart of the room, yet looked exactly like a prop (not a big deal but something to be aware of). Another flaw was the lack of assistance. For example, there was no camera in the room which was extremely frustrating when it came to needing a clue. Normally, an escape room has a button in the room and a clue will appear on a screen, and the staff will know what you need help on. This room would have you press a button which would then ring the staff (who was most likely in the front of the building) and would then proceed to walk to the room, unlock the door and come in. They then asked us what part of the game we were on and proceeded to tell us what to do. This was extremely frustrating as it wasted an immense amount of time. The puzzles itself were hardly even puzzles…it was literally boxes with locks in each corner of the room. There were about 3 different locks on a box, so you would need to find 3 different codes to unlock ONE box which is absolutely ridiculous. That was legit the extent of the room…. locked boxes. On top of that, the locks were extremely faulty. I had the code correct and took 20 minutes trying to open the box. I knew the code was correct, yet doubted myself and tried a variety of different orders to see if it was a me issue…nope! The staff came in after about 20 minutes of me trying, and he told me the code was correct, but the lock wasn’t opening. So not only was there about 10 of these locked boxes…they were also faulty. I can go on and on about the quality of this room, and how terrible it was, but I’ll spare you the rest. Overall, this experience was extremely disappointing, and genuinely a joke. If you are looking for an overpriced scavenger hunt this is the place to go lol, because that’s exactly what...

We have done 100+ escape rooms all over the US. Rule of thumb we will stick to after doing rooms in the PA, CT, MA area ---- don't waste you're time with overpriced, underwhelming rooms located in shopping malls, water parks or other theme parks. They are generally run by people that have no idea what they're doing. Find a stand alone company that usually doesn't have to advertise much because word of mouth is sufficient. They usually have the actual creators of the rooms, whether they are the engineers or set designers, running the front desk and/or acting as your game master. They are less interested in the $$ and more about their customers enjoying the experience the way it was intended. We've met many of these talented people and have been lucky enough to take behind the scenes tours of the control rooms and learn about the creative process. They truly put their hearts and souls into these rooms and it's a shame that you have other companies riding the coattails of these innovators just to make a quick buck.

More specific to this location --- just a bunch of locks and riddles. Nothing special. We pressed the button for help towards the end and no one came. We just walked out and girl says, "oh, you made it?" Um, no. We we're just uninterested and gave up. Most rooms at least have some sort of audio or visual communication between game master and players. This place simply had a button on a door that signaled for an employee to walk into the room and help. This is why all of you have complaints that no one is at the front desk ever . We tried to ask for explanations or answer to the last riddle, (which she said they usually answer especially since we we're from out of town and were not coming back to retry) and she was unable to answer herself. All she said was "good job , you got further than I did in this room". Maybe if you had employees that understand the rooms, they would be better received by paying customers. Just shows lack of accountability and desire to please patrons. I can't reiterate enough , it's clearly all about easy $$$$$ with...

Unsafe. I've been to over a dozen escape rooms and this is is first one I've ever been too that actually physically locks you in the room. They have a pull alarm, but the lady working there basically admitted that if it fails during a fire you are locked in until they can come get you. I pressed the buzzer twice for hints and they only came one time and their response time was several minutes. They claim the fire department okay'd this. I doubt it, and if someone from the fire department did okay this then I hope there is never an actual fire because it's incredibly unsafe. Not to mention it's technically unlawful department. No one goes into an escape room expecting to ACTUALLY be locked in, the entire purpose of it is to give the illusion of being locked in for the purpose of "escaping." Unless you're okay with fire hazards, unlawful department, and overall serious serious safety concerns, don't go to this one. There several other escape rooms that are cleaner, safer, and overall give a better experience. The kid at the front desk also looked like he was high the whole time he was checking us in at this Kingston location. Imagine there's a fire, or someone has a panic attack from claustrophobia and the inability to escape, or even just have to use the bathroom and your ONLY means of getting out is waiting several minutes after pressing a buzzer in hopes that some stoner and his ignorant co worker might come and get you out on time....and I said might because the second time I pressed the buzzer no one came, and when I brought my concerns to the lady she just brushed it off and was like "oh well the fire department said it was okay and besides the owner is too cheap to pay for the electric so that's really why he doesn't leave the doors open" (they're like electric magnetic doors). Honestly, my husband and I usually have really good experiences at these but this by far was the worst. Never again. Go literally anywhere else if you value your safety. It wasn't...