Sure Lock Escapes- Renton — Local services in Renton

Such amazing production values and interesting puzzles! I have done dozens of escape rooms on both coasts and even in other countries, and this place is one of my favorite.

From a very modest and unassuming building, what first strikes you when you enter a room is the incredible set design and world building. Rather than just being a room that is decorated to the theme with puzzles, the entire experience tells a story that is incredibly immersive and the puzzles fit into that narrative rather than feeling like distractions. The puzzles themselves are unique and interesting, forcing you to think outside the box, and even on the ones I couldn’t get and needed hints for, I wasnt frustrated at the puzzle design but genuinely impressed that they had managed to stump me. Some other escape rooms I have been to suffer from the problem where they reuse common escape room tropes, but I don’t think my previous experience gave me too much of an advantage here, which was refreshing. So far, I’ve done the Pirate Shipwreck, Abandoned Mine, and Guardian’s Grove, and all were super neat experiences. The staff has also been really friendly when I’ve been and really supportive of the new-to-escape-room friends I’ve brought with me.

I’d say my only “complaint” is their webpage could do a better job of giving info on the relative difficulties of their rooms and potentially also give at least one real picture of the room design as a teaser rather than than just the stylized drawn artwork. I mean, I get wanting the first time you enter to be a surprise, but how y’all gonna spend all that time and money on photorealistic sets, motorized props, and stage lighting and not want to show off just a little bit? Maybe just a super zoomed in photo so it doesn’t give too much away?

Three to four people would probably be ideal for the ones I did, but i’ve only been here as a group of two and the rooms were still very very enjoyable and doable. I’d be surprised with only two, though, if you were able to make it through to the end without a few hints due to the length, complexity, and non-linearity.

A hidden escape room gem in the greater Seattle area and always worth the drive. Booking is easy and availability is really good and I’m baffled that they aren’t more busy than they seem to be. Please support this company and keep them in business so they don’t close down and I can keep going to fun new rooms...

I have done most of the escape rooms in the Seattle area. My favorite location ever is still Locurio, specifically the Story Book adventure. However, Sure Lock Escapes is an extremely close second. I love the length and puzzle count In the Guardians Grove. So happy to have found this spot.

This is an A-Plus escape room location. Book with confidence. These guys are awesome at all the things. You will be happy face. Seriously, fantastic.

The rooms are well done. So many little things to appreciate that go above and beyond. More than anything I enjoyed looking around and taking in the scenery. If you need some immersion and story with your puzzles, this place checks that box in the most delightful ways.

The puzzles are clever, clean, and fun regardless of the surrounding story so if you are just looking to scratch the grey matter and don’t care how pretty it is, you wont be disappointed. Do take a moment to take in the goodness though. It’s grand.

Real care has gone into the details and thus far (2/4 done) there have been no mis-steps, no broken/malfunctioning parts, nor clumsy things that make no sense. Of the 2 my group has done, one was fairly linear, one was much more open. There is almost always enough going on for everyone to be engaged. Recommend 6 as an ideal player count.

They will guide you if you are lost, or obviously trying to place square pegs in round holes. Not the most difficult rooms. But meaty enough that if you want to solve with no hints at all you’ll have to flex your escape room muscle.

Competitive teams looking to finish in record time would likely rank these as above average in difficulty but manageable with high success rate. Solvable by most...

Really great escape room. We did the Guardian Grove and it was immersive and beautiful! It was pretty "low tech" for a thematic escape room and that was actually to the room's benefit, as the puzzles were extremely clever, logical, and tactile. There were also a lot of physical puzzles which were unique and super memorable!

I don't want to be the first one to rate this place lower than 5 stars, and it truthfully deserves 5 stars, but one major issue left my party feeling somewhat dissatisfied in the end. This was a 100 minute room and we completed it in 59 minutes. It wasn't inherently "too easy," but our guide gave us at least 4 or 5 hints and we never asked for any. Unlimited hints is great, but I much prefer needing to ask for hints in escape rooms (especially when we were doing so well on time!). Over half of the hints we were given were for things we likely would have figured out on our own in time (which would have brought us much closer to 100 minutes of play, with more personal satisfaction of a job well done). Two of the hints we were given were for obscure half-puzzles that we may never have figured out on our own, but those two things felt like poor puzzle design to me and would have been greatly improved with an extra clue in the room itself.

Overall, fantastic experience. We will likely return for the other rooms and will request not to be given hints until we ask for them. Stinky...