Riddlers Escape, LLC — Local services in St. Cloud

For only our third escape room experience, we decided to try another venue. Riddlers Escape presented a good option, with Spell Bound providing a particularly interesting theme. We arrived early (you certainly do NOT want to risk arriving late for something like this), and this extra time proved useful, having not completed the necessary participation waivers beforehand. We were even able to begin our experience slightly ahead of schedule. The room itself was inventive and fun, providing plenty of entertainment throughout. Our group of ten (the majority of us novices, with mostly debutants - and none of us having entered more than two prior experiences) made steady progress with frequent bursts of advancement, only occasionally slowing down due to small errors, oversights or poor communication. Needing only minimal assistance from our guide, we completed the room with a little under nine minutes remaining, which wasn't too shabby at all. Definitely worth noting everyone in our group genuinely contributed to this success, and we had the numbers to overwhelm the puzzles - in a good way for the most part. Also crucial that we had people willing to step up and wrangle the group to ensure we were sharing information and accounting for solutions and prop usage. You simply can't afford people assuming that you know what they know, or quietly reading clues to themselves and then not sharing this with anyone. Sometimes you just need to take a few moments to review which puzzles remain unsolved or have everyone quieten down so you can read a major clue aloud and refocus your group. I'd recommend at least one leader willing to step back occasionally from solving to reviewing and coordinating. Much of this reads more like a guide with advice on how to successfully navigate escape rooms than a review on this experience, but following these points will enhance your enjoyment. I hardly need to provide specifics on this particular room (and you certainly don't want any spoilers), beyond the fact that this theme really works. Medieval type props and settings are always cool, and this is done very well here. Solutions are obscure enough to be satisfying, but not unfair. Your method of going about solving the puzzles will be key. Step by step. Logic....

I give this 3 stars because the escape room was wonderful. Very fun. The woman helping us was great and friendly. It is clear the creator of the room has quite an imagination.

However, due to the difficulties I had with scheduling I will not go back. The weekend of our experience my son comes down with the tummy bug and the sitter (understandably) will not babysit. So, I call Riddlers Escape and ask to reschedule, acknowledging that I understand there is a fee associated with doing this. (I am fully prepared to pay the $50 fee). The woman I’m speaking with is kind enough to waive the $50 fee (I did not ask her to) and I think to myself ‘Wow they have good customer service if they are willing to waive that fee for me. How nice of them.’ I was wrong in this thinking. I get the room rescheduled for March 25th. I have text message evidence with my sister and babysitter supporting that I did indeed say the 25th. Riddler’s did not send me a confirmation e-mail. A week later (March 4th) I receive a voicemail from Riddlers, telling me that I’ve missed my appointment and that I am out $180 for the experience. Now this is all very confusing to me because I did not book for March 4th. I rebooked for March 25th. Obviously there was some sort of misunderstanding/ miscommunication. The manager or owner (a man) calls me and it is apparent to me that he doesn’t believe me. He tacks on the $50 fee again. He is quite irritable on the phone and lectures me about being a ‘small business that can’t afford rebookings like this.’ The rescheduling mishap was their mistake and he penalized me for it and spoke to me rudely. Due to how I was treated as a paying customer I will not recommend them to...

I've done over 100 escape rooms and I have to say that Riddler's escape is definitely a worthwhile escape experience. While the rooms provide a fantastic and challenging time for folks who have had some experience with other escape rooms or general puzzle lovers, they might be somewhat difficult for a newbie but the game masters are very helpful and, with unlimited clues, are possible for a novice escaper as well.

We've now completed all the rooms here and can say they were all exciting though our favorite was definitely spell bound. The puzzles are all logical; absolutely not a single logic gap (thank you for designing it that way). The puzzles feel congruous with the theme and feel immersive. Some rooms have some "wow" moments and the puzzles were overall unique and range in complexity from simple to complex to challenge everyone. They even offer multiple levels of difficulty for their heroes room, making it a great birthday party choice for kids. All of the rooms and puzzles are family friendly, though the plot lines might have a slightly dark twist in detective Lockwood and liberty falls, but otherwise don't affect gameplay. The scenery/ambiance is definitely above average.

The rooms are designed for a minimum of four people, but you can probably get away with two or three skilled players in spell bound and heroes. The rooms are generally public so unless you book during the day on a weekday (look for the "you choose the escape room" option) or book all the spots for a primetime room, you're likely to get paired up with other folks.

Riddler's Escape is definitely our favorite escape room brand in the...