Catch 22 Escape Rooms — Local services in Town of Brookfield

Things we liked: Attractive pricing for our family of four (2 kids ages 7 and 10), using a Groupon. Gotta hand it to 'em, Nana's Study room is deceptive: seems like a simplistic theme, overall kid-friendly (though a somewhat-gruesome prop does make an appearance; also some of the puzzles and room elements definitely require adult-level abilities to accomplish.) Also, we liked the COVID-related precautions that the manager informed us about when we made the reservation... but the implementation of those precautions was shoddy (see below).

Things we were "meh" about: Nana's Study includes a variety of puzzle-types and room design elements, nothing spectacular/unique but a good intro room. If you've done 25+ escape rooms as we have, this one room won't prove very memorable for you. The puzzles leaned heavily towards cryptography, there were a few elements that the kids could work on without assistance. Some of the props are old and/or have been mishandled by other users; gives the room a rather ratty look, although perhaps this is intentional given the background story of this particular room?

Things that made us uneasy: Despite the "6-feet apart social distancing" signs, and the requirement to wash your hands (with soap and water, not just the sanitizer which is available at the counter?) before and after your experience -- staff was not wearing a mask, which is the most basic proactive thing to do to minimize asymptomatic spread indoors. This wasn't too big of a deal during check-in, since there is plenty of space to stand 6 ft+ apart in the lobby (and they stagger start times so other groups aren't in the lobby when you are) -- but when the staff took us to our room and gave a long speech on rules, standing just a couple feet away (since the room is quite small), we were glad to have our own masks on... but really wished the staff had one on, too! Also, I'm not sure whether the waiver iPads are being sanitized between users? Something else for management...

Booked a room a month in advanced for my son’s birthday. We did not book the extra party room. Due to this, another family booked the party room. After several communications with the company, my wife and I expected to be able to watch the kids escape. When we showed, the girl was busy, by herself and was working hard to juggle all duties. We were told another family booked the party room which is where we were supposed to watch the kids. Apparently the other family knew we would be there, but it was not communicated to us. The employee was surprised the manager did not communicate this with out us. Once another employee showed, we were asked to leave, which we were told it wouldn’t be a problem. Upset, we left the room and I called the manager. Told my story. She said “if she was there that wouldn’t happen” well you aren’t there. Said the girl wasn’t busy (how would you know you weren’t there!?!) and the other employee was young. Lots of excuses. Then said the watching the kids was a courtesy. Not to be expected service. Livid at her true lack of understanding and poor customer service. I left the conversation. I would not recommend this place, the boys had a decent time, but due to lack of staff it felt like they were ignored as we had to ask the staff to help them. Honestly it felt a bit ghetto. They had a box that needed to be updated, the manager knew about and the employees were frustrated about, but still didn’t update. The phone line goes directly to the manager. They do not have one in...

We did the late to the tailgate room on 3/9/24, we have done many rooms and different places including having done others at catch 22. There are no words to describe how awful this experience was. Our game master who never even introduced herself to us by name was grumpy and was acting like she would rather be anywhere else. The most upsetting part was an essential part to the room was missing, this room is very liner and if anything is missing you literally can't move on. Our game master said to we had needed to use the id we found to unlock the next step. And when we told her what we had found but that we didn't have an id, she said no it should have been with the stuff you found. We showed her what we had and she tried to look for the missing piece and couldn't find it. If we had that piece we absolutely would have been able to get out, but with the set up of the room it is essential to have all the parts. We walked out shortly after our game master who is SUPPOSED to be the expert couldn't even find the piece we would have needed to get to the next step and get out. We were set up to fail, in a room that is that linear it should always be made sure all the parts are present in the room before starting a game. I spent money on 3 tickets for the room AND tipped the game master when paying online. When you are spending over $100 on an experience the staff should at least be friendly enough to introduce themselves and all the pieces needed for success...