The Heist

The Heist is another room from Cipher Escape Rooms, who also did Captive. Like their other room, The Heist delivered a fun, challenging experience that tested us with many puzzles we had never seen before. We were tasked with stealing a mysterious artifact from an antique dealer in exchange for a briefcase full of cash. The premise is fairly standard, the third common genre of escape room challenges (along with being held captive or being a superspy), so we initially gave this room 5 out of 10 gets on the hype scale. After running through it in record time, we award The Heist 7.6/10.

Fun: 8

When we arrived, we found that there were several other people who signed up for the same slot, giving us a much larger puzzle-solving team than we were used to. Our only complaint is that this meant we didn’t get to work on every puzzle! The Heist gave us more of the solid puzzle design and creativity that we saw in Captive, as well as a truly heart-stopping moment that we won’t spoil for you. Getting to hold up a huge briefcase filled with cold, hard cash at the end was definitely the highlight.

Theme: 5

The room’s decor was high quality, but the overall aesthetic didn’t feel very immersive. The design of Cipher’s actual building - high ceilings, concrete, industrial - fit well with Captive’s murder room. It was less appropriate for a museum director’s high-end office. Some kitschy wallpaper would have complimented the liberal use of paintings and helped us feel like true relic thieves.

Puzzles: 7

The analog puzzles are the real winner at this escape room. Plenty of real keys and padlocks give the puzzler a very hands on experience, a necessity in live escape rooms. However, a couple of puzzles slowed us to a crawl, requiring excessive time spent deciphering a single code, or unclear connections leading to wasted time. The room could use some tightening here and there, although our large group meant we still escaped in record time.

Customer Service: 9

Once again, Cipher Escape Rooms delivered a great customer service experience. A few people in our party were running a bit late and the staff were very understanding, giving us the whole hour anyway. No complaints from us!

Website: 9

The Cipher website is very sleek and provides accurate, intriguing descriptions of their rooms. Additionally, it’s very easy to navigate, find information, and book tickets. They also have a Facebook where they post photos of each team, and respond quickly to any questions or comments.

Score: 7.6

Price: $$

Difficulty: Adept

Book your own ticket at http://www.breakthecipher.com/!

Captive

Captive, run by Cipher Escape Rooms, was our first foray into the cryptic world of room escapology. The premise couldn’t have higher stakes: trapped in a cell by a psychotic serial killer, we had to solve a series of puzzles that would allow us to escape his grasp. The ticking clock told us when he’d be back for our heads and on the phone he haunted us with his taunts and boasts. Before seeing the room, we rated it 7 out of 10 gets on the hype scale, based on the premise and the threat of death as a motivator. Coming out the other side with our throats unslit and the #1 time, we give it a final score of 8.2/10.

Fun: 8

We definitely enjoyed this room, which offered us twists, turns, and puzzles of all different kinds. Captive was professionally done: each puzzle functioned perfectly, hints were available via a red emergency phone, and the variety made everything step feel fresh. There was no staleness to the room.

Theme: 6

Being held captive is somewhat of a standard among escape rooms. Being in the cell of a killer is something of a twist, but in general, the surprises weren’t in the theme. That said, the theme was executed very well. The high quality design of the room to incorporate the serial killer motif (cell bars, blood, and even, at one gut-wrenching point, body parts) showed a high level of creativity, one of the major characteristics we look for in quality escape rooms.

Puzzles: 9

The puzzles are where Captive shines. First, they were all analog puzzles - you won’t find finicky RFIDs here. We appreciate when an escape room values tactile puzzle solving, because that’s what we want in a live escape room experience. Second, the sheer number of different puzzles, each with a unique design, kept us and the other sleuths occupied for nearly the entire hour. It is not feasible to brute force these puzzles, as with some of the less complicated rooms - real problem-solving and critical thinking are required for this experience.

Customer Service: 9

The customer service was stellar. The Cipher representative explained how the Escape Room worked, chatted with us while we waited for the time to begin, and offered us bottled water when we finished. They were very polite and attentive, answering any questions we had and congratulating us on our escape. Escape rooms, as an industry, thrive on word of mouth, and customer service is critical to repeat attendees. And, as a sign of how much we enjoyed ourselves, we did return to solve their other room.

Website: 9

While less important than our actual experience in the room, navigating the website and booking the tickets is the first impression we have of the company. Cipher’s website is very clean and easy to use, and booking was a snap.

Score: 8.2

Price: $$

Difficulty: Expert

Book your own ticket at http://www.breakthecipher.com/!