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Morty score342
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    • Bio
    • Experiences (342)
    • Wishlist (15)
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    • All (339)
    • Escape rooms (339)
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    The Nest [Immersive Theatre]

    The Nest [Immersive Theatre]

    Hatch Escapes

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Poignant and thought-provoking, The Nest is more immersive environment experience than puzzle-driven escape room, and I love that about it. It’s reminiscent of video game walking simulators like Gone Home, but with actual walking. In the room, you follow a guided path through corners of a woman named Josie’s apartment. You can see her treasured items, figments of her past, and you can also listen to narrated tapes of her personal story. It’s as much a trip through her memories as much as it is a tour of her hoarded apartment, and masterful use of lightning and set designs show more than tell. The immersion comes in a different way from traditional escape rooms. I didn’t just feel like I was somewhere else entirely; I also felt like I knew Josie personally. There are actually a few puzzles, but they’re never overbearing, and there is no time limit really. You are meant to soak in the story, which is deeply personal and emotional. Be prepared to feel, to cry, to think about your own life. This room affected me in big ways, and I’m glad I experienced it with my love.
    Sleep No More [Immersive Theatre]

    Sleep No More [Immersive Theatre]

    The McKittrick Hotel

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Complete otherworldly experience! This is not an escape room nor is it a haunt. It is a theatrical performance, but it is much more than a play. The best way I can describe it is if you were an invisible shadow on the set of a live drama. You can walk around the 5 floors of a hotel however you want, as long as you wear a masquerade mask provided to you and are completely silent. You are free to explore, and the environments and rooms are extremely well-decorated with astonishing detail. But if you’re here, you’re not just going to snoop around. You’re here to eavesdrop, watch, and follow actors as they run around, interact together, dance, and silently perform with an invisible audience around them. I love that you can choose to follow people, stay in one room, change who you choose to stalk, or even none of the above or all of it. It’s a true choose-your-own-adventure except it’s not about you. The show gets graphic, psychological, violent, and downright spooky, though it’s not what I’d call a haunted house. But I absorbed every minute, climbing up flights, being a lemming with the crowd as they ran after a performer, and just soaking in the sights and trying to understand the narrative. If you’re lucky, you may even get a special 1:1 experience with the actor, like I did! And wow, if I didn’t already love this immersive theater show before, that sealed the deal! The actors were amazing! Loved them all! Check this out now if you can before it closes for good! It’s worth it as a unique experience not easily found elsewhere!
    The Nest [Immersive Theatre]

    The Nest [Immersive Theatre]

    Hatch Escapes

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Activate [Interactive Arcade]

    Activate [Interactive Arcade]

    Activate - Lexington

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Activate is not an escape room, but it is a super fun series of physical arcade-like challenges. It’s as if you were transported into a video game! You have to run, jump, shoot, crawl, climb, and throw in multiple challenges. Each of the 8 rooms has different modes and difficulty levels. And as long as nobody else is in that room, you can go straight in with your group for a private game. Once you start, you have 75 minutes to do as many challenges in the facility as you can or want. Games include pressing buttons to spell words while hiding from a gigantic eye, running on colorful disco floors platformer game style, and throwing balls onto specific targets. There are so much more, and you probably won’t get through them all in one session. There are 10 difficulty levels per game too and they ramp up fast. The challenges are so fun, and you will work up a sweat! As you win games, you get points that cumulatively add up across your visits in any of the locations across the country. Those points get you rewards like keychains and water bottles. Again, this isn’t an escape room, but there are similar challenges that test both your brain and agility. It’s intense, replayable, and a ton of fun with a good group! I’m already wanting to reactivate soon!
    Activate [Interactive Arcade]

    Activate [Interactive Arcade]

    Activate - Chicago

    • Escape room
    • Other
    More of a physical challenge activities facility than an escape room, Activate is often a great time! The company has multiple facilities around the U.S. and Canada, and the location in Chicago has more games than the other one I went to in Lexington, Kentucky. It has active arcade games like a portal challenge, where you throw balls into holes and they pop out of another hole, and a game where you have a control panel similar to a video game adventure. Most of the other games are great too and range from being in an interactive platformer video game to throwing basketballs to solve trivia. We end up sweating from all the running around and crawling! There are about 15-20 rooms, so there are a lot of choices. The only thing that was tough is if it’s busy, you may have to use up more of your limited 75-minute time slot waiting for people. And if they’re too loud, you can’t hear some of the audio-based challenges. So it really depends on the day. I still recommend it for groups, and I would definitely say it’s a great spot for parties and big hangouts!
    Escape The City - Chicago [Outdoor]

    Escape The City - Chicago [Outdoor]

    Escapely - Chicago

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Very unique escape scavenger hunt using the real world to find clues! You get a real box in the mail containing envelopes, sheets, a pen, a lockbox, and some other important goodies for solving the mystery. Yes, it’s a whodunnit, which I love! Then by going to the real life location, you solve the puzzles and use your phone to scan codes and submit clues. I absolutely love how it uses murals, walls, and other clues hidden in establishments and landmarks for the puzzles. There is a road block puzzle that takes a while and I think they expect you to grab a drink or a bite while solving it? That’s what we did. It’s perfect for a date or for a group of scavenger hunters. This of course requires everything to be open and hopefully bright and not rainy outside to complete. It’s great for a walk around the city too! The Chicago box actually takes you to Fulton Market, which is a trendy part of the city with lots of good food and drinks. It’s fairly safe, comparatively, but be careful still and be alert especially if it’s darker outside. We actually ran into some people who were also doing the box at the same time and also met a person who was curious why we were just staring at a wall haha! Such unique experiences that felt special! Technically you can use hints and pictures provided by Escapely to solve puzzles without traveling to the location, but what’s the point in that? This is very much a tour of Fulton Market, and it’s cool that you get to see some companies and places that I assume have partnered with Escapely for this escape game. If you’re visiting Chicago, be aware that Fulton Market is outside the typical tourist area (so not exactly Millenium Park, the Bean, Navy Pier, or Michigan Ave). It works perfectly for this game to be in this walkable fun area, but Fulton Market is not the Chicago area you’re probably thinking of! Fun aside, but we actually did a beta test for Escapely and some puzzles and the mystery were similar. Yet it didn’t even hamper our enjoyment of this awesome scavenger adventure around Chicago! DA BEARS!
    75 Minute Adventure at MISH MASH

    75 Minute Adventure at MISH MASH

    MISH MASH Adventures

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Mish Mash Adventures is more of a challenging playground than a typical escape room experience. Instead of one room that you escape within 2 hours or so, there are about 16 rooms that you can challenge within 1 or 2 hours. You aren’t required to clear every room to “win.” In fact, there is no actual overall win condition for the experience. Rather, you are encouraged to clear as many as you can. What makes this very different from typical escape room challenges is that about half of them are physical challenges. Very active physical challenges! Some challenges are reminiscent to Ninja Warrior obstacle courses! Needless to say, my team instead opted to do the more intellectual, logic puzzles. None of the puzzles are really super challenging logically, but they may require concentration, which is hard to achieve when lots of kids are yelling in the big warehouse-like environment. It made some of these rooms more frustrating than they should have been. Overall, this experience is best suited for kids and teenagers or athletic individuals, but not necessarily those wanting an escape room per se. Still, some of these unique experiences combining both athletic prowess and logical thinking are challenges that I will never see in normal escape rooms, so I’m glad to have tried it here!
    Two Hour Adventure at MISH MASH

    Two Hour Adventure at MISH MASH

    MISH MASH Adventures

    • Escape room
    • Other
    Mish Mash Adventures is not a typical escape room experience. Instead of one room that you escape within an hour or 2, there are about 16 rooms that you are tasked to escape room within 1-2 hours. I think 2 hours is probably an ideal time period to get through almost everything, at least everything we wanted to do. You aren’t required to clear every room to “win.” Rather, you are encouraged to clear as many as you can. What makes this very different from typical escape room challenges is that about half of them are Ninja Warrior style physical challenges, which is not necessarily our forte.