The Cursed Carnival [Abandoned Carnival]The Cursed Carnival [Abandoned Carnival]
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The Cursed Carnival [Abandoned Carnival]

Very positive (99 ratings)

  • Escape room
  • IRL

Mark as done to rate

You and your fellow true-crime podcast hosts have found the perfect story for your next season. Shadow Hills Carnival was shut down over 50 years ago after visitors started vanishing. Local legend speaks of a mysterious person that runs the abandoned carnival once a year. Can you survive the night and report the true story to your loyal fans?

  • 2-8
  • 60 mins
  • Spooky

Ratings

All ratings (99)

Very positive

Gameplay
Very positive
Atmosphere
Very positive
Customer service
Very positive

Reviews

@Iffy
Iffy

42 escape rooms

I enjoyed this room a lot. It did feel pretty easy, but we still had fun playing it. There was some fun twists in the room's progression that were quite memorable, too.

Gameplay

There was a ball toss puzzle to knock over some ducks! Also a really cool one where you have to blindly feel for the answer in order to solve the corresponding puzzle. Pretty linear, but not a bad thing.

Atmosphere

Definitely has a creepy vibe to it. I absolutely loved the reveal towards the end behind the tent! Not to mention when everything goes black. The little dummy adds a fun little touch, too.

Customer service

Very nice staff!

Particularly interesting or different

Yes

The tarot cards!!

Story

The 'intro' story was not really relavent to how the experience progressed. There was also some voice overs throughout the game that narrated a completely different story.

Difficulty

Easy

Game tech

Mechanical

All practical puzzles.

Ideal number of players

2

We escaped with twenty-five minutes to spare with two of us.

Scary

Spooky

Spooky vibes.

Minimum age

12

Was anything broken?

Yes

One puzzle didn't trigger when we solved it, but got confirmation that we were correct.

Live actors

Yes

A puppeteer!

Physically active

Somewhat

Normal amount of moving around.

Accessibility

One puzzle involves crawling.

Easy to find location

Yes

In a mall.

Parking

Easy

On site mall parking.

Aug 10, 2025

R

RhynoRoo

2 escape rooms

Good variety of puzzles. The atmosphere caused one person to make me do one scary part - that was fun and immersive! The theme was good and the final bits were tricky. I can’t say more due to spoilers. One thing didn’t quit physically work as designed. But other items worked better than expected. Sizes and spaces were used well too!

Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Aug 9, 2025
@cookie8mea
cookie8mea

23 escape rooms

Was an epic room! The story was so silly and fun! The jumpscares were spooky and timed pretty well. I like how the puzzles / room is all very cohesive. We don't care as much about being immersed in the atmosphere so we didn't mind there was a few broken things. But our game guide was awesome and it never was awkward. We've done quite a few escape rooms at this point and managed to escape with 11 minutes!

  • store/e/7d0d5e67-b508-4e6d-ba08-255bb0ee8dc6.jpg
Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Story
Difficulty

Easy

Game tech

Mechanical

Ideal number of players

2

Scary

Spooky

Minimum age

13

Was anything broken?

Yes

Live actors

In a way yes? There are moment where someone's hand would reach through a hole / would make pounding noises

Physically active

Not at all

Accessibility

It was very easy to move around. However! there were parts where someone needed to crawl / a tent like part that would be difficult to get a wheelchair on. For hearing much of the story is told audibly, I would assume they could give captions but many of the conformations you did a puzzle are audio. It is somewhat dark in this room and you are not supposed to use flashlights, but maybe they could make exeptions for people with vision issues. there was 3 color based puzzles with the 4 colors red, yellow, green, and blue

Easy to find location

No

Its on the bottom floor of the mall and we struggled a bit to find it haha

Parking

Easy

Jun 7, 2025
@kiraxmiller
kiraxmiller

47 escape rooms

Such a fun place to play a room at. They put a lot of work into their rooms and they are soooo welcoming. We had a major game malfunction in our room but they played it off and made sure we still had a great time

Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Aug 20, 2024
@kaileemartens
kaileemartens

73 escape rooms

The story of this room was unique and engaging, and served to uplift the experience as a whole. The room itself has some fun nods to the carnival theme, but could definitely do better at actually making you feel like you’re at a carnival. The ending was fun. I was on edge the whole time but there was nothing legitimately scary.

  • store/u/fa24e06a-dd69-43cf-806d-2f3f591680c7_133.jpg
Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Story
Difficulty

Easy

Game tech

Mechanical

Ideal number of players

4

Scary

Spooky

Minimum age

16

Was anything broken?

No

Live actors

No

Physically active

Somewhat

Accessibility

There are parts where you have to crawl. There are some steps up. There’s a throwing requirement. There was a puzzle that relied on color. There was a lot of audible hints and story.

Easy to find location

Yes

It’s inside a mall.

Parking

Easy

Jun 8, 2024 | Experienced Jun 8, 2024

D

DeeH

192 escape rooms

6 adults did this room and enjoyed it. Loved the unique puzzles. I would not say it is spooky.

Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Physically active

Not at all

Apr 10, 2024
@marenkae
marenkae

63 escape rooms

This is one of my personal faves in the Twin Cities. I love this room so much I've actually played it twice. I'm such a sucker for carnival themes so admittedly I'm very much the target demographic for this room, but I do think it's great regardless! It's extremely fun to play because it integrates so many elements of carnivals and midway style games. I absolutely loved the characters you meet along the way and how they get brought to life. This room just has so much personality and silliness to it. And the puzzles, though not super challenging, felt fresh and innovative and satisfying to solve.

Gameplay

Great flow, and some very climactic moments!

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is great but I do wish they had made the set feel a bit more immersive. You're essentially just in a large room and it does feel like you are inside a building. I think adding fabric to the ceiling and down the walls to make the room feel like you were in a big top tent would have made a HUGE difference.

Customer service

The staff here is THE best!

Particularly interesting or different

Yes

Story

Really well executed story with a wonderfully unique and exciting ending.

Difficulty

Easy

Definitely an easy room! Would be great for beginners. For those with lots of experience, I recommend doing a small group.

Game tech

Mechanical

There are a couple high tech elements but this room is mostly mechanical. But it's done in a way where you can tell they put SO much thought and energy into making everything interactive and exciting.

Ideal number of players

3

Scary

Scary

Very spooky atmosphere but one that teeters on fun at all times. I bumped the rating up to "scary" because there are a few jumpscares that did startle us.

Minimum age

12

I think this room would work great for kids. Just be wary that it might be scary for little ones.

Was anything broken?

No

Live actors

No

Physically active

Somewhat

One puzzle involves aiming and throwing things. One player must crawl at one point. There are a couple larger props that might be difficult to hold/lift. And then finally there is a slightly raised platform that all players must step onto.

Accessibility

Sadly I don't think this room would be wheelchair accessible due to the one small step in it. However it might be worth calling and asking if the gamemaster can make some modifications. There are a few points of the room that rely on voiceovers. One puzzle relies on color.

Easy to find location

Yes

Parking

Easy

Apr 9, 2024 | Experienced Aug 24, 2023

e

ellahobday

21 escape rooms

Super cool room! Have done plenty of escape rooms and this one was beautifully set up! A friend and I went dressed as clowns and had a blast. Would very much recommend this room!

Gameplay

pretty standard puzzles, perfect for a game of 2 people or a light-medium difficulty.

Atmosphere

beautiful set!! felt like i was at an actual carnival

Customer service

loved our GMs!! gave us some slight spooks while we were in there

Was anything broken?

No

puzzles were perfect! had a lot of fun

Jan 4, 2024 | Experienced Jan 4, 2024
@Dl0399
Dl0399

61 escape rooms

Great room! The people that work here go above and beyond for everyone room they have. They care about the story, the flow and every aspect of the room. These are truly people who love their job and it shows.

Gameplay
Atmosphere
Customer service
Scary

Spooky

Jul 9, 2023

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