So much fun! I went for an office event and my team went to the Bloody Circus room. As a horror fan, I appreciated the immersive details for this room. Lots of fake blood, creepy clowns, and even some jump scares built in. Definitely use your brain and think outside the box!! The puzzles were really unique. The only feedback I have is some of the puzzles were a bit wonky probably because a lot of people have been touching them so there are things that should be tuned up or fixed. Trying not to spoil so I'll try to be as vague as I can while giving feedback. So there's one puzzle where you have to smell things but everything smelled like the same rotten/rancid smell so my team members and I content differentiate the scents and had to randomly guess instead of actually solving the puzzle. There's another puzzle where you have to turn something but it was wonky from wear and tear and the tracks on them were worn down. Paul was our game master, and did a great job. He also said this room was the hardest one and the scariest one out of them all. read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

From the moment you step off the elevator, you're fully immersed in the experience. Check-in seamlessly blends into the story, and as soon as the elevator doors open, you're met with darkness and a ringing phone--answering it officially kicks off the game. The commitment to the theme is impressive and consistent throughout. Some of the clues are definitely challenging and occasionally a bit unclear, but the overall atmosphere and storytelling make up for it. I've done both the Haunted Hotel and the Jail rooms, and both delivered a memorable, immersive experience. read more

BrainXCape is literally the most immersive experience I've had doing escape rooms. The environment and ambience is on point without giving too much away. My group did two rooms over 2 days which were Escape From Rikers Island and The Haunted Hotel. The puzzles were definitely head scratchers but we got through them both thanks to teamwork and our awesome game masters. Speaking of them, both Charlie and Ryan did a wonderful job making our experience so much fun! I highly recommend this place while visiting NYC if you like escape rooms! read more

I did the Haunted Hotel with my team and we all absolutely loved it. Really unique with spooky vibes. Great for those who love a good puzzle and a little horror. Will definitely come back to try out their other rooms! Charlie was also super helpful, gave us three hints, and helped us successfully escape before the time ran out. Overall, highly recommend this spot! read more

I love coming here!!! one of the best escape room places. extremely immersive & challenging. Shout out to Paul for being a great game master. My boyfriend and I did the Haunted Hotel one together! Super fun for with friends or date night! Will be back again. also not sure about the people leaving bad reviews, this place is great and also supposed to be challenging not easy. read more

Went for my best friend's birthday! It was so much fun, unfortunately we didn't escape but the rooms were well thought out! The game master was awesome! We are definitely planning to go back soon. read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Rikers Island 1932 - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

My friend and I did the haunted hotel room yesterday and it was one of the worst escape rooms we've done when it comes to puzzles and clues, and we've done a ton. The room looked great ( the only reason it's getting 2 stars instead of 1), but there was zero communication from the game master until the time ran out, clues came pre-typed so he couldn't clarify. Most of the clues were things we had already figured out, so it wasted our time waiting for an actually helpful clue. A lot of the puzzles didn't make sense, or were poorly setup. We've done some difficult rooms before a d enjoyed them, but this one was just difficult because the puzzles were poorly done. read more

They looked like they had a cool atmosphere, but unfortunately were bad at communication. We were a large group that had booked a room, that was cancelled because of a technical issue. This is disappointing but it happens. What was their fault is that they did not contact us about the cancellation. So our group of people had all set aside the time, travelled an hour or so, paid for tolls and parking and train tickets, all to get there and find out we had no reason to be there. They refunded us, but that was still a lot of time and money on our part wasted (downtown isn't cheap to park at.) If you are cancelling for a group, then you really should tell them. read more

We did Elevator to hell, So much fun can't wait to do the others. I already plan to do rykers

Amazing theming and decoration here. Do all clues make sense? Ehhh close enough, but the vibes are on point

We've completed Rikers 1932 (won), Elevator to Hell (escaped 3 minutes after they said we won--felt like overtime), The Haunted Hotel (lost badly--needed 5 more steps), and Bloody Circus (just 2-3 steps short). The only one we haven't done is Pirate's Heart. We've spent $1,178.31 here because we truly love this place--from the pregame to the rooms themselves, the staff and clues are top-notch. As college students, we wouldn't keep coming back or spend this much if it wasn't worth it. We'd really appreciate a free game to finish the final room! read more

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wouldnt go back. no story or plot, halloween room didnt even try to be scary, puzzles made no sense and were completely random. shit was ass

Immersive and spooky from start to (almost) finish! Can't wait to visit again and complete the Haunted Hotel. Sets, decor, puzzles and props are top notch. Thank you Sawyer for coming to our rescue! read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

Very fun! But you need to use your brain a little bit. Otherwise I'll return for next rooms 100% We had really good time with my friend read more

This was a spectacular experience from the moment we stepped into the building to the moment we exited. You walk in and the security guard will verify you have a reservation then scan you into the elevator to access the third floor where the escape rooms are. What happens beyond then I'll describe below but you're going to want to go into it completely blind so you can be shook the way my friends and I were. I'll do a "spoiler disclaimer" for that but for now I'll be general. All rooms are private. Whether you have two people or the maximum of 10, there will be no random people filling up the remaining spots in your reservation. Depending on the number of people, the cheaper the cost (but only by one dollar or so). But beware that there's a booking fee. I had seven people for my reservation and our fee was 22 dollars in addition to the 37 we paid per person. You need to have all the individual emails of your party to get to the checkout page. Unfortunately you can't split the cost across multiple credit cards and the money is taken out of your account the moment you make the booking. If you have a huge party that is daunting because there's no money back policy (from my understanding of the website). One plus is that if you have a last minute friend who wants to join your room, you can send BrainXCape an email with your reservation number and the number of additional people joining and they'll charge your card for the new person. We did the Rikers escape room and it was intense. Once you're in the room and sure you're not gonna chicken out, the door literally slams and locks. It is themed all the way through. The details are intricate and immaculate down to the walls. Taking photos would've been a 1000 dollar fine so you'll just have to trust me on how grungy and terrifying this set up was (or just look at the business owner photos). It's literally one of the primary reasons we went with this escape room experience over others and I'm so glad we did. This room has only a 35% escape rate and my friends and I legit had only 2 more clues before we won so we're a little salty we didn't make it but also we never would have because the room was THOROUGH and really challenging. We used all our clues whenever we could get them. If you wanna be totally surprised the way I was going into this adventure, don't read past this point and KEEP THE MYSTERY IN TACT. When we got into the elevator we did not expect for it to open on a floor that was entirely PITCH BLACK. We legit took a moment to step out of the elevator because we literally didn't realize the experience would begin before we even GOT INTO THE ROOM. It was EPIC that we were thrown into it and it totally got us excited for what was ahead. We wandered around the floor totally unsuspecting before we found a phone mounted on the wall which rang when we approached. I can only imagine how amused staff was to watch us clueless clowns running around like headless chickens. On the phone one of the staff members checked that we all had our party present and gave us instructions on how to proceed with the game. The bathroom was textbook creepy with red titled walls and BLOODY HANDPRINTS with bloody writing just above. Loved it. My friends and I cannot wait to return. read more

We played through Pirates Heart last night and it was fun and esthetically very cool. There does need to be a flashlight in the room as the lanterns, which fit esthetically, do not provide much light and there are many puzzles that are in dark corners you can't move. Spoilers: The other problem I had was with the rope puzzle in the room. the diagram that you use compared to the ropes in the room look nothing alike and we probably wasted 20 minutes because of this. It's not really designed well and since it is so early on in the room it can easily deflate any group. We thankfully ended up winning thanks to our game master but wish these changes would be made as it would make it a really great room read more

when my friends and i went here we were asked to give our name under the reservation at the front desk and they said that the name wasn't on the list. so, we called and they said that something in the room we booked wasn't working and that an email had been sent prior. we asked if we could use another one of their rooms and they said that they were fully booked. we asked for a refund and they said that they didn't do refunds. after the call, we went to check if there was actually an email sent and lo and behold there was no email it would've been nice to receive an email before we commuted all the way to the city. we also had to completely change our plans for someone's birthday, which we were extremely disappointed that we had to do. we called again and they said that we would have to email management and wait for a response. and get this...when we received a response, they had the audacity to threaten us with the refund saying that if we didn't take down our initial review, then we wouldn't be getting a refund. what kind of tomfoolery is this best believe this review is staying up and we got our money back suck it read more

Talk about an experience. Right off the elevator I was shook! I turned around the elevator door was closed. It was pitch black with flashing lights and then all of a sudden a phone rings( ahh) he said are you ready. We looked at what we could see of each other and said uhhh, beat the bomb sounding real good right about now. He then said if you have to use the bathroom go now and I'll call back when your done. I was ready to go home lol. Anyway we walked into our Jail cell cause that's what we chose and proceeded to play it was an amazing, we were very close to finish the game. However us thinking that someone would jump out at us made our brain go into fight or flight mode. We will be back without the kids read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

My first escape room... so fun! The ambiance is set from the moment you get off the elevator and before you even enter the escape room. We did the Haunted House. I loved it. Lots of great puzzles, decor, and "hints" came from the TV screen. There are "levels" that allow you to choose how many hints you'd get (easy, medium, hard) which we appreciated as this was our first time at an escape room. Overall we had an awesome, time, the staff member at the end was really nice. There was a lot of attention to detail and we can't wait to try the Rikers one! read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

The best escape room we've experienced! I took a party of teenagers to the Haunted Mansion and they loved it. Thank you for the clues, Sawyer! read more

Escape Room was fun, a little spooky, and well-made! Would definitely do another of their games. Puzzles provided a good challenge, and Ryan was great. read more

TLDR - When it comes to their absurd refund policy, there is no escape. My first experience at BrainXcape was 5 STARS! I had done the "Prison Break" room when they were on 20th street and had a great experience. I would recommend BrainXcape to anyone and everyone whenever the topic of escape rooms in NYC would come up. So when my best friend came to visit me recently I wanted to bring him to BrainXcape because I knew we would have a blast. However after booking and paying for a slot for the next day, I got an email an hour later saying my booking was canceled with the message "Slot not available". Ok I thought, maybe they just overbooked the slot or something. My friend was on a tight schedule so unfortunately we couldn't find another slot that could work for him. So I went ahead and emailed them back asking for a refund. And you would think a refund would be a no-brain(xcap)er right? After all, it wasn't I (the customer) who booked a slot and then wanted to cancel it. It was the business themselves who cancelled the booking. So I should get a refund no problem, right?!... *welp* wrong. After receiving no reply, I followed up again a day later asking when I would receive a refund... aaannnd no reply. They left me no choice but to do a chargeback through my card. Horrible customer service (well actually, non-existent customer service) and such a major disappointment considering I had a 5-star experience the first time around. How does a business cancel a customer's booking and then just not give a refund?! Absolutely absurd refund policy if they indeed do not offer refunds no matter what, even when they themselves cancel the booking on the customer's behalf. Take your money and find a different place to pay for your strange obsession to want to try to escape out of a room for fun. read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - They forgot to add in the message "and we're not going to give you a refund either" - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

Great customer service. The check in kiosk doesn't work effectively and can waste time. Other than that , it's always a Great time read more

The best Escape Room I've ever been to yet. Have been here a few times and finally completed all of the rooms. The staff here is amazing. The rooms are not scary, they do keep you on your toes though! Love that it is always private and you don't have to go in with randoms. Sawyer was our host the last 2x we came and he was amazing!! Very friendly and polite. Definitely will be back when they have their new rooms! :) read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Winners :D - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

We had such an incredible time! This is by far the best escape room escape room experience anyone in my group has had. Sawyer was our game guide and he was great. Side note: They have an old location that still shows up when searching for directions so make sure you put in the correct address! (: read more

We came here with a group of 7, this was our 8th escape room as a group and we all thought this one had a few issues. When you arrive, you'll see a sign near the buzzer that tells you not to buzz until your whole party is there. That's exactly what we did but we got no response for about 10 minutes. We tried to call, but unfortunately it's an automated recorded response that leads to no one...we then try their chat on their website. After all that, we actually eventually got in because the last group exited. I'm assuming the staff was preoccupied with the last group but then I think they should have one person who is purely just a receptionist/office manager who does NOT run either of the two rooms (or at least have a working phone number!). As many others have noted, you will also have to climb 3-4 flights of stairs. No one welcomes you at this escape room, which I think is kinda cool (if only we were buzzed in on time!) and actually adds to the ambiance; instructions are typed to you via a TV screen. The room is pretty well set up with lots of thought put into the details, but I think the issue is with their clues and puzzles. Some of the puzzles you solve don't really lead to anything important / do anything, some of them are not 100% clear and/or aren't exactly puzzles (we definitely thought too much into some of them), and a lot of items are distractions and/or they aren't needed until way later. I won't go into detail so you can experience it for yourself but these were our thoughts across the board. The staff that runs the room also needs to watch more closely as we were given multiple clues to things we had already solved which cut into our time. They are moving to a newer and bigger location soon with more rooms, hopefully their new rooms are better! read more

Went with my teenage kids and their cousins of the same age. Whole experience was very interesting and engaging. Would recommend to anyone who is interested. My only wish is that it was 90 minutes as the hour flew by so quickly and we all wanted to keep solving!! read more

Tried the Rikers 1932 room this past weekend, group of 4. This was our first time doing an escape room and I'm glad we went with BrainXcape. The room setting and props were so realistic, almost like movie set quality! We elected medium difficulty (difficulty level determines # of hints provided) and almost escaped, but came just short, so it was the perfect amount of challenge. Props to Sawyer who provided our hints and took our group's pictures at the end. Would definitely recommend and will be trying out the Haunted Hotel room in the future! read more

Been to both their Rikers room and their Haunted Hotel room and they were great! Very much on par with other escape room experience I've had, friendly staff who will help you get through tough clues and explain how/why you were held up at the end of the game. They are building 2 more rooms and we will be going back again soon! read more

We did the haunted house. I really like the decor and the different theme. I found this particular room slightly more repetitive from all the locks and fairly noob friendly since there are so many clues that are given out. We did it with a group of 10, which was way too much for this room. I think this room can comfortably fit like 6 without individuals becoming bored. Half the time we were all crowded around the same clue waiting for the next breakthrough. All in all it was satisfying since we completed it, but not so satisfying since I didn't feel like I contributed much. read more

The ambiance, decor, and set of this escape room are incredible. From the beginning, you're transported right into the action. No person greets you at the door, you walk right into the first room and receive all the instructions through a TV, which just adds to the atmosphere. The set definitely gives off a "creepy" vibe, which just means that the set designers did an amazing job. I was pretty nervous/on edge at first, but I'm terrible with anything creepy/horror related (note this is definitely not a horror escape room, there's no jump scares or gore or anything. If I'm a pansy with horror movies, you can get through it too!). We had a group of 10, and we found the room to be quite difficult. I've done about 6 escape rooms, and this is probably the hardest one I've played. We needed a fair bit of guidance in the form of hints through the TV, and at the end, we were about 2 clues away from the exit. We were told at the end that the room has a 15% escape rate. Almost all the clues are in the form of puzzles that lead to putting in a number to a lock. I did wish there were more "task-based" puzzles though. Overall great experience, and such a fun one hour! read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Haunted Hotel - next time! - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

Definitely recommend. A very immersive experience which was challenging, fun, and exciting.

Let me get straight to the point: if you're a competitive mathlete with the mental acuity and reasoning of Rain Man and Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, this is the kind of escape room for you. While a lot has been said about the visuals and immersive setting -- which are excellent -- this is basically an interactive math textbook. There's just way too much math/number stuff involved. When my team ran out of time in the prison room, one of the workers came in and showed us all the solutions to the final stage and I instantly mentally checked out because the line of logic they assume the users will be able to take up is ridiculous. There was literally an ALGEBRAIC EQUATION to figure out. It was just unnecessarily complicated, contrived and kinda pretentious, honestly. My friends and I said they should call this place the "Brain SolveforX-scape." They give you clues on the TV but once you get to the other stages of the room, it's distracting to run out of the room you're in to read them. So, it may be a good idea to have one person stand there to wait for messages. Just a thought. AND I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION, the logistics of even finding the building/getting in. First of all, the outside is nondescript and easy to miss. I guess that helps with the "mysteriousness" it's trying to instill in you? But then you have to buzz in RIGHT AT your appointment time and this man answers in an affected voice that's like bad theatre. I mean, I get it but it's not necessary. It's cute but let's just get the show on the road. Also, there's a three-floor climb up a long, narrow staircase. There's also a chair lift parallel to the staircase, so points for accessibility. I don't think it goes all the way to the top, though. Overall, I'm not saying you should skip this place, just know that you're getting yourself into a mathletic obstacle course that might leave you a little salty if you're unable to see numbers everywhere like Neo in the Matrix or that lady from that one meme -- you know the one. read more

My wife and I have done over 200 escape rooms and escape experiences in the US and abroad so we wanted to do something fun for our anniversary and decided to make a 4 day weekend out of it traveling from Richmond, VA up through Philadelphia and NYC doing escape rooms and booking lunch and dinner reservations along the way.BrainXcape, we agreed, hands down was the best experience we have ever had trying to escape. There is no way to describe it completely. The rooms are theatrical, well-designed, and immersive at all times. We both found ourselves pausing mid-game just to catch a glimpse of how detailed the rooms were. We did two escapes same day while in NYC for our anniversary. The best one, in both our opinions, was Rikers! We failed to escape but this was not, as is typically with us, due to the poorly-excited room design or illogical data being provided. We actually felt as if we were in a prison cell and started to feel like we were actually prisoners trying to escape from Rikers island. I should just say, though, if you're considering doing this and have never completed an escape before, you might want to try another room first, not because of the difficulty but mainly because no other rooms will ever live up to this experience. read more

-Tried rikers as a group of 8 -Per person cost + booking fee $288+$24.48=$312.48 -must book it online, don't take walk ins -timer starts on the dot (the time you booked) -level: medium -an employee came into the room when time was up and briefly explained how to solve the room we were in. He also told us we were a little less than 50% done and helped us take a picture. -fun experience and would definitely come back read more

Had such a great time! Challenging in a good way and fun for small or large groups. Full of excitement right from the beginning!

This was totaaallllyyyyyyyyyyyy awesome. I came here with my co workers as a team building exercise and it was one of the most fun experiences of my life. We did the prison escape one, which props to them for making everything look super gross inside, and would have escaped if we'd had 10 more minutes, we were about 85% of the way there. Highly, highly, highly recommend. Staff were incredibly awesome, and it is such a fun activity. Just be mindful if you have asthma, getting up there will leave you a little breathless. read more

This place is covid safe. The staff gives you precautions and rules to start you out, they're cool and fun people too. It's a great looking place; very detailed and atmospheric. I will come back and Win A Game. I want redemption. read more

BrainXcape Escape Room - Me and my bro Nesly - Escape Games Near Me - New York, New York

Love the experience! And yes it was an experience! I don't want to spoil anything (in this paragraph lol) so all i'll say is be ready for next level theming. We did Haunted Hotel and escaped with a few minutes left on the clock. It was challenging and the puzzles were so good, some i had never seen before. As for it being a scary room, I really feel like this is a good room if you've never done one and want to ease your way into one. Just for you guys who are still hesitant, my sister was super scared to go in and I convinced her to come with me. At the end she came out loving it, and so if she can do it you can too Spoiler in next line* (Just in case) No one is going to pop out and scare you! There are no jump-scares, honestly to me what makes this room scary is the atmosphere, lighting, and sound, oh and other people screaming cause they see something they don't like and then you get scared. But no it is not a haunted house thought the room is themed out amazingly! * (End of spoiler) Overall one of the best escape rooms i've been to! Can't wait to go back and do the second room! If you get the chance do it! read more

I'm an escape room snob and this place totally passes the bar! 3 of us did the prison break room at veteran level (2 hints every 10 minutes) and were able to solve with a dramatic 59 seconds remaining. Thoughts: *Excellent production value. From the moment you arrive you are definitely getting an experience *Challenging puzzles. As someone that does a lot of rooms, I am generally quick to identify how the puzzle needs to be solved, but a few of these I hadn't seen before, which is super fun. I liked the hint system as well, it really was a hint and not a total give away. Someone else mentioned that all puzzles for this room were to find a combo for a lock, which is true, but that didn't deter from the fun for me personally *Don't arrive too early there is not a place to hang out I would totally return and try a different room read more