Corben our guide was awesome! Super fun theme, great hints,…read moreand fun surprises Room was clean, well themed, and just hard enough.

We came here for a birthday celebration and tried the return of the magician escape room. It starts…read moreoff uncomfortable but becomes really fun! We had a great time and can't wait to try again. Something to note for people coming - this is up stairs of the Dingtea bubble Tea shop. We had a bit of trouble finding this at night when driving around the shopping center. Plenty of parking

We had so much fun at the Western Escape room. The host went above and beyond to make the…read moreexperience fun and it was the perfect way to celebrate my boyfriend's Birthday. Definitely recommend checking out this place. They told us about the other rooms too and they all sound interesting!

It was my birthday, and I had spent hours researching activities in the OC that could accommodate…read moremy group of 10. I'm so glad I came across Brainy Actz, as it turned out to be the perfect choice! I booked both the Game Show Showdown and the Excalibur escape room. For the Game Show Showdown, we split into two teams and competed in the Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and Family Feud. My group had lots of laughs from start to finish, and the friendly competition made it even more fun. Our game show host brought so much energy and enthusiasm that it really elevated the experience. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a group activity where everyone can participate and have a great time. Next, we went to the Excalibur escape room. The room is themed around the legend of King Arthur, where Merlin has hidden Excalibur under a powerful spell. The puzzles weren't easy, but they were fair, and when we needed a little help, the staff gave us helpful clues. My team escaped with 8 minutes left. The staff was friendly, welcoming, and explained everything clearly before each activity. From check-in to the end of our visit, everything was smooth and organized.

Alyssa was the best game master to have, me and my group had a great time, definitely will be backread more

This review is long overdue. I was taken here for my birthday back in November and had such a good…read moretime. We did the "Darkest Hour" escape room and had to match wits with the serial killer. So fun. I'm kicking myself for not being able to remember the name of our game master (tall woman, red hair?) so, I'm sorry for that. But she was terrific. Knew when to let us try to figure things out on our own, and knew just when we might need a hint to nudge us along. She ran a great game and made the experience so much fun for us. The game itself is challenging. You really need to pay attention and use your head. The production value is terrific and the layout of the room is amazingly creepy. If you're looking to have a good time with friends and want to do something different, I recommend Mission Escape Games. It's a ton of fun.

My friends and I had so much fun doing this escape room in my house! They are punctual,…read moreunderstanding, and professional. The level of difficulty was perfect. I highly recommend.

This was so much fun!!! My friend did this for her housewarming party and we all had a blast. I…read morewould highly recommend this company.

Surf City Escapes is on the second floor of the Pacific City outdoor shopping mall, right across…read morefrom the beach. The mall has a large underground parking garage. Be sure to bring your ticket and they will validate it. The lobby is small, with two padded benches and a few chairs. Note that they do not have restrooms inside. Use the public mall restrooms about one hundred feet north of their location. Waivers can be signed online ahead of time. We did their Specter Inspectors room in which you try to catch all of the ghosts in an abandoned house to escape. This room can be done with either a regular spooky feel or a more spooky option when booking (no live actor for either). We brought my girlfriends mom for her birthday, so we did the regular spooky version. The room is mostly non-linear and the décor is excellent. There are some sound and light effects and a few jump scares. There are a lot of logic puzzles, as well as mechanical puzzles, and some locks, keys, and keypads. This is their hardest room, and I would agree that is it definitely hard with a lot to do. There are a total of 13 ghosts to catch and we caught eight before our time ran out. Our game master said almost no one manages to catch all 13. Regardless of how many you catch, everybody gets to experience the grand finale which I won't give away. We had no other plans for the afternoon and they had some availability, so we also did their Surf's Up room. This is a very family friendly room in which you're grounded but your parents are gone for an hour and you're trying to find your surfboard to go catch some waves. The room is fairly linear and the décor goes very well with the theme. This room has a good mix of logic and mechanical puzzles with only a few key locks and combos. I would say this is a medium difficulty room and we escaped with a little over five minutes left. Both rooms, and I'm guessing the others too, definitely lean heavy on logic puzzles, so bring your A game. Our game masters Joseph and Delilah were so fun, and you can tell they love what they do. Their prices are very reasonable at $45 per person, except that parties of two are $60 per person on Saturday and Sunday. We received a 15% same day booking discount on our second game. They have only been open for a few months, and it is great to see a new escape room business jump out of the gate strong. They offer four rooms with various themes and difficulty levels to suit everybody. The variety of puzzles is great and the prices are very reasonable. If you love escape rooms, come try some here!

I've played a lot of escape rooms in the area before. But just when I think I've seen every escape…read moreroom theme out there, Surf City Escapes manages to surprise me. We have now played three of their four rooms (the fourth room will be coming out in June 2026) and all were fantastic experiences that had such unique themes! The puzzles were logical and satisfying, with a good balance of challenge and flow. One thing I really appreciated was how they incorporated the game master into the experience as an actual character. For me, it added an extra layer of personalization and made the rooms feel extra special! What really sets Surf City Escapes apart, though, are the themes. I've done a lot of escape rooms, and I've never seen a surf-themed room quite like Surf's Up! You can tell there are personal touches throughout the experience that reflect the owner's creativity and passio for what they do. Production value here is high and I didn't expect to leave as impressed as I was! The location might be a hit or miss depending on how you look at it. Without validation, the parking could be expensive so let the parking office know that you are here for Surf City if you are inside the complex. They have a policy that they will only validate if you spend more than $200+, so we mentioned that we did spend that amount on escape rooms and they validated us! The entire team is accommodating, friendly and welcoming. I am SO impressed that I will definitely be back when Sherlock opens up. I can't wait to come back and in such a gorgeous location as well by the beach!

My group recently played Edeline and Cloud Escapes' newest room, Kapow Comics. We also had the…read moreopportunity to experience 49 Boxes earlier this year, a unique pop-up event that left a lasting impression. One thing Cloud Escapes does differently from many traditional escape rooms is that they let the story drive the puzzles. Their rooms tend to be very experience-focused, with each puzzle moving the narrative forward. That was especially true in Edeline, where the story felt like the heart of the room. Kapow Comics takes a slightly different approach. While it still has a strong theme, it leans more heavily into the puzzles themselves! The game starts the moment you arrive at the door. Be ready to pay attention from the very beginning. As for 49 Boxes, it's not really an escape room at all. It's a collaborative puzzle experience created by members of the magic community. There are six tables, and depending on where you're seated, you'll encounter a completely different set of mystery boxes. The tables work together to open the collective 49 boxes and ultimately solve one final reveal. It was such a clever concept, and I loved how it encouraged collaboration between complete strangers. Cloud Escapes continues to experiment with different styles of immersive puzzle experiences, and I appreciate that they're willing to take creative risks rather than sticking to the same formula. This escape room company is a must go!

I recently played Edeline and The 49 Boxes here…read more Edeline is a story driven escape room. This experience is heavily based in storytelling and lighter on puzzles. It's not your typical California style Escape Room. It's interesting and unique and a little bit scary. The 49 Boxes is not an escape room at all actually, it is an experience that pops up on Saturdays in the lobby of Cloud. This is created by members of the Magician community and also heavily focuses on storytelling as well as Magic and puzzles. This is a public experience where you form community while experiencing the magic of the evening. You work together to open boxes that lead to one final box that will finally be opened after all these years. It's an incredible night, but definitely not an escape room. It is not an experience where you puzzle hard and fast either it is a community building, shared experience among the guests to create memories and wonder.

I booked a session as part of my twins' 16th birthday celebration & they absolutely LOVED it!…read more Every year, we do some sort of escape room, adventure- themed something. But, this beats them all. The creativity of the clues, outdoor setting & ability to combine all the elements of an escape room, dinner detective type show & scavenger hunt were just awesome, to say the least. My girls & her friends had a blast! We chose the easiest of the mysteries since it was their first time. But, it was still challenging. Definitely bring a water bottle, preferably w/ carrier so you're hands free & wear comfortable shoes. Nina & Jenna were so kind & accommodating, from begining to end. Planning on booking w/ some friends for my own birthday coming up!

We booked a session at Downtown Detectives as part of a team building activity! Note that this is…read morenot a true escape room - it is outdoors and is more of a scavenger hunt/mystery game with escape room elements. My team and I really enjoyed running around Huntington Beach! It was a really beautiful day and you can't beat being right along the water. The puzzles we thought were on the easy side, but still challenging enough where we took over an hour to complete from start to finish. Most of our team are engineers so we loved the puzzles and caught on quick. The gals who run the activity mentioned that they have other versions that are much more challenging, so we may be interested in the future. Overall, I'd recommend Downtown Detectives! The cost was affordable and we had a blast.

This place is awesome! No clue why they don't have more reviews. Hubby & I came here on a whim for…read morea date night & we've both done escape rooms before & thought this one (we did Hikers Cabin) was so well thought out! It was fairly challenging & so creative, Randy was an awesome game master as well! Barely made it out with less than a minute left on the clock! 10/10

Did my first escape room today, and it was so much fun! We barely made it out in the nick of time,…read morewhich made it even more exciting. Definitely won't be my last escape room! It was a date night to remember!