Deep Dive--"Atlantis Rising" Provides a Watery Challenge! Hello, everyone! Christian Krenek, the Dauphin d'Escape Rooms, is back with another review! I first heard that PanIQ was opening a location in Boston back in September of 2021, and gathered some friends (all escape room and puzzling pros!) to head there in March of '22 for my birthday (and 35th room total!). We chose "Atlantis Rising," a deep-sea adventure. Your goal is twofold: make your way into the sunken city of Atlantis, and then recover whatever treasure you can find inside. The room design is top-notch, especially because the space is relatively small. The Atlantis section is particularly well-done, with mood lighting and mysterious underwater sounds. Our group did have a slight problem seeing some of the effects, which is intentional (it's murky in the sea!). It might help to bring along a flashlight! The best part of any escape room, though, is the puzzles, and PanIQ did NOT disappoint on that front. I was particularly impressed by the number of tactile puzzles in the room--lots of hands-on and interactive challenges. PanIQ also does a good job of making sure that there multiple puzzles to work on at once, thus avoiding bottlenecks and getting people stuck. It CAN be overwhelming--the room is a full sensory experience--but there are plenty of opportunities for breaks if you need them! My only advice to potential players: go with a small group. We had six adults ranging in size from small to large, and the room only holds seven--and speaking frankly, at times we felt the crunch! :p I think this room would be ideal for a group of three or four players, but we still had a blast with six, so don't let that discourage you. If you DO go with a big group, though, be ready to split up and tackle multiple challenges! All in all, our trip to the depths was a success (we escaped with 15 minutes to spare--that's 29 wins, 6 losses for me!), and we're excited to return to PanIQ to see what their remaining three games have in store. Until then, have fun, everyone! read more

Probably my one of my least favorite escape room of the many Ive done. We did The Red Wire room, ranked as medium difficulty but is definitely intermediate. Game master gave us hints over the loud speaker unprompted/unasked and spoiled the game multiple times for us. Like dude, just give us a second. An incredibly important unlock is done by pulling on the decor, which we were instructed not to do, so he had to tell us to do it. The climatic end puzzle didn't work because the technology didn't work. We figured it out, did it right but it didn't say it was correct. So we spent the next almost 10 minutes trying to figure it out a different way only to be told that we just needed to do it slower and we were correct. Like what?? To improve this room: 1. Provide paper (needed to keep track of numbers, if you did this room you know exactly what I mean) 2. Label it as intermediate the puzzle alone is reason enough but oh my god- I wouldn't spoil it because that's rude but there were multiple times that it was INSANE like the "" puzzle was actually the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. 3. Fix the tech or at least provide the needed info: If a code needs to be typed in slowly, say that. One of the code input screens you barely had the ability of a touch screen so you had to slam your finger into it. 4. If your room is so dysfunctional that your game master is forced to give unprompted hints, that's a sign to get back to the drawing board. What I will say is this game had two very impressive technical aspects, sadly they were part of two extremely difficult puzzles but still, impressive. Overall, for the hefty price and very high ratings this place has, we were extremely disappointed and honestly angry. We have done around 12 escape rooms as a group and have never been through one so dysfunctional and disjointed, with a Game Master who actively ruined our game but was also forced too at some points due to the room's issues. Thank god I brought some good friends so at least the company was enjoyable. Refund wanted for sure. read more

I went in with a big group and I think it was fun to do with friends, however I didn't like the room itself. I thought that the puzzles weren't cohesive and there was no narrative, so we didn't really get what we were doing and why. The puzzles itself were fine, not that satistfying. We ended up having to do a puzzle but it was a waste of time because the lock for the key was already unlocked without it. If you need something to do with friends, it's a good option. Otherwise, I think there are more narrative and cohesive escape rooms elsewhere. read more

I had a great time at paniq room! I think it's cool that they only do private parties and they are still reasonably priced. I did the Atlantis room and had so much fun. The technology is pretty well integrated and I was impressed. read more

Very fun experience, went recently and had a good time. Smaller than I expected but still fun

We had a blast here! The staff is young and friendly and they stay in character from when you enter to when you leave. We did the insane asylum room and we had 60 mins to complete. The audio in the room was a bit quiet so we didn't hear the story which probably would've helped. So even though you're excited be sure to listen to the staff and to the audio that plays. The games are difficult but not impossible. We needed a bunch of hints but the hints are extremely clear. Also, some of the puzzles need some adjustments because there were times we got the puzzle correct but nothing would happen. You need to use a little strength at times and other times when you think you're correct you just need to wait a second or two. All in all this was extremely fun and would go back to do the other rooms in a heart beat; it's just a little expensive. read more

PanIQ Escape Room - Boston - Escape Games Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We did one of the rooms here with three people. It had a lot of potential, but unfortunately wasn't well-maintained. In one particular case what would have been a really neat mechanic turned out to have been abandoned because it was no longer physically working, turning it into a red herring. I'm giving it three stars because the ideas were nice, and if it had been working well I think it would have been pretty cool. We also did manage to have a reasonable time with the room overall despite the physical infrastructure issues. read more

Did the Atlantis Escape room. High production value (great details, immersive, felt like a TV/movie set). Puzzles were challenging but still solvable. Completed in 57 minutes in a group of 2 people and used about 6 hints. I like that there's a button for getting a hint in the room. Hints were actual hints that helped push you in the right direction without telling you the answer. read more

We had so much fun! It is a bit expensive but worth the cost for two boogers to play in the real world. Yay.

This was one of, if not the worst escape room I've done. We go to escape rooms in every city we visit. Normally the clues lead you from one thing to the next. The red wire had zero clues. It was basically pull on things and hope you're right. Very disappointing especially for the price. read more

We had a great time doing a four-person escape room and got out with minutes to spare! The puzzles were intriguing and made far more interesting use of the space than past escape rooms I have done. The staff were really accommodating and fun. We already have plans to return to the venue and try a different theme at another time! read more

SO HARD!! Me and my two other teammates couldn't get out of the asylum room! Very tricky, but hey think outside the box ;)

Pretty good but could use a bit more sophistication in the rooms. Might return again, not sure.

This was such a cool room -- they did A LOT with not much space. We did the Atlantis-themed room, and I was so impressed with the decor, attention to detail, the variety of puzzles, and the helpfulness of our guide, Cedric. Even with the challenge of the room we successfully solved all the puzzles and escaped, but I would say this room is best if you are experienced with puzzle rooms. We'll come back for sure! read more

I have been to PanIQ twice now and had great experiences both times. They offer multiple rooms with a variety of both difficulty levels and puzzles which kept us guessing the whole time! I really loved the themes of the rooms and thought the game masters did a wonderful job of providing assistance when necessary. I definitely would recommend PanIQ for your next escape room adventure! read more

Super cool space with friendly staff and fun & challenging rooms! A 10/10 experience all around, my friends & I definitely plan on returning to try another room. read more

We had fun! 2 Adults and a 15 year old. The website made it look like it was going to be WAY scary. The puzzles were hard to solve....we needed many "hints". It def gets the wheels turning in the the brain! read more