Last minute Aug 2019 Fri night escape room with my brood. In short, it's an overpriced NO FRILLS place that, when compared to local competitors, falls short in start to finish quality and experience. Sad since it was our sons' first EscRm. Brandon was nice over the phone, sharing availability and suggesting the lone family friendly room (90's). Booked via SPER website, code made it $90 for 6 ppl, no tax. PRO TIP: check Groupon, add coupon code at checkout for even lower cost. Dark parking lot amplified awkward traffic flow/points of entry and exit; nearly hit by an exiting car while we waited for a space. Inside was open and definitely minimalistic; liked the ping pong table but chuckled at the single (10x13) framed paper logo sign above "the desk," staffed by a female employee that only handled waivers. When I asked how long they were open, she said "after you're done." #Welcome Brandon fumbled through the clunky scenario introduction before walking us up to the room. Some good retro aspects (boom-box, Simon, ET doll, etc) BUT, overall, pretty low rent decor: worn carpet, pixelated color printer "posters," analog wall timer. Ironically, this is a tad reflective of the 90's but mostly my knock against the quality. Lackluster puzzles, challenges, and tasks. A key mistakenly opened 2 different padlocks. #QualityControl. We probably won't return, even if they do deploy more family friendly scenarios. VB escape Room has $90 special for 6 ppl with waaaay more innovation and better crafted scenarios. read more

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Our group of 5 came in for the Halloween room at 8:30. When hubby and I pulled up, we were a bit taken back since there was just a plain sign with its name and the windows were blank. I mistook it for an abandoned building. I came in and the room was spacious and open with some corn holes and a ping pong table. I signed in and waited for the rest of my group. They were in the process of training staff, so our introduction was told to us by a trainee. She was ok, but could have been more excited about it. We were showed upstairs to the room and explained the story. The room had good props. We ended up missing a clue because they had curtains closing the room off and another set after the first set of curtains. It was a bit confusing. We had a great time. It was fun! I'd go back again for sure and check out the other rooms. read more

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This shouldn't work. But it does. Actually, the success behind the Smartypants 90's room makes quite a lot of sense, but for all the wrong reasons. Walking into the business is disheartening to the point of disturbing. With other businesses having nicely designed lobbies that are well maintained, it's jarring to walk into what looks like a badly cared for indoor dog park. The random guy sitting out in the open eating dinner and watching tv didn't help in the slightest either. Like I said, it shouldn't work. But it does. Why it works is because the 90's room is unambitious enough that it ends up being a success. The set up is fantasy/sci-fi-y enough. Your best friend has built a time machine and gone back to the 90's and sucked you in with her. If you ever hope to get back home to your real time, you'll have to escape your friend's high school bedroom. But that is where the fantasy ends, leaving you in a teenager's bedroom back in the 90's which ends up being perfect. The rather plain looking room is perfect because you're just in a plain old teenager's bedroom. The gen one lock and key based puzzles are perfect because, again, you're in a plain old 90's bedroom. It shouldn't work and yet it really really does. If you do escape rooms for the escapism and lavishly decorated settings, you might want to give this one a miss. As immersion goes it's fairly accurate with era appropriate posters on the walls, boom-boxes with tape decks and even a pager (omg who remembers those?!). But the problem with being accurate is that it isn't very exciting. What is exciting is just how good the puzzles are. Now, this is all very low tech. That means lots of combination locks and paper notes (for those who haven't done any rooms before or only one or two, that's what we call a gen one room). But there's some genuine creativity that went into the design of this game. There was one surprise puzzle we got to late in the game that had us laughing and basking in nostalgic joy. In this room, puzzles incorporate the era to perfect effect, not just leaning on the 90's on a superficial level. What that does mean, though, is while prior knowledge isn't necessary, it is a HUGE advantage. There were two puzzles that we solved with the help of outside knowledge, so 90's kids should in particular should do well in this room. A rather modest difficulty level combined with low tech classic escape room sensibilities makes this a great room for newer players. Those that demand high tech and elaborate settings will likely want to steer clear, but if you just want to scratch that puzzle solving itch, this room has some pretty neat tricks up its sleeve to satisfy your cravings. Just try not to get bogged down by the unfortunately unprofessional exterior. read more

This is only the latest addition to the escape room businesses that have sprung up in VB the past few years. And having been to most, of not all of them, this place is definitely green. Having done two of their rooms already, Halloween escape (aka Cassie's revenge) and the 90's room, I feel I can give an adequate review. The clues are creative , good for a beginner to intermediate player. My biggest complaint is their professionalism. The game masters are not very enthusiastic and they do not make an effort to preserve the "magic". During the Halloween room, one locks was broken and the other was already unlocked. In the 90's room, the game master came into our room after only asking the first clue. I strongly felt he did not have to enter the room and could have clued us in through the perfectly working walkie talkie. I felt a little annoyed by the noises he made and side commentary as we worked our way through the rest of our room. Definitely needs improvement I working out the kinks with staff and the logistics of their rooms. read more

Smarty Pants Escape Rooms - Escape Games Near Me - Virginia Beach, Virginia

We had the privilege of visiting there last Saturday night and what a very wonderful and exciting evening! we have never visited an escape room before and this was beyond our highest expectations. The owner/operator did a great job of indoctrinating us to the game. We would go back there in a minute! Highly recommended! read more

Smarty Pants Escape Rooms - Escape Games Near Me - Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Not worth the money. Crappy rooms poorly put together. The clues were not staged in any order. A kid could have set this room up. The lady was very nice at the desk and for assistance that's the reason for 2 stars read more

We just finished the 90's room with 4 people and about 10 minutes to spare. I loved the theme and we had a lot of fun. The staff was very friendly and checked in on us whenever we had problems with the locks. I would definitely come back if we're ever in the area again! read more

This place is great! Fun and friendly staff! Apparently my review is too short despite me meaning what I say so I'm going to extend this post because Yelp is being annoying. read more

Imagine you put your 8 year old in charge of creating an escape room, gave him access to your old dirty shed and $20. This was worse than what he would come up with. We paid $60 for four of us to escape from the "bomb" room. The room was dirty with the paneling coming off the walls. The "puzzles" were so bad and obscure that they weren't really solvable. And there were only three things to actually figure out. When we were unsuccessful with "disarming" the bomb, we just reset it. It was a really bummer of a night. We've done several escape rooms and this doesn't even rank. They need to start over from scratch with this one. read more

If I could give this place zero stars I would. My friends and I just left and we're unable to finish our room due to lack of preparation to our room. There was a missing key so we have to end the time short. We paid almost $50 for this room and were unable to get a refund even though we were unable to get what we paid for. The manager refused to let us speak with the owner or give us his contact info. We asked if there was a time we could come in and talk to the owner and she told us he does not come in. We are very disappointed in the lack customer service. Do not recommend. Try other escape rooms. There are much better and professional rooms for a better price. read more

They worst escape room I have ever done. We did Cassie's story. Was set up so terrible, but we still finished it super early. Was not even fun. It was also extremely hot in the room and the people that were in room with us were not fun people either. I've done tons of escape rooms and absolutely love doing them. But this one was a huge disappointment and waste of money. The workers were nice, but also strange. The only positive I can reAlly say is that they had corn hole to play while you waited. Other than that. It was a huge fail. read more

We did the 90s room and I guess I didn't have too high of expectations seeing the outside of it but I had hope that the room was going to be better. It totally disappointed me when I walked in and it looked more like a half-assed put together display from goodwill. Moving on, we started solving the puzzle and realized one of the lock boxes was already open. Alright so we get to the end and cant solve the puzzle because it's actually some quote we've never heard. The only reason I rated this 2 stars is because the employees were super friendly but I would not come back again. read more

This was our first time at an Escape Room! It was so much fun and it was definitely challenging. When we first got there though they had a problem with the room's props and we had to set our start time back an hour. However, the promised us a spot in the room that we requested at first. After the hour, we came back and were able to do our escape room task. I definitely recommend the Halloween one! read more

If you've been to other escape rooms, you might find this one to be a little simpler than most. This is definitely a new start up but it was still great! We did the 90s room in about 45 min. It was creative and fun. One of the locks was broken but it didn't affect too much. I would suggest having a better intro/backstory to the room and explaining rules. Most games I've been to make you lock up your phones and then you watch a video or listen to the story of the room to get into game mode. Something like this could be a great addition. But overall we still had a lot of fun! Check them out. read more

I'm giving it a "2" for the potential and the price. We did the "Bomb" room which was ok but beyond frustrating at the end. We get all the way to the last part to diffuse the bomb and there is a key hint missing!!! What. The. Eff. We also had the pleasure of listening to the people in the room next to us screaming and as I was standing next to the wall it felt like someone was coming through - that thin. Everyone who works there is very nice - except for when we point out a key hint is missing we just get a shrug. Thank goodness for discount codes - however I will not be back to this escape room. read more

What a great experience for an early afternoon date. We completed the 90s room in 55 minutes. This is my first experience doing an escape room challenge and it exceeded my expectations. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, and the walkie-talkies to help us when we ran into a snag worked great. I look forward to returning to try another room. read more

Extremely friendly staff. Our family greatly enjoyed digging for clues to solve the room. It was an interesting experience that had us all working together. I would recommend to anyone who's looking for good family fun. read more

Had lots of fun doing the Escape the 90's room. The hour went by quick trying to solve all the clues.

Our night started out really fun with ping pong and corn hole in the waiting room. Then, we were led up the stairs into another waiting room. Come to find out that this is actually the escape room. Super disappointing, - small room - lazy/non-creative riddles - cheap props - paneling coming off of the walls However, it seems that other people had fun in their rooms. Just try to avoid the bomb room I guess. read more

The worst experience of my entire life. Was not able to finish the room because the manager who set up the room forgot to put the key to that last clue we needed to find under the table she specifically told us it was under. She comes into the room, says oh i thought i put it here. The most unprofessional place i have ever been to in my life. And refused to give refund after paying 50 dollars for her to come in and say whoops forgot to put the last key.... do not come here read more

Loved it!! I'd never been to an escape room so i didn't know what to expect and it completely blew me out of the water! The staff was great, super friendly and helpful; they really sold the experience and helped without giving away TOO much and making it too easy. We did the Escape The 90s room and it was super realistic and immersive! Perfect for a beginner like me. Overall wonderful experience! read more

We did the 90's escape room and let me tell you that it's very fun.We ended up solving and escaping the room.My sister is 9 and she help out so much with looking for stuff in the room to unlocking codes and she doesn't even know half of the 90's things. Definitely recommend coming here. read more

I loved it from the beginning to the end. The customer service was above and beyond. Then the actually room was very thought out and cleverly done. I will definitely come again. read more

Very cool place and not too expensive especially if you find a coupon! I did the 90s room and it was awesome. Really took you back. The puzzles were very well done. The staff was great and attentive. Def go if you have considered it or not. read more

Had a great time doing the 90s themed room! Got to walk through the others and they look fun too! Will be back.