Did the "Left at Home" room and it was a lot of fun! Jason was our game master and he was funny to work with and helpful throughout when we needed it. For the price in Chicago, it's a great place to go especially if you want a private room with only a few people. The room itself was a bit dated and used some lower quality props than some other rooms I've been to, but again, for the price, you can't beat it AND the game overall had some very fun and unique challenges built into it. Going to have to check out the 90's room next, Jason let us take a peek and it was super cool looking! read more

The Quandary Escape Rooms - Escaped! - Escape Games Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We did the Lab of the Lost room and had a blast! Will definitely come back to do other rooms.

Make appointments online because you can't walk in. I wish they had written this on their site because I wasn't 100% sure what time I'd be able to make it there because of traffic and decided to just wait. In other words, on their yelp page or wherever it should say by appointment only, to prevent people from wanting to walk in and then not understanding why no one's there. The price is steep, make sure to check in yelp for some money off. Four of us decided to do the 90s escape room. Some people might call me bitter because we didn't escape but I believe it was partially due to three things. 1 - not being set up correctly. About 20 minutes in, the game master realized and then had to throw in a key that we had been looking for for over 10 minutes. 2 - the clues that were given to use weren't very helpful. 3 - There was a big element that we were not able to solve/use because blockading it was a a label that pretty much said do not touch, this is not a clue (owner of Quandary, if you want me to take this down, let me know). However it was such a big part that we were not able to complete the room, which left a bad taste in all of our mouths. read more

SO MUCH FUN!!!! I came in twice in the last month. That's how much we loved it. We did Lab of the Lost and then Escape the 90's. Very well done. Staff was super friendly and helpful. I found Lab of the Lost a little easier than the 90's room. But both were very well done and I love the attention to detail in both. read more

This was my first in-person escape room. I thought I knew what to expect, but it was so much more. My mom brought two of my teenage nephews to town, and I was looking to fill the week with fun activities. The 16yo later named Quandary as his favorite hour of the week (over great meals, a Cubs game, the Willis Tower Skydeck, Millennium Park mini-golf and a ton of other activities). I highly recommend! read more

We did the Left at Home room and had a good time! There were plenty of puzzles, the theme was immersive, and the game master Katie was awesome and treated us well. Compared to other escape rooms we've done it definitely shows it's age and use, and it's not as high-tech or exciting in that way. Definitely could use an update in that regard. read more

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE the ideas behind the rooms at Quandary. During my trip to Chicago, a game master at another escape room told us a little about the Quandary and we thought the idea of creating rooms inspired by classic 90s flicks was a really cool concept. We were only able to do the "Left at Home" room during our trip, and there were a lot of things about the design of the rooms that I really liked. You can see as soon as you walk into the room that the game designer had a lot of really awesome ideas, but possibly not enough of a budget to execute all of those ideas to perfection, as a lot of the scenic is somewhat cheaply made and some of it was falling apart a little on our visit. I can appreciate that space in Chicago is not cheap and I love that this is not a big chain escape room like some of the options that we intentionally avoided like Fox in a Box. But there are some simple ways that things can be made somewhat more durable, and delicate things certainly have no place in an escape room. In this game, rather than escaping, the goal is to set up traps to thwart the burglars trying to break into your house on Christmas. Though not always amazingly executed, was one of my favorite things about the room. The way the room is laid out makes it clear that this is an escape room in an apartment building, which was kind of cool and quirky. The clue system was really cute and nicely themed, if not always the most helpful. There were a couple of puzzles that stood out as being really cool and gave me great "aha!" moments. But there were more "puzzles" that contained distracting red herrings and wild logic leaps. Red herrings, to me, are time wasters for rooms without quite enough puzzles to fill the time. The same can be said for overly difficult physical tasks, of which this room had one. If you're an escape room enthusiast visiting Chicago, this game has enough merits and unique aspects to warrant a visit. So I would definitely recommend this game to people who fall into that category. But if you're new to escape rooms, there are other escape rooms in the city that I would recommend checking out first. Overall, "Left at Home" was just a really cool concept whose execution didn't always allow it to live up to its greatest potential. read more

I am a a big fan of escape rooms and have done several of them throughout the Chicago area and a few other cities. Several weeks ago I wanted to bring a few of my friends who had never done an escape room before to the area to try and sell them. We had a really great time at the lab of the lost, a good mix of different types of puzzles and clues and everyone was able to contribute. There was one malfunction with one part, but our game master was able to catch it pretty quick and it didn't take away from the game. We are excited to come back in the future and potentially do the 90s or upcoming among us room. read more

Did my first escape room here last week with a group of 6 and had so much fun! We did the "escape the 90s" room and really appreciated the decorations, the nostalgic references, and the overall plot. The room was challenging... we were stubborn and didn't use any hints and got stuck on the last clue. Apparently the room only has a 31% pass rate, so definitely check it out if you want a challenge. The employees were cool and were super accommodating when some of our group came late. The temperature in our room did get pretty warm towards the end, but it was a crazy 95° day so it was what it was. Our group is looking forward to checking out the dinosaur room when it opens! read more

The Quandary Escape Rooms - Challenging but super fun room: Escape the 90s. 31% pass rate?! - Escape Games Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place was so much fun and very challenging. They help out as much as you feel you need which is nice if you get stuck. We will definitely do other rooms at this place for sure. A++ read more

We did the 90s escape game. I felt like the room was very cheaply made; especially since it was $35 a person. (Very expensive when you compare other area games) We got stuck on one of the clues for almost 30 mins, once we figured out our mistake it was a no brainer..I agree with others theres a puzzle that is skewed but needed in order to escape. Anyway if you're new to escaping its a good place to start but still not worth the money. read more

Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend spending your money here. While the staff was nice, I think the puzzles themselves were incredibly elementary, the rooms were cheaply made/videos were glitchy, and some puzzles malfunctioned and we had to skip them. I'm amazed at the good reviews here... people must never have done an escape the room before. If you've been to other rooms, you'll see how terribly made these were. At about $40/person, you would expect something more worthwhile. Hopefully the team who works here can take my advice and improve on the rooms. Otherwise, I would suggest staying away. read more

First of all!!! WE ESCAPED!!!!! (Escape the 90s Room) And we have Jackson to thank! He was so nice from beginning to end. We were running late, of course, so I called in. He said we were all good though! When we got there we had a brief explanation, we were a little confused at first, but we really made it to the very end! We had to use the messenger feature for a hint or two but he let us extend our time slot and we figured it all out! There was 6 of us aging from 39-29 years old, so very 90s lol. A tad more "puzzle solving " versus "trivia" than we thought it would be, but so fun. So cute. So nostalgic. Thanks Jackson!! read more

It was fun! My 12 and 10 year old enjoyed the Dino room. Game master Katie was awesome and helpful.

A group of four of us came and did two rooms here today. We all had a great time and would definitely recommend the experience to others. We started with the Home Alone based room. The decor fit the theme very well and was in good repair. It had a good variety of puzzles, including some that involved manual dexterity. Our group ended up finishing in about 45 minutes (we got one reminder that we hadn't used a code we figured out early on). We then did the Escape from the 90s themed room. Honestly, the music in this room was so good that we often found ourselves singing along with the songs instead of focusing on the puzzles. This room was significantly more challenging than the first room we did. It added an extra layer of difficulty by splitting us into two groups of two at first. We had to solve a number of challenging puzzles in order to reunite before we could work on escaping the room together. Once we were reunited we had to take a rapid inventory of all the puzzles the other two in our group had finished and what in their room remained to be done. We had one technical difficulty (a necessary light wasn't working), but this was recognized and addressed and we were still able to escape with 4 minutes to spare. We would definitely recommend this experience for groups of 4-8. Groups smaller than 4 would definitely have a hard time in the 90s themed room. read more

Highly recommended. I went with many 12 year olds and they enjoyed it very much. We did the Home Alone one. I would say that it might fun for a family too. Loved it! read more

This place is PHENOMENAL!!! First time I went was June to the "Left at Home" escape room. It was so unique and the puzzles were actually solvable, something I haven't gotten from other escape room. We just went to the dinosaur themed room and it was even better than the first. Everything is so interactive and makes me feel like I'm in a video game. We escaped with 1 minute to space. I love escape rooms and this place! Go here!!! read more

Great fun. Lab of the Lost is a well designed "escape room". A multi-room layout, rich details, and an interesting, solvable set of puzzles make for an excellent experience. We finished in 1 hour 6 minutes with 4 adults and one 8 year-old who couldn't solve any puzzles but had a lot of fun with the overall story and experience. We did get several helpful hints from our game master but that's better than wasting half your time on something that is not productive. read more

Bachelor party the other night, brought 8 people. We were the only ones there and weren't rushed to begin which was great because we had a few late comers. Whether or not they meant it, the people running the game were able to give off a fantastic 90s-I-don't-care-vibe- they were great. The game was fun, felt like I was in my own 90s room. Here's the issue: Earlier in the week, one of our friends called to check on hearing accessibility, and they assured her that there would be only one thing that needed to be heard and they would write it down. Unfortunately, in the 90s room, it was hearing that was one of the most necessary senses for this game. I cannot share why, otherwise I'd give away part of the game, but I was very disappointed with their inability to understand how important a sense it was in the game. She took it in stride, but I am just so bummed at how the situation unfolded. I hope you take note next time someone asks about accessibility. read more

Super fun for a group and not easy at all! We did NOT escape our room. I think we had too few people, with just five and none of us had done an escape room before and didn't really get how it worked. Next time I would ask for clues much sooner. read more

Had so much fun. Great place. Tougher than I thought, but the clues we're perfect. Highly recommend. Covid-savvy, friendly host. Go for it!

We had a similar experience to Brooks H. (review from 10/4/2018). The idea and props to the game were fun and creative. However, one or more of the essential clues to the game were missing/convoluted at best towards the end. THIS IS FOR THE ESCAPE FROM THE 90'S GAME. I'd be more specific but obviously don't want to give it away. Because of that, we felt cheated, in that it was essential impossible to win. The game master did not provide any relevant hints towards this. Also, he often responded to our requests for hints throughout the game with something we had already solved. After the game ended, game master was lackadaisical towards our concern for this. While we had fun, our goal is always to win. We've done over 10 escape rooms prior to this one, and never have we had an experience where the clues were essentially not solvable with poor game master monitoring. This left us with a sour taste in our mouth. Would like to return, but expected more. read more

I was a part of a team of 2 that did Lab of the Lost. We did not win, possibly due to the fact that there was a lot to do and 2 people might not have been enough to do it all. Regardless, we still had fun. The whole room looked really cool and it felt very immersive. The creative ways you could ask for clues were a nice touch. Will definitely return to try another room the next time I'm in Chicago. read more

Such a fun family escape room experience! Just hard enough and a different twist to what I have experienced before. Highly recommend.

So fun! We did the Home Alone themed room and it was great! Very clever and kept us on our toes the whole time.

Our group was very excited to try the escape from the 90's room and it was definitely a throwback with the technology, games, bands, etc. Unfortunately much of what was in the rooms was somewhat low quality and things such as pictures hanging on the wall were already on the ground (not re-set up well)? We ended up not escaping, thinking we just couldn't figure out the last few clues. It turned out that a few of the clues were MISSING essential pieces but the employee monitoring us didn't notice/didn't care. In the end, we had no way to actually solve all the puzzles and left feeling kind of ripped off. I don't even think we got an apology. read more

Escape the 90s and Home Alone!! Such an amazing escape room concept - outside your typical ones

Brought my kids (12 year olds) for the Home alone escape room and they loved it. The experience was made better by Anya who was their guide. Both my boys commented on how helpful and friendly she was. Thank you Anya for making the experience great for them! It was their first escape room alone and they loved it! read more

My friends and I did the Escape the 90s room. We had a great time! We could tell there was a lot of thought put into the room and the puzzles that we needed to solve to "escape". The puzzles were challenging and kept our interest. Highly recommend checking it out! read more

Had such a good time threw me back to the 90's literally. Very mentally challenging will def recommend to my friends for sure!!!

Our first experience with escape rooms was the 'Left At Home' at the Quandary. The set-up was clever and all the more appealing because it seemed rather cheap and thrown together--just like in the movie of a similar title. Our five-person group did need help on a few clues, but we were able to make it through successfully with five seconds remaining at the end. The booking process was easy and the on-site help friendly and accommodating. Our family will come back in the future for another game. read more

So much fun! The puzzles were challenging but you are allowed to ask for clues. All of us had never escaped an escape room before (lol) but we tried one here and just barely made it out in time with help from the clues (and I mean barely!) They have different rooms going on and themes with each one having different difficulties. It's a newer escape room company and we were impressed! Thank you for the fun time! read more

I had a great escape room experience at Quandry. It was so creative and unique. The puzzles has the right amount of challenge, and the solutions were so satisfying. I would definitely go again. read more

Terrible customer service. We came as a group of 17 year olds not knowing of their policy of needing to be 18+. We didn't receive a full refund and on top of that we were given the middle finger by the disgusting lady that works there. If you want a nice time I definitely do NOT recommend choosing here. It Was in a sketchy area and we left unhappy and with a disgusting feeling. read more

We did the 'Left at Home' room. Easy to reserve and pay online. The staff there is great, friendly, and very accommodating. The room we did was well crafted and themed. When we needed hints, the clues were cleverly written. Overall lots of fun. I had my 7 and 12-year-old there and they were very engaged. Looking forward to doing more of these at the Quandary Escape Room! read more

The Quandary is a really neat local escape room! How they designed the space in an old apartment building was really well done. The Left at Home room has a cool theme and plenty of unique puzzles that stay on brand. My sister and I have done many escape rooms and thoroughly enjoyed this one. Our game master Ben was very helpful and awesome. Definitely check this place out! read more

Really cool escape room. We escaped the 90's and it really takes you back. I've don't several rooms around the country and this is just as fun as any of them read more

We loved going through this escape room. We have been to a few escape rooms in other locations, but the "Left at Home" escape room was quite unique compared to what we have done previously. I would say the room was on the more difficult side than others we have been to, which made it great for more experienced people like our group. It was well thought out, clever, and involved much more than just getting out of the room. read more

The Home Alone version was perfect for my family. The 11 year old helped as much as the 68 year old (in different ways). They are still talking about it a week later. It helped that we all knew the movie so that we understood why our tasks were assigned. It was fun and engaging. I highly recommend this if you have kids. If you don't have kids, Home Alone would still be a lot of fun, but if you have a lot of escape room experience, you may enjoy something more challenging. read more

Great escape room. It has lots of fun Easter egg references throughout adding to the overall experience. The puzzles were tough enough to give a thrill when they were solved yet still solvable. Really enjoyed the entire experience! read more