Lockdown Escape

Upgrading to 5 stars for the Nuclear Crisis room. This one was pretty amazing. Zero lockboxes, all the puzzle solves had cool results, and all the puzzles were logical. We needed one hint for something that needed truly outside the box thinking, but it made me think «cool!» and not «unreasonable!».
I would say this room is on par with Guess HQ’s The Heist in terms of overall fun, with slightly better puzzles but slightly poorer prop quality.
After doing Prison Detective in July, we asked a staff member which room was his favourite and he told us to try this one. Great recommendation, thanks!

It’s amazing. I’ve been to few other room escapes but Lockdown is the best of all!
First of all, we received the groupon as a gift but it’s only valid for Mon-​Thu. All of us work full time so only able to go on the new year day. They didn’t black out the statutory holiday which was a surprise to us. Unfortunately, the day was fully booked at the time we called but they opened early just to accommodate the volume of booking.
Like I said, this is not the only room escape I’ve been to but it’s the only one that’s so digitalized. It not only has clues to open combo locks. It’s way more than then plus timed effects that get you into the mood. It offers a full hour, rather than merely 45 minutes as well.
Keep it up! Good job

Came to Richmond looking for something to do to kill time and stumbled upon this. We were not allowed to team up with people we don’t know, which in most places allow. So, we were signed up for the Abandoned Dormitory for two people. We couldn’t do a online booking because it required at least 4 people to book.
You would need to arrive 15 minutes ahead, read a release form, and sign a waiver to get started. Their bathroom is right behind the curtain on the left. You’ll want to go before starting.
We were either allowed to put our belongings in their lockers or our cars, but no cell phone etc. They showed a 15 minute introductory video explaining the lock types and what we will encounter so we don’t freak out.
We were then taken to the room. in our case, it was the ⁴⁄₅ star spooky and the easiest according to the website. Our host stayed with us for a little bit, explaining that no climbing is needed, that anything nailed on or glued on should stay that way, and then left us by ourselves. They showed us a 30 second video on the basic story line and after the video ends, the timer starts.
No spoilers or anything.
The room was scary, it was rich with detailed, and the technology they used made everything seemed more realistic.
It’s too bad we couldn’t team up with people or we would have given it a full 5 stars.
Overall it was a great idea, it was our first time with an escape room, and according to our host we were three steps away from escaping. I think that was pretty good for two people.
It was a bummer though, I would actually have had to climb to find one of the clues because my partner had missed it, but I wasn’t tall enough to see it, so for more petit (e) people, good luck.
The best part was getting that adrenaline rush and knowing that you won’t be locked in there forever because thank goodness, it’s just a simulation.

We played our first map at E-​Exit and our second map at Lockdown and it was so much better than the other place and it was cheaper too! It has electrical and mechanical features, music, ambiance, and all the clues were challenging but made sense! Don’t go to E-​Exit, go to Lockdown!
(Update a few months later) — So we got hooked and have played about 30 rooms at various different places now and this place is actually still our favourite! The Abandoned Dormitory and Nuclear Crisis is a must-​try! Too bad some of their rooms can’t be done with less than 4 or 6 people :(

Way more fun than other room escapes I’ve been to. Whereas others are all about finding codes to open locks, Lockdown is mechanical and you have to use objects in different ways to progress through the room. I also appreciate that they give you a full hour, rather than the 45 minutes most places do.
We played Abandoned Dormitory, the horror theme, and it was eerie enough that my friend and I were clutching the bible and cross props as we moved around.

Totally FUN but overpriced! There was 4 of us total at $ 25/​per person.
After choosing which room you want to take a shot at the workers will go over the rules/​safety and possible lock types with you.
You have one hour to find clues and try to escape the room. We chose the escaped prisoner room which starts with everyone in handcuffs. This was the hardest room and we got a little over 85% done. Wish we could have finished it
Remember, don’t spend a lot of time one 1 thing. You’ll regret it later.
Cool thing, you get 2 clues from the workers if needed throughout the hour.
I will eventually go back, hopefully with a Groupon of some sort.

Great fun! First time experiencing the ‘escape room concept’ and did the Prison Detective escape with three friends. Four of us scratched our heads trying to get out of handcuffs and then the prison cell. Really, really enjoyed our time. Staff was very friendly and super about everything. Our time in the prison was one hour, however there wasn’t a booking immediately after and though the hour was up and we had failed to escape the staff allowed us extra time to keep trying… still after an hour and a half we were stuck. (We did manage to get out of the handcuffs in the first ten minutes though). The concepts are brilliant and puzzles are great. I will DEFINITELY be back. All four of us in the group commented that we’d be into doing this again. Highly recommended!

I’ve tried 5 different ones so far, this is by far the most unique one and most enjoyable. I didn’t pass it, but we all enjoyed it. It was call somethings will happen on sequence such as lights going out when certain tasks are completed. I recommend this to everyone.

[Jailbreak]
I had no intention of letting my Lockdown Groupon go to waste so I grabbed three friends and made an appointment. Prison Detective was the only theme available on short notice and despite the ⁵⁄₅ difficulty rating, we went for it.
This place rivals my current favorite (Exit) for three different reasons. One — you are given 60 minutes instead of the standard 45. Two, the puzzles are well laid out and very imaginative. Third, the explanation and setup. To start, they showed us several lock types we would encounter and how each one opened. There was actually a video we had to watch before it started. The entire room is computer controlled and sound effects will let you know when you did something right.
This particular theme was difficult but not unsolvable. The quality and quantity of the puzzles (not all lock-​based) made it a satisfying experience despite our apparent failure at clearing the final room. There’s a lot of detail packed into each room and to make it even better, you start off in handcuffs. Awesome! The staff here were very friendly and helpful. We were given 2 hints but they gave us a freebie as one of us used one for a dumb moment that was glaringly obvious.
Compared with other room escape shops in town, I’d say Lockdown is arguably top 2. It’s the best compromise of quality, value, and satisfaction out there. I only wish they had more than 3 themes to choose from.
***4.5 Stars***

My friends and I definitely enjoyed Lockdown Escape. We’ve tried 2 other Room Escapes in Vancouver and what made Lockdown Escape MUCH better was the story-​telling right when you enter the room. We also liked that there wasn’t a lot of combination locks which makes other Room Escapes tedious. The room that we chose, Abandoned Dormitory, was also one of the scariest rooms out of all in Vancouver. Although we did not complete the room, we had a lot of fun and will definitely be returning for other rooms. The staff was very nice and provided excellent customer service.

Was a lot of fun. We are a family of 4 with older teens. It was a good time for all of us (despite the fact that our personalities/​interests are so wildly different). 3 of us had done freeing canada before and I think Lockdown Escape and Freeing Canada are the best 2 escape room companies in the lower mainland at the moment as they both have something unique that the other companies don’t offer (Lockdown Escape has interesting computerized things happening, and Freeing Canada you try to solve who done it as well as escape). Highly recommended!

After doing 5 room escape puzzles in the past, I thought I’ve seen it all — until my friends and I decided to do an impromptu challenge at Lockdown.
Right after losing my 5^th challenge, we drove here and I immediately noticed the huge posters on the wall, each depicting a room. After reading a disclaimer which they made us do (none of the other venues made us do it), they told us we had one hour vs what other companies had — 45 mins. We chose the Abandoned Dormitory. As soon as we walked in, I thought it was bizarre that we only had to get out of the one room. Spoiler alert — there is a second room. Anyway I loved that they put more thought into the décor and that the room was super interactive (I’m not spoiling anything for you anymore, sorry!). We watched a video to help set the mood and then our timer started to count down. Hints are given by staff if you’re stuck and although they only had a limit of 2 clues, the extra 15 mins really made a huge difference.
If you’re thinking of doing a room escape challenge, give Lockdown a shot. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend and would go again.

We heard many good things about this place, and as far as I’m concerned, it led up to expectation! The lobby seemed pretty accommodating, large sofas and even small puzzles and brain teasers to tinker with while waiting. The lady who explained our room was thorough, I found their laydown of the locks in their room extremely helpful and thoughtful.
We ended up choosing Death Trap, even though we had new timers in our group and Abandoned Dormitory was recommended. The rooms themselves were very well done, with the décor matching their theme nicely. The amount of functional technology and effects was astounding, and definitely justified the «movie» feel we heard so much about. We were given one hour, instead of the standard 45 minutes other facilities provide, which we needed (both a positive and negative). The thing that hindered my experience the most, and warranting the four star instead of a five, was the service, particularly the help they gave and their overall presence during the game. Whenever we asked for a hint, they either just gave us the answer or gave us a very vague hint and left immediately after. There was even a time where the staff came in with an answers book, breaking the illusion that they knew what they were doing and that we weren’t wasting our time as they flipped through their book. Regardless, my party and I enjoyed the experience! This was one of my first successes in escape rooms in general (with a minute to spare!), and we will probably come back to try their other rooms! Still a lot better than a majority of other escape facilities for sure!

We went with a group of 6 and did the Abandon Dormitory escape room. It was really great! Loved that everything was electronic and so you would solve puzzles and you would then hear rumbling elsewhere or doors would automatically open. Really good fun!

Went with a group of 5 with a Groupon, all first-​timers to this sort of thing.
We chose the Abandoned Dormitory room, and it was fun! At first we were skeptical about the «Level 3» difficulty being the lowest difficulty for their escape rooms, but it turned out to be a good challenge even for 5 of us.
The automated nature of the puzzles is also pretty cool. You get the sense that you’re really in control of what’s going on, and it makes for a more «realistic» experience.
The staff were also really friendly and helpful in explaining how everything works.
I’d go back again!