Guess Hq

Guess HQ is SO much fun! Highly recommended.
I’ve done «Into the Depths» and «the Heist,» and both exceeded my expectations. The puzzles are super clever (but not impossible), and the atmosphere/​props are amazing; I really felt like we were in a spy movie!
We got about 95% done for both before the time ran out (argh). Overall, I preferred the Heist (Into the Depths was a bit creepier and more physical). Both are great, though, and you can sometimes get a nice Groupon deal. If you’re considering going, do it! You won’t regret it.
One non-​spoilery tip: listen carefully to all the instructions you’re given.

I came here with three friends for Under the Depths, and we loved our game. We managed to win with a thrilling last minute escape.
The story for the adventure is good, and the puzzles flow into each other nicely so that you get a good flow from one to another. Will probably come back for The Heist.

I went here with my boyfriend. We came in with no expectations. Right off the bat, we were pleasantly surprised that all bookings were private (we have been to competitors in Richmond and noticed that they would group groups together to form groups of 6 to maximize profit). It is fantastic this place prioritizes the customer’s experience over their own profit.
We tried the «Into the Depths» room. The room was really hands on. It really felt like we were real agents of Guess HQ sent into an underground mine (I should note that I have worked underground at a mine for 4 months before and felt that they did a wonderful job with the décor). They gave us walkie-​talkies and hardhats and a whiteboard to record our thoughts. At no point during the game were we stumped for too long and begging for clues. We were, however, spending a long time searching for a clue, and the staff contacted us via the telecom and asked us if we needed a clue – my point being that the staff do a really good job watching how the group progresses and offers assistance if he/​she feels the group isn’t enjoying themselves. We took the clue (we were about to ask ourselves). After 40 minutes our time was up. We had a lot of fun.
We want to go back. This time we are thinking of booking 2 rooms back-​to-​back to extend our time. I don’t think anyone is smart enough to finish a room on their first try. Right now, I know they have two rooms open, and are currently building a third. We were told that you get 50% off a room you have done before after trying all of the other rooms fyi. Very clever marketing scheme.

This was the first escape room that I had ever done so I went in with zero expectations and it blew my mind! Fast forward 8 months later and 10 other escape room adventures later at different locations, and my favorite escape room still goes to Guess HQ.
The staff are incredibly theatrical and engaging, who care about the storyline that they’re telling us. I felt both excited and nervous walking into the rooms, as opposed to bored and indifferent, which is how I usually feel going into these things.
The room itself was great. We did both the rooms available to us and we loved both! It’s very clear that this particular escape room had a LOT more money invested in it than any other room. The décor, the technology, EVERYTHING made it an amazing experience. It really doesn’t compare to any other escape room — believe me. I’ve been to a lot of other escape rooms and I can’t believe I was so lucky to find this one first. Plus, they have the occasional Groupon for you to try as well!

This is not the Typical Escape Room. You are not trying to escape. If you want to escape just walk out from the entrance where you came in. This is totally different from what I had in mind. Before going in, I thought there would be lots of puzzle and clues and things that needed to be solved. Well not quite really what I had in mind. You are trying to play the hero and you are given a mission to complete. So we are a group of 8 and yes there are a few puzzles. But Because of the number of people we had, we didn’t really have one person as the leader. So we had people contributing all over the place. This game is highly on team work.
I can’t give out too much. But I really enjoy every bit of it. We didn’t complete the mission within the 45 mins time frame. We were very close. We were about 80% done.
Lots of laser and high tech gadgets. Pay attention to the sheet that is given at the beginning. You have to have a leader that will lead and plan or else you be like us running around every where.
Love this place and would want to come back for more games.

We went here for a friend’s birthday and we did the Heist. From the moment that they ask for a password before entering the building, the entire experience was incredibly immersive in doing the mission. Some escape rooms, you’ve got unenthusiastic staff but here, they were quite friendly and even explained that Guess HQ was the mastermind idea of a video game designers and film junkies.
The puzzles weren’t too hard (compared with some other escape rooms I’ve done around Vancouver) and didn’t pull on some obscure details from the room. Don’t want to spoil too much for people that are thinking about going but the props and set were high quality.
We’ll definitely be coming back to try the next couple missions!

[The Heist]
This isn’t my first escape room adventure and after going to Locked Canada, where I had a better experience than Tixe, I was hoping my experience at Guess HQ would be as good as Locked Canada, but it way exceeds Locked in every way, shape or form. I don’t remember having a lot of puzzles to solve at Guess HQ. One thing about the other escape rooms I was frustrated with was that I had to unlock actual locks to open boxes which then contained a hint to unlock another lock and another and so forth. Guess HQ was different!
My group’s mission was to execute a heist. The setting was so realistic, the challenges all made sense and I really felt like I was in an actual heist. My group and I had so much fun!
Everything was very sophisticated, from the introduction where we were actually provided a back story from a person and video clips. I really appreciate not dumped into a room with no explanation at all — which was what some other escape room did.
The only thing Guess HQ could improve on is maintenance of screens. Our timer screen blacked out half way into the game. One of the other screens we need also didn’t work. We were provided walkie talkies for one part of our mission, but previous players had headsets which would have helped soooo much. We were given the explanation that players broke the super expensive headsets so they had to use walkies instead. Too bad… I just wished I experienced Guess HQ earlier so that everything was in spanking brand new condition.
Our team got through the mission and based on the scoring system, did way above average, which was a plus.
Me and my teammates are planning to return to try the other room soon!

I went to GUESS HQ for their Halloween themed escape game. I went in a group of 4, pretty good sized group in my opinion. When the employee was explaining the story to us, she made it sound super scary so we expected creepy props and things running after us. It wasn’t really scary, it was just dark, and a lot of tacky props were used. We thoguht we’d be on our own with a flashlight but the employee was there to lead the way and play a role in our escape game. She kept telling us to look for certain things and go a certain way, so we didn’t really need to figure anything out… which kind of spoiled the game. We felt like we were rushed to go through the rooms so the next group could start. We were told that the game was 45 minutes, but it only took us 15 minutes to «escape». The one thing that I liked about GUESS HQ is that you’re not locked up in one room, you actually get to go through different rooms to try to get out.

I used a groupon for a group of four. a great mix of suspense and realistic puzzles. I can’t stand games that make you open locks by solving random math questions. Highly recommended on a rainy Vancouver night.

This place has a lot of hype and always seems to be booked up but I think it might be because they were on Groupon for such a long time. We’ve done between 25 and 30 escape rooms at many different places. The rooms here looked realistic and cool but their puzzles don’t make much sense and it didn’t seem like you could solve them unless you read minds or got a hint from them. When do you ask for help, the staff seems very impatient. Further, it seems like they have lots of technical difficulties or something is always broken. If you want to see a cool room and be made to feel stupid by the staff afterwards this is a place to go, otherwise, there are other many other escape game places with much more to offer like friendlier staff and more logical puzzles that are actually fun to solve.

Very impressed. We did the heist game and I have to say that the clues followed logically and matched the story line. I felt as though I was part of the story and it was really high-​tech with touch panels and lasers etc.
Some other rooms I’ve been to are just about opening locks and nothing really makes logical sense with the story line. Honestly, the clues all followed the story line so well that I felt that I had actually broken into someone’s art gallery.
The decorations and designs were awesome and the staff were friendly and engaging. We had two minor glitches with the technology, but the staff quickly responded and gave us more time which was the right thing to do.
I wish more mystery rooms were like this and the clues followed a theme instead of just opening random locks and boxes… amazing fun time!

Review 2
Back for «The Heist»! And it was very different from «into the depths». Very exciting in a different sense. This one requires a lot more team work and was a bit more straight forward compared to the other room. Still fun though :)
Review 1
I ventured into one of the scariest, but most thrilling, realistic and well thought out escape games a few weeks ago… I think the room was called «into the depths»? Regardless… I’m going to tell you now, it’s not for the faint of hearts. I can honestly say, I was scared… But everything was really well thought out.
SPOILER ALERT…
The only thing I’m a little bit iffy about is a sound component to the exit game. I honestly don’t think my entire group of 8 are entirely tone death. (Note: for this particular puzzle, there’s more than one way of solving it… Especially if you start to think your entire group might actually be tone death) haha

I’m torn between a 3 and 4 star rating. For «Into the Depths», we found the experience to be very fun, clever, and presented in a way that had you thinking your way to the solution instead of being super nitpicky like other escape games.
However, our room was a little broken; some doors opened without us needing to place in components, and some buttons didn’t seem to respond because a gate was never really locked in.
So while we managed to escape and finish most of the objectives, we didn’t do them in the right order as intended as some descriptions were a little ambiguous. We were told to do the objectives in the correct order.
On a side note: the lockers for valuable belongings are quite small so I would not advise coming here with a laptop if you’re afraid of its security in the front room. The entrance requires a password to get in though.

Not that great as far as escape rooms go. This is my 7^th one and I would recommend going elsewhere.
Nice big space and lots of props but you don’t end up using hardly any of them.
The heist game was waaaay too short on puzzles and full of repetitive and uninteresting tablet screens.
The designers even bragged afterwards that they set up a seemingly elaborate room that some people spent 30 – 40 minutes in but that was devoid of any clues. My group agreed afterwards that the creators got so caught up in their design and their tablet apps they developed that they forgot about making it fun for the players by facilitating teamwork and having plenty of different kinds of puzzles to solve.

[Into The Deep]
«Pat, can I buy a vowel? Because O My God!» Of the 17 or so escape games I’ve done over the past year, this one takes the cake by a country mile. It’s been three days and I’m still thinking about it. Yes, it’s that good. Why?
Theatrics — Guess HQ is the brain child between a theme park company and video game junkies. The result is a Hollywood-​style escape game that really makes you feel like you’re in the middle of the action. A combination of room design, props, and ambience creates a believable and authentic experience. This particular theme (Into the Depths) was easily the scariest I’ve done and actually posed a risk of bodily harm. Yes, you can get hurt and its thrilling!

Puzzles — Unlike many other escape shops around town, they don’t simply dump you in a room with a bunch of locked boxes and leave you to your own devices. The puzzles actually make you think outside the box (pun intended) versus scrambling to find any random 3 or 4 digit combinations to input on a lock. What sets this theme apart is the physical and mental challenges invloved.
The Story — Before starting the game, there’s several customized video clips designed to set the stage. These were very well done and beats getting an employee to half-​heartedly recite a 1-​minute monologue. They’ve created a backstory and each escape theme is a chapter in the bigger story. (Tip: The heist theme comes first)
Pricing — At a retail price of $ 30 apiece for 45 in-​game minutes, it’s one of the most expensive — but in this case, you do get what you pay for. We got in on a groupon which sweetened the deal but I would’ve gladly paid full price and more for the experience. Two hints were included.
In my mind, Guess HQ sets the standard for escape games in the city. Their variation of puzzle styles, theatrics, and room design sets them apart from the rest. If you’re at all interested in room escape games, put this on your list.

This is the 5^th escape room facility we’ve done, and I’m finally reviewing all of them because this one is the first to totally hit it out of the ballpark.
Theme– storyline was straightforward and made sense. You’re performing a heist. All activities are consistent with the theme.
Production quality– amazing room & props. There was nothing that broke the immersion, nothing that didn’t make sense in the surroundings. It truly felt like you were exploring real rooms.
Puzzles– no lockboxes! Some were pretty easy and maybe could have an extra layer to figuring them out, but on the other hand, some other challenges needed time to get through. This is also the first place where you truly needed teamwork & communication. I think this room would be impossible with less than 4 people. I won’t give spoilers, but when you solve things, you get some very cool results! The puzzles also progressed logically, and there was always a sense of flow without feeling railroaded.
Staff– pretty friendly and helpful. I liked that most of the briefing & safety was done with a video, so you don’t get that rushed, bored, airplane flight attendant speech vibe.
Pricing– maybe the only drawback. $ 30/​person for 45 minutes, the most expensive of all of them. I thought the ‘microtransaction’ pricing structure (for extra time, cheats, spray can for laser beams) was kind of tacky and off putting, but we won without needing any that, so whatever. We used a Groupon, so the sticker pricing wasn’t an issue, just an FYI.
Overall experience/​fun:
1. Guess HQ
2. Lockdown Richmond
3. Locked Canada Kingsway
4. Smartypantz Gastown
5. Exit Canada Broadway
Theme/​Production Quality
1. Guess HQ (by a landslide)
2. Lockdown Richmond
3. Smartypantz Gastown
4. Exit Canada Broadway
5. Locked Canada Kingsway
Puzzle Quality:
1. Locked Canada Kingsway (all lockboxes, but fun level/​type of challenge, at least for our group)
2. Guess HQ
3. Smartypantz Gastown
4. Lockdown Richmond
5. Exit Canada Broadway

We came here a couple of days ago to celebrate my birthday. I had always been interested in the «escape room» /​«adventure scenario» type establishments and was stoked to receive one voucher for two for my birthday :).
I gathered up my television co-​host and stunt-​man friend and off we went on our adventure.
We were greeted at the door with «password». My friend didn’t know it and had to look it up on his phone. Once established we were let in. It was a little confusing at first as the owner and the girl working there (a redhead — I didn’t catch her name) seemed to be in two different mind sets. The owner was simply himself and not overly chatty — we thought perhaps he was playing a character, but no, that was just him. And the redhead girl who seemed to be somewhat in character, but not dressed for it, and then kept dropping in and out of her role. My suggestion — as a professional performer with 20 years experience would be to have both people completely in character and dressed to suit the roles. If character requires to broken — the hands should go up — someone should step in — explain the technicalities and the person goes back to character. Quite simple. Otherwise almost everything can be explained without breaking character.
Anyway, we finally got in to the room and I was confused to say the least. I pride myself on my intelligence and problem solving skills, but I had zero clue what I was meant to do. Were we meant to find a code, crawl around on the floor, try to open panels — no idea??? A quick hint to get the ball rolling would have worked nicely as once you realized how things worked, it was fairly simple. I will not give away the game except to say there was a huge glitch. I knew I was entering the correct code but yet it wouldn’t work, we must’ve tried twenty times. Eventually the owner came in after about 15mins of very loud alarms and flashing lights to confirm that I was correct and entering the correct code, and it was a glitch with his electronics. Thank goodness — good to know I wasn’t as stupid as the game was making me feel, lol. The game was re-​set and the owner told us he’d add 15mins back to our time on top of the five extra mins we’d purchased. We continued the game basically without fault and got right to the end when the timer went off and the redhead female staff member entered to tell us our time was up. We told her about the glitch and that the owner had added an extra 15 mins plus the five mins we bought. She apologized and left. My friend was just at the end clue when another male staff member entered and said our time was up — we explained to him what we had just explained to the girl and he said «dude, that sucks, but other ppl are waiting. Out you go». We were both pretty annoyed. It seemed as we were just about to solve the whole thing they kept stopping us.
We left the room and the owner said «just buy another groupon and come on back and try again». After we were ripped off twenty mins, having to BUY another session when we had already basically solved this one seemed redundant to say the least. Instead of wishing me a happy birthday, treating us with respect or apologizing for the glitch which basically ruined the whole game and the constant people coming in and out he just shuffled us off and that was it. We were simply done. We left feeling deflated and defeated and frankly let down.
Another another was, the had another escape room running simultaneously and we could hear those people. It was very loud and confusing and the walker talkies would come across with their voices making us think we were each to one another. That ate up time as well. Overall I think it’s a great concept, but it’s just not simply ready to go public yet. They need to hire proper actors, the owner needs to step back and only step in when required and they need to iron out the bugs. Otherwise it’s simply not worth the time and money.
NB; As an actor, I am a huuuuuge fan of performance art, which I class this as, and the genre of espionage! I was extremely excited to take part and unfortunately I will not be returning to this particular establishment. Thankfully there are plenty of other escape rooms in Gastown.

Guess HQ is fantastic! Compared to some of the other escape games I’ve been to, the technical aspects to it (don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything) were top notch. The intro & safety video was actually very well done, and really got us amped to get started. The staff there obviously enjoy what they do and their passion for Guess HQ is quite infectious. Our team of 4 did A LOT of trial and error in order to figure out the puzzles/​riddles and were able to get about 80% through. You’re able to purchase more playing time if you wish, but we decided not to. This is great for a group of friends and even coworkers — definitely a good team-​bonding experience. We’re still even talking about it this morning in the office! — That’s how you know it was an awesome time.

For what I was expecting from an «escape room”-esque facility, it was surprisingly different in terms on atmosphere and execution. They have an interesting method of entry, where you must state a password that was provided with your booking, which is a nice touch. The staff that greeted us were fairly friendly, and the lobby felt very rustic and casual, which I assume was what they were going for. The instructions and story they introduced in the beginning was extremely thorough, and had a nice spin.
From what I gathered, they currently had two themes available, which are extensively connected in an elaborate story arch, which I dig. We started with the heist theme, and the set up was very well done. However, still having the idea that the puzzles followed an escape room format, we spent far too much time in the first room trying to look for clues to several unlockables there before we were told we just needed to trial and error an electronic panel. From there, the rest of the theme was a breeze, the hardest hazards being traps that forced you to restart in a sense if triggered.
Overall the experience was good, but when we expressed out expectance for more escape room puzzles inside, the tone the staff had was a little condescending. Basically, according to them, Guess HQ is an adventure room experience, therefore in a league of their own. They were more interested in advertising and selling the tech inside their room than to establish an exciting and mysterious quest like other places do. Thought I can say Guess Hq is worth playing a couple times, it’s just not my cup of tea.

Really fun team activity that lived up to our expectations. Well thought out puzzles and multiple rooms with a story that ties the challenges together. Did the part 1 Heist. 45 minutes flies fast! 4 is a good sized group to go with. Staff were all helpful and seemed to enjoy being a part of our experience. I would totally go back to try the next level.