Puzzle Workshop: Escape Room

Gorgeous décor and wickedly challenging puzzles with great variety. Very friendly owner and a great theme of «Illuminati.» Good sense of hint timing and delivery on a monitor. Will definitely do their next room! My only wish to make it even more perfect would be to incorporate a bit more story into the puzzles through the room (personality of the guy whose study we were breaking into, some atmospheric music very low, a reason some of the puzzles were connected to the Illuminati, etc.). But that’s a small quibble — it’s great fun and you should GO!

My friends and I have been to a few escape rooms and this was the best one!
The employees were fantastic — friendly, welcoming, helpful (we needed a few hints) and created a great overall experience.
The room was challenging (yet escape-​able), team oriented, creative and most importantly, FUN!
Definitely visit and and enjoy!

We did the Illuminati room, and it was a good escape room. It reminded me of the Escape X room which was right nearby. In general, the Illuminati room was a ‘meat and potatoes’ escape room, so basically a room full of puzzles, locked boxes, and riddles for you to solve, but no «WOW» factor that you have with some other escape rooms. The puzzles were satisfying though.
Production Value 4 Stars (out of 5)
The room did feel like it was an old study by some occult illuminati member. The company is new, and I feel like they could improve the production value immediately by 15% had they just taken the «made in China» stickers off all their props, lol. I picked up a few items, including the prized occult statute that we are suppose to find, and it got a «made in China» sticker on it along with a price tag. It was good for a laugh. The paintings used could’ve been real paintings instead of prints. I noticed they blacked out the windows so you don’t see the parking lot. I love tech use in the escape room, and I would’ve liked to see more of that. There was no sound whatsoever, some music would be nice.
Puzzles 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)
A lot of padlocks for this room, which was okay, but I’ve seen more creative things. Some of the puzzles were quite fun, actually. The difficulty level was perfect. Some of the puzzles might be a little tedious for some people, though. There were originality in some of the puzzles.
Story/​Immersion 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)
There was really no story for this game. They could’ve developed a comprehensive story.
Customer Service/​Location 5 Stars (Out of 5)
Albertina, the co-​owner, is super spunky and fun! She gave us extra minutes for our game. She was super fun and enthusiastic about the business. The location is right next to a few more other escape rooms such as Escape X, so maybe someone can have an escape room with all the rooms in the area, lol.
All in all, this was a salt of the earth, foot to the floor, solid escape room, albeit a little basic. Kudos to the owners!

The Illuminati Room at the Puzzle Workshop is a fairly new room, but sets a high bar with great production values, engineering magic, and well-​designed puzzles that are rewarding to solve. The Illuminati theme weaves its way through the puzzles and props, requiring you to decipher cryptic symbols and in some cases, piece together what amounts to an Illuminati org chart across multiple puzzles. The puzzles were logical and satisfying, and there were enough magic ‘a-​ha!’ moments to easily give this room a 5 out of 5.
The experience started off with one of the owners, Albertina, setting the tone for the adventure. I’ll refrain from giving any spoilers in the review, but she had a great, friendly personality, and gave us some light background about the mission we were about to embark on (in character).
The production value in this room is fantastic — all of the props and room decorations were great, and helped add to the immersion. The production values were quite good, which definitely adds to the immersion. There were lots of really unique and interesting props around the room too. I could tell that a lot of care and work went into the presentation of the room.
There are some puzzles with some technical engineering work that is really impressive. I don’t want to spoil any thing, but there were a couple of puzzles where I thought to myself… «there’s no way doing THAT could work» but it did! It helped create some magic moments that I haven’t experienced in other rooms. As an engineering nerd, I was gushing to Albertina and Brian (the owners) about how neat those puzzles were. There is definitely some stuff here you haven’t seen before.
Another thing I liked compared to other escape rooms, is that a lot of the puzzles were interconnected. Towards the end in particular, there were a couple puzzles that the team worked on in parallel. We ended up combining solutions from multiple themed puzzles in order to progress, which I thought was really neat. It gave the whole room a really cohesive feel, instead of a random collection of one-​off puzzles.
On the point of team work/​parallel puzzles, the room seems well tuned for groups of 4 – 6. I liked that many of the puzzles could be done independently, so you didn’t have to have 6 people crowded around a single puzzle. While a couple people solved one puzzle, the rest of the team was solving another — everyone was doing something productive, and everyone could help out.
Definitely my favorite escape room so far!

Loved this escape room! So tricky yet so clever! Extremely nice and helpful staff, definitely would recommend & for sure will be back soon to try their second room! I love that they take pictures of your group even if you don’t win! Plus they give you a copy of your group picture! This was my second escape room and it was fun!

This was a great escape room! I brought my sister and her boyfriend who were out from out of town and my husband as a fun thing to do over the weekend. We all had a blast! They had never been to one and really enjoyed themselves. We loved the décor and various puzzles. I would recommend this escape room to anyone looking for a good time and a great team building experience.

Definitely the most well-​designed room I’ve ever been to! The puzzle sequence was well laid out. Some escape rooms suffer from being too linear, which make things boring; luckily, this wasn’t one of those. There were always tasks for someone to do, so everyone in our group of 6 was able to contribute!
If only I could relive this experience again and again!

Amazing escape room!
Décor: On point! I’ve been to rooms that were put together so haphazardly; this was the complete opposite of that.
Puzzles: Unique, creative, and fun! The level of difficulty ranges so that novice and advance puzzle solvers alike will enjoy the experience.
Hints: A hint system is available if you’re stuck, which I like because you get to progress and play more puzzles (you’ll want to see them all, they are REALLY cool.). But don’t think it’s an easy room! The current escape rate is 9%.
Other: All the locks work well, so you know if you got the combo wrong it’s because you haven’t solved the puzzle, not that it’s a crappy lock.
I hear they are building another room, I will definitely be coming back for that!

I’m an ‘Escape Room’ nube, but played plenty of apps to know and understand the concept… so heading into my first actual ‘ER’ experience, my expectations were pretty high… This place did not disappoint! The staff was super friendly and played into the entire theme to round out the entire experience. The rooms were so well done that you forget you’re in a business complex in Irvine. We loved the theme and the entire flow was spot on! I don’t want to give anything away… but everything was challenging, without being overly complex. We had a group of 6 and everyone contributed… in fact, because the puzzles and clues were so diverse, I would think it would be hard to do with less… at least within our group…
Unfortunately, we missed the 60 minute cut off by 3 minutes… (They graciously gave us an extra 10 minutes), but a great time was still had by all of us! Given that the success rate is 8.6% at this ‘ER’ we didn’t feel like total losers for not finishing in time…
This is a great way to spend an hour with friends… just make sure to bring the friends who are a bit brighter in the pack…

The employees there were so sweet and super helpful. It was extremely fun and booking with them was so easy. It’s a little hard to find but it is on the second floor! If you are having second thoughts about escaping, don’t. Just go and experience the Illuminati.
The puzzles were fantastic! I have done quite a lot of rooms but I don’t think I’ll ever really forget the puzzles from this room. They were really fun to solve: D
We got a deal through Unilocal so the escaping itself wasn’t too expensive but definitely try it if you’ve never done one before! It’s so rewarding to be able to escape/​figure out the puzzles. Definitely challenging and a great way to bond with your family

Capped off a wonderful night with a last minute excursion to this escape room. The staff was incredibly friendly and interactive and the puzzles were clever and creative. It was challenging and a ton of fun. Would definitely recommend and can’t wait to try out the next room they have in the works!
p. s. the place may be a bit tricky to find, but just consider that the first puzzle you have to solve! (hint: there’s a small sign you can look out for)

«My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation.» — Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
There are very few entertainment experiences I’ve had that compare to the level of fun and enjoyment I found here at Puzzle Workshop: Escape Room.
In a word, my dear Unilocal friends: GO! Go experience this Escape Room. In this one hour of time, you will forget absolutely every worry you have in your life, and replace it with the exhilaration, challenge, a combination sense of sheer panic and triumph at completing the puzzles; and the insanity of experiencing this with a group of dear friends, coworkers, or family.
The concept: You, in a group of up to six people… (not really recommended to go in with less than four)… enter into a mystery room. The only way out of this room is to uncover and complete the many puzzles and challenges masterfully created by the team at Puzzle Workshop. These are not easy to solve, and teamwork is definitely necessary to win.
The prices: $ 30 per person. This is a complete steal, my friends! For $ 15 you can watch a mystery movie. For $ 30 you get to be the main characters in it!
How challenging is it? The success rate of completing within an hour is 9.09%. But don’t let this discourage you! Every exciting second of this experience is worth it.
How did my team do? We finished in 63 minutes… so we went into a bit of overtime with a hint generously given by the game masters. We didn’t get to be part of that 9%, but we’re very proud of the fact that we did finish!
Oh… what was that? You can’t wait to give this a try? I thought you might say that! Here’s a link to book your group.
This is an AWESOME idea for birthday parties, team building experiences, an alternative to going out to a movie, or just a fun thing to do with friends. GO!

Got the itch to do an escape room while having dinner with friends, so we decided to head to the Puzzle Workshop. The staff was great and able to squeeze us in despite the last minute reservation. Pro-​tip: If you don’t see any openings on the website, make sure to give them a call and check to see if there are any last minute openings.
The puzzle was challenging, and completing the room was very satisfying. My only complaint is now that we know all the secrets, we have to wait for the next room to be built out. We’ll definitely be back immediately after the next room opens.

Agree with Brandon C.; if you have a spur-​of-​the-​moment need to do a puzzle room with friends, give these guys a call! Never know when the moment strikes to do a puzzle room with your friends.
Our group did one other escape room before entering this one. This Illuminati escape room does a fantastic job of balancing challenging puzzles and puzzle types. We hear from the staff that a new room is coming and we can’t wait to solve it. Thanks for such a fun experience!

I had never done a puzzle room before and I had no idea what to expect.
We booked this as a team event for work and it’s been our best team event yet. The puzzles were engaging and the ambiance was convincing. Wyatt does a brief intro before you begin and it really puts you in the mindset to SOLVE PUZZLES!
When we went the completion rate for this room was just over 10%. Our group found the puzzles challenging without being frustrating, and we managed to complete the room with under 3 minutes to spare.
The part that resonated with me the most was that, for 60 minutes, I felt like Indiana Jones. The fine line between challenge and pacing, the lore, even the interior decorating, really sold the experience for me.

Ohmygoodness! I took my sisters and friends here last night and I was so happy with the entire escape room: D They were really nice and allowed us to bring in a group of 7 (thanks again guys hehe). We wanted to bring in one more person, but they advised us not to because it might impede the game play, which once I was in the room, I could totally see why! The optimum number of escapers would be 6, but with our 7 there was enough for everyone to do!
–PUZZLES–
The puzzles were challenging, and it really did require different forms of thinking to solve some of them. There are also enough puzzles where not everyone is working on the same problem, and each puzzle is unique in a way that involves the entire group’s talents. Having done a couple of escape rooms before, I appreciated the variety of their problems, and they incorporated with the storyline very well. Obviously some puzzles are harder than others, but that’s what makes the escape room fun, right? Plus, the two developers work for Blizzard, so you know this stuff is gonna be awesome~~
–AESTHETICS–
For an escape room that just opened, I though they did an amazing job with decorating the rooms in a way that pertains to the storyline ^_​^ You feel immersed in your environment, and it was pretty cool! It was definitely not «just a room with puzzles.»
–SERVICE–
I’m a big fan of customer service, and from my phone call reserving our time slot (I was super high maintenance and asked lots of questions) to our arrival, to our time after we completed the escape room, these guys were so NICE and PLEASANT and just really all around great to talk to. They’re totally accommodating and I appreciated that they answered our questions and even talked to us about where they thought my group really shined during our one hour to escape. You can tell that they really love what they do, and I think that is a testament to the quality of their escape room !
–TLDR;-
This escape room is awesome, one of my favorites
You should definitely bring people here, it’s a great bonding experience!
Awesome puzzles, high quality service
My team actually beat the record to escape, so ya’ll should definitely come and try to knock us off the wall. hehe GO TEAM MERP ^_​^ :3
Thanks again Puzzle Workshop! I’m excited to come back for your new room (P.S. it’s opening in April), especially if it’s as fun as your first one !

I had such an amazing time at this escape room! I went with a group of six and about half of us had tried an escape room at least once in the past, this was my first one. I loved the Illuminati theme and the whole experience was just really well done. The puzzles play to all sorts of different problem solving strengths so there is something for everyone.
One fear I had going in to this was how freaky it sounds to be locked in to a room with no way out! The staff did a wonderful job of putting in safety mechanisms that made me feel 100% safe the entire time. We were allowed to keep our phones in the room and one of the doors was unlocked in case of emergency. That put my mind at ease really quickly and allowed me to just enjoy the experience and keep focus on the objective!
I HIGHLY recommend this experience as a date night or even as a team building experience for a small team. You really learn to communicate quickly and everyone had an opportunity to flex their logical muscles and get the problems solved!

Puzzle Workshop was a fantastic time for our group of five! My friends and I frequent escape rooms and Puzzle Workshop’s Illuminati game was a great balance of challenge and creativity.
On top of the puzzles, I really appreciated the overall production quality. You really do feel like you’re in the private study of an Illuminati member. The set, the props, and the atmosphere were all on point. Always a plus!
One issue I have with some escape games is when puzzles are too linear and you have a group of four overlooking two players figuring out a puzzle because there is nothing else to do. The Illuminati game had a lot of puzzles to figure out at once, giving the whole team something to do and giving you the opportunity to figure out who is your weakest link! It was tremendous fun and there was a lot more collaboration between our group, figuring out different aspects of each puzzle, than other games I’ve been to.
If you’re looking for a fun way to spend time with a group of friends, Puzzle Workshop should definitely be on your list of activities to check out.

This escape room was so much fun! I went with a group of five and this was my second time in an escape room. The Illuminati theme was awesome and the whole experience was on point. There are multiple puzzles of different challenge levels so, everyone seemed to have something to keep them occupied at all times.
This is a great place to come for team building, friends night our, or even a date!
The staff is super friendly and extremely knowledgeable. You can tell they really want you to have the best experience while you are there.
The last escape room I went to gave vague rules and didn’t really submerge us in the theme. While it was fun — I didn’t feel accomplished beating the room. At Puzzle Workshop — it was completely different! We had a clear understanding of how the room works and we really felt like every single puzzle was a part of the theme or tied in directly with the room. Even though we didn’t beat the room within the allotted time frame (we were a few seconds off) — our entire group agreed that everything was superb and we would be back again!

First time experiencing an escape room and I have got to say, I didn’t think the skills that I have learned in my previous years would ever have an impact in the future. The developers of this room are talented and unique people and what they created really get your brains working. The amount of f-​bombs I have thrown around being so confused and also being unable to solve a puzzle have really given you the opportunity to really experience the pressure to get out and also escape the room.
I would definitely come back for another opportunity and if they get a chance to develop another room.
The most fun I have had in awhile!