Enigma HQ

Such a great experience! Would love to go back again. The story you follow is creative, entertaining and all around perfect. We finished with a minute to spare!

This escape room is definitely hit or miss. It works for a large group but could also be easily solved with a small group. They have two of the same exact room, so we had two teams playing the two rooms at the same time. Our experiences were inconsistent, but I think my team had the better experience (and not just because we got the crystal). At the end of the day, I can only give it a neutral review, because overall I left the experience quite frustrated, and even at one point all of us in the room had to literally say out loud to our monitor, «We’re not having fun anymore.» On a more positive note, Nicole was our monitor and was really nice.
It is hard to give a thorough review without any spoilers, so warning, here are some SPOILERS:
(1) The thing I loved about this room was that the puzzles went from low to high difficulty, allowing beginners to get through most of the puzzle. The first and second puzzle had three or four clues pointing to how to solve it, which almost confused me because I thought I had to be missing something for them to be so blatant, but in retrospect I see how helpful it is for beginners. The puzzles also involved a lot of visuals and physicality which enhanced the experience for me. The storyline was also interesting, and the puzzles fit the story well.
(2) The thing I hated about the room was the last puzzle. We were stuck on it for 25 minutes! That is the longest I’ve ever been stuck in a puzzle and there was no way to get clues until we already wasted 10 minutes. It is also solvable just by trial and error (albeit a very time consuming one), which is not the makings of a good puzzle. Overall, I completely disagree with one of the clues and its solution, and hate puzzles with red herrings, especially a clue that I feel is gender-​biased and requires a certain outside life experience, which I don’t think makes for a good puzzle clue. Everyone should be able to solve every puzzle in an escape room without any outside knowledge or bias.
At the end of the day, I would only recommend this room if they fix the last puzzle.

Room-​The Lazarus Crystal. You and your team investigate and recover a mysterious crystal stolen by an ex-​Enigma HQ agent. HOWEVER… this storyline is SOOOO much more than that!!!
Location was easy to find. It appears that they may have their own parking on the side of the building but there was construction going on that day and we could not enter the parking lot. We ultimately had to pay for parking across the street due to all the construction going on that day. The building itself is extremely nice and well kept and clean. This is the nicest buildings I have been too in all the escape rooms we have done.
My bf and I Played this room with just the two of us. We sat down with the owner Brian, who was extremely nice and welcoming. He explained to us that you play with only the people you sign up with. He does not allow strangers to play together. If you do not like playing with strangers then this is the room to sign up for. :)
We did 6 escape rooms in San Diego and this was by far my favorite of the escape rooms that we did. I loved everything about this room. The storyline, the décor, the props. It was a very well thought out room. We were a bit confused in the beginning only do to the fact of the props in this room. This is not your normal puzzle and lock room. This is a interactive experience. Without giving to much away… just remember that when doing this room.
I would highly recommend this room to anyone who is looking for a different experience in the escape room world. You also get this cool little pic collage as a souvenir. :)

AMAZING!!! Went with a group of 6 and wasn’t sure what to expect. When we arrived we were given a great intro to the mission. Really intriguing storyline and really fun to complete with friends. We used the full hour but we were able to finish! Love that we got a cool picture at the end. Owner is really great, even complimented our problem solving skills. Can’t wait until they start a new mission to come again.

What a great experience! A group of 5 of us came here for a fun and different birthday activity and had an awesome time. I’d recommend this place to anyone, it really got us all thinking and it was fun to see what role each of us played in problem solving. I’m happy I got to do this :)

This was by far, the best escape room I’ve done to date! What made it so good was the amazing attention to detail the creators put into making the room. The story started right when you walked into the door and continued long after you «escaped» the room. The room itself was very interactive. It reacted and changed as you solved your way through it. It was difficult to solve, you totally felt like you got your money’s worth. We just finished with 3 minutes to spare! You defiantly felt like you had stepped into the world of Enigma HQ as one of its agents. Above all, the best part was once you booked a room for a specific time, it was yours. They don’t fill the empty spaces with random people. I don’t want to give anything away but its defiantly worth checking out if you are a fan of puzzle/​escape rooms. Enigma HQ, hurry up and make another room, I’m dying to come back!

Real fun!
The place was in a suite in a bldg so there wasn’t a big sign outside, just scroll through for the enigma name on the intercom and they’ll ring you up
The waiver and orientation process was efficient and straightforward
The puzzle was fun and then the owner takes a wacky photo of you afterwards that you get to take home

I’ve done 4 puzzle rooms in San Diego so far and this is one of the best ones. You are not just doing puzzles for the sake of doing puzzles but everything is following the story.
The owner is brilliant and you can see his passion and love for what he’s created the whole time you’re there.
Once a second room/​mission gets added I will definitely go as the entire experience was top notch.

My friend and I have done escape rooms before, but this one has been by far the best. It actually has a story to the whole thing which was pretty cool and challenging at times. Would definitely recommend it. We completed it with 2 people, so it is possible to do it with small groups, but larger groups are always more fun.

Such a great experience. Fun for all ages, with such enjoyable and dedicated hosts. Highly recommend.

Super clean and respectable facility. Amazing use of technology (before, during, and even after the escape). Very immersive and unique; never encountered a story like the Lazarus Crystal. Excellent service and hint system :)

I wrote a review on my website for this room! Please check it out (link below)… It was great :)
What Enigma HQ does well is highly integrating the narrative into the gameplay. The details of the plot set the foundation for the puzzles. CEO & developer Brian Hacker himself claims, «Without having a context for why you are doing the puzzles, they are arbitrary!» I would have to agree.

I went with a group of three and I’ve played «Escape rooms» online but never in person. It did not disappoint! Really makes you work together and think as a team. It’s something I want to do again. Story was good and so was the puzzles along the way. I can’t wait until they have a new puzzle available. My group and I will definitely go again!

The puzzles themselves were generally pretty average, but the atmosphere was unique and everything was well-​done. The staff does a good job of making sure no puzzle trips you up too badly and it’s very different than most rooms as far as objective goes. A lot of the puzzles are triggered by a staff member manually activating the solution once you’ve done the right things. Which… is fine, but it feels different than most rooms. All the groundwork is in place for them to come out with another, more exciting room. Looking forward to what comes next from Enigma HQ!

I’m in the process of finding an Escape Game that could fit our group of 35 for a corporate team building event. Brian from Enigma was not only extra quick to respond, he was really helpful in thinking up ways for us to make it work for a group of that size. He even offered to reach out to other Escape Game competitors to see if they could co-​host our group.
5 stars for an awesome first touch experience.

Did this escape room last night, my first one ever, and it was a BLAST! We had an awesome time. The lady that assisted us was also great, nudging us along the way!
Planning a work group to go and enjoy this place! Such fun!

The room we played had a very elaborate story. The company makes good use of technology throughout the game. I especially like the green screen photo op at the end.
The room is a clever supernatural theme that is right up my alley. I enjoyed the creativity used in the puzzles as well as how they tied to the story. I think this game would be especially good for new players because it lends itself to allowing for guidance as needed from the game master, so I don’t imagine any group would get stuck for too long. Grab your friends and book a time.

Enigma HQ is the real deal, go there. Just go on their website… what escape room company has a written company manifesto on the net? The owner (Brian?) clearly had a unique vision when he founded this business. This company takes the story driven aspect of the game very seriously, so no ‘Sherlock Holmes’ theme room just because the is a pipe and some books in the room. All the puzzles fit in to the larger context of the story. A solid experience. We did the Lazarus Crystal room, but the owner told me they are going to have a new room soon.
Puzzle Quality 5 stars out of 5 stars
The puzzles are well thought out, with great ‘wow’ moments. The puzzle difficulty is damn near perfect, as its just hard enough to frustrate but not enough where you are set up for failure. It was very satisfying completing the puzzles, and there were ‘wow’ moments after each solve. This game is not really a scavenger hunt, but a well thought out linear puzzle. I personally think a smaller group would enjoy more. Overall, a unique puzzle experience.
Production Quality 5 stars out of 5 stars
Enigma HQ used some pretty cool tech in the Lazarus room. The props are simple, but efficient and solid. Many items in the room were specifically created for the story. Rock solid production value. I would’ve added a few other things, but I wouldn’t write any spoilers.
Staff/​Customer Service/​location 5 stars out of 5 stars
The owner and staff were AMAZING! They were nice, informative, and very passionate about escape rooms. Hints were given out at proper intervals. They gave us 2 green screen photos from the Photo Booth after the game! One of the staff members also explained afterwards how the puzzles correlate to the story.” The Enigma HQ office is located close to Horton Plaza and the Gaslamp, so an ideal thing to do is to park your car at Horton, walk to the game, then celebrate your victory at the Gaslamp with a fine cocktail.
Immersion 5 stars out of 5 stars
This is Enigma HQ’s strong suit. They have an awesome story for their game, and you really do feel like you are solving a mystery for a secret organization. Again, I’ve been to escape rooms where its only called the «Sherlock» room because there was a pipe and some books in the room, no no no… At Enigma HQ, all the puzzles fit into the story.
Overall great experience. I have been to escape rooms with higher production value, but this one has the best story. I would recommend this one for a smaller group (2 to 4 people)

Fun interactive brain stimulating activity to
Do with your homies! Really a great time trying to figure out the puzzle!

This was so fun! My family and I spent a couple days in SD for vacation and I had been wanting to try doing an escape/​puzzle room. This was my first time and I was very pleased with the experience! The whole thing was really well done, it was challenging, interesting, fun, interactive… I especially liked that it fit into a broader story line rather than just solving random puzzles.
We did this with 5 adults and the price is super reasonable, I also liked that you could book the room for your entire party (rather than being mixed with strangers like some places do).
I would highly recommend Enigma HQ and I look forward to seeing what other puzzles them come up with!