I’ve played 8 escape rooms and have only failed once. Here are my difficulty rankings.

We’ve only failed once.

The escape room experience costs around $25 to $30 per person per booking which can be done easily online for any of the rooms.

Spots seem to be filling faster, so you do need to plan ahead.

You need to arrive 15 minutes early to sign the obligatory waiver. Most of the rooms will then ask that you lock all your personal items including phone/purse/wallets up while you enter the rooms – and they provide free lockers to make that easy.

Once your team is briefed on your mission, you have 60 minutes to escape or complete the assigned task.

There are four escape room companies my group has visited around Charlotte.

Exit Strategy

Unlimited hints except for “Final Sacrifice”
$25 per person

Exit Strategy has six rooms in their West Charlotte location.

Final Sacrifice

Do not let this room be your first experience with escape rooms. Also, when you think you have built up enough experience to tackle it, book the whole room. Do not allow strangers to be in the room with you here. It is too difficult and there are instances where one person not pulling their weight can cost you any chance of winning.

Difficulty: 10 out of 10

Lost in Space

It is also notable that Exit Strategy has what I would deem as the easiest room in Charlotte as well, “Lost in Space.”

Just because it was easy doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun.

The story and the obstacles are pretty linear, but the room is really well designed and the final two puzzles are really challenging.

Difficulty: 5 out of 10

Question of Honor

It is more of a King Arthur and Merlin type story. It had some really fun quirks including multiple rooms, and is a good challenge.

The story again is extremely linear and doesn’t require a huge group to complete, but it is challenging and has some good special effects.

Difficulty: 6.5 out of 10

We’ve been told by other Escape Room aficionados that “Bank Heist” is the best overall room at Exit Strategy. We plan on tackling that in the very near future.

Code Escape

Unlimited hints
$28 Per Person

Code Escape was recommended to us by an Uber driver on the way home from losing at “Final Sacrifice”. She recommended we try “Shipwrecked” because she played it a couple weeks earlier and loved it. She was so right.

Shipwrecked

Unanimously my group’s favorite room. Maybe it’s “Goonies” type vibe just appeals to us, but it really hit on every level.

First, it isn’t linear. You have to have multiple groups of people doing multiple things at a time. You also will find things early in the game that you will not need until the end of the game. There are so many rooms and compartments that it really is completely immersive. I loved the special effects and the story.

Difficulty: 8.5 out of 10

Deep Space

Because we loved Shipwrecked so much, we have also played both of the other rooms at Code Escape. “Deep Space” was fun and had some really interesting puzzles.

It was absolutely a difficult room, and was not completely linear, but overall it wasn’t on the same level we had expected.

Difficulty: 8 out of 10

The Residence

The Residence was the only room my group of friends played without me, and it also met mixed reviews. Some enjoyed it, but mostly they were frustrated that the puzzles weren’t thought out very well and without hints the room would have been almost impossible.

Difficulty: 8 out of 10

Escape Hour Charlotte

Three hints only
$25 per person

Escape Hour was brought to our attention by a group of people we met playing Quest of Honor. They wanted to play The Dollhouse to help one of them get over her fear of dolls.

It sounded like a pretty demented idea so we gladly joined in on the fun.

The location overall wasn’t as polished as Exit Strategy and Code Escape.

The Dollhouse

Immersive, non-linear, and really difficult. We only had a small group of four, and made it out by the skin of our teeth. It was the creepiest room we’ve played yet.

Also, we got to make a complete mess, which added to the fun.

Difficulty: 8.5 out of 10

Blackout Charlotte

Unlimited Hints
$28 – $30 per person

Blackout Charlotte is an experience that is quite a bit different than the others.

First, their rooms feature live actors. The minute you walk in the host and hostesses are also in character.

Second, the storylines for each room tend to be horror based and the plots are all interconnected between rooms. The room we played, Cell Block 704, wasn’t very scary but there were more than a few screams coming from the other experiences in the building.

Cell Block 704

The quality wasn’t that of a movie set like at Exit Strategy or Code Escape, but the tasks were all different and really required you to explore every nook and cranny.

The experience was heightened by the acting and the extremely cool briefing room before your time begins.

It was a nice change from just being placed into a room by a guy in khakis and a golf shirt.

Difficulty: 7 out of 10

Cover photo via Facebook