Top Milwaukee Escape Games

An outdoor escape room adventure??? What a concept! Ok, you checked the "cool idea" box, but what about the venue, and the game itself?The venue is Milwaukee's RiverWalk, which turned out to be a beautiful setting with a lot of neat history -- including a walk past the world-famous Safe House (google it) -- and a lot of historical plaques for those who like to read them. Really really fun -- this was an infinitely better venue than any "game room" we've ever visited. (We also caught a beautiful day - be sure to watch the forecast.)And the game? Really, really fun because it was extremely well thought out and well put together. For starters, it's entirely self-paced. There is no ticking clock, no pressure, which is often a downer in a lot of escape room adventures. Solve each riddle as slowly or as quickly as you wish; take all afternoon if you like. THAT was a big plus. The kit -- a box of clues and materials you're given to start the game -- was very well put together and is used throughout the game. There were, I think, six or seven different "stages" - moving from one location to another to solve the next stage. We found the course to be extremely challenging, but it was also clear that any experience level can solve it.How is it possible to have a high challenge level that any experience level can pass? Because the online component (you're going to need your smartphones!) was REALLY well done. Need a hint? Here you go -- but they're not giving it away. You might call the first one "hint light" for experts. Not enough? Ask for more. You take what you need, like bites at the apple, all the way up to "Ok, here's the answer...", but they're not handing it to you unless you ask for it.That, I think -- the way the online component is put together -- is the best part of an outstanding experience. If you want to be challenged, solving each riddle on your own, go for it. If you're breaking, starting to argue with each other or getting ready to throw your phone in the river, take a hint. Or two. We did, a bunch. If you're a first-time group and you're mystified by the complex and often maddening clue structure of a good "escape" experience, you're going to learn a lot, have fun, get the hang of it, and by the time you finish you'll still be successful even if you have to take a few mulligans to get there. "Ohhh, I get it. Arghh, how did we not see that? Oh, no way! That was just evil!" (If you've done escape rooms, you know what I mean.)If you're a large group, this is still an excellent experience. They limit you to 6 players in a group, and it turns out there's a good reason for that. We were more than 6 and we were not really keen on having to split up, but once we started the game we figured out you can play together with two groups. (Don't tell them I said that.) However, it was a VERY good thing they made us get two kits because there is a lot of important material in each box. Picture your large group standing at a stage trying to figure out an insidiously difficult clue with everyone trying to get their hands on the materials at the same time... Trust me, it would have been awful. Instead, we naturally separated into two groups, working together, occasionally competing, but the whole family was able to travel/sleuth together.This was a great experience, really well thought out and put together. Easily 5 stars.

Plan for about 3 hrs and a lot of walking. Be sure to look high and low, and pay attention to your envelope cards. All-in-all, our family absolutely enjoyed the experience. You'll get to see history along the way. The Riverwalk itself is nice. We just felt it was overpriced, considering that the Riverwalk itself is free, and all your doing is using cards to solve a puzzle.

The Relic tour box was SO much fun! It guided us through Milwaukee’s iconic RiverWalk, ending at a pub. Highly recommended!

This was a blast to do. The puzzles were just hard enough without being impossible. The hints were good. The walking was just the right amount. The area was beautiful and fun to explore. The story was intriguing and fun. I wish there were more games to do in the area.

I didn’t love the storyline of this one, but the activities themselves were fun, unique, challenging, and incorporated the surroundings really well! If there were other storylines, I’d definitely do this again!

We did enjoy this. Only problem was the lock wouldn’t open. We still were able to get in for our next clue. Enjoyed the sites along the way.

We worked as an adult group of 6 and totally enjoyed this experience in about 3 hours plus a food break. It was the perfect level of challenge where we always thought we were stumped and then enjoyed an “ah ha!” Moment. We loved the path it took us on throughout downtown MKE. You wouldn’t enjoy this if you have no patience for riddles, puzzles, and a bit of theatrical. The story was a blast and we totally were whipping character voices. I hope other cities have different stories so we can try it again somewhere else.

This is the third escapely tour I have done. They are consistently excellent; a little easier than a DASH hunt. The escapely tours are great if you've visited or lived in the city and are out of ideas of things to do. The puzzles are well made, clever, and follow fun story lines. The hints are well thought out and keep the game moving. The Milwaukee version was great because we could stop for drinks frequently (optional, but a major plus for this group). It took us (me and 2 very casual puzzlers) about 3 hours at a very leisurely pace while using all of the hints. Fwiw, with 2 experienced (and focused) puzzlers, we finished the Charlotte game in about 90 minutes with minimal hints.

My family had a fantastic time doing this outdoor escape room in Milwaukee! We have two sons, ages 14 and 12, and are fairly avid escape room players. The clues were challenging yet doable, just perfect for our group. We were able to get all of the way to the last clue before using a hint, which made us feel pretty good! The area was safe and a fun place to walk around. I love that it was self-paced and we could go as fast or slow as we wanted. I would most definitely recommend this for a group activity with friends or family!

This is our 3rd Escape the City adventure. The Relic storyline for Milwaukee Riverwalk was fantastic and the opening sequence of the story was captivating. Always a fun way to learn more about a city, it's landmarks and history. We even had a family with younger kids ask us what we were doing as we tried to solve clues. They were excited to learn that there was a game in their hometown.

If you love escape rooms and city scavenger hunts, this was both! It was a fun way to spend the afternoon exploring part of Milwaukee, while solving puzzles with real world clues. And with no time limit, we stopped to have food and drinks along the way. Plan ahead, though...it's a box that gets mailed to you ahead of time.