Arizona's 7

Across Arizona, escape rooms are combining intricate puzzles, video games, and life-like mazes to push the boundaries of imagination.

You and your teammates are trapped in a room that feels like another realm. There are 60 minutes on the clock, and the race is on to escape back to reality. Thus begins a puzzling journey to unravel a mystery that’ll have you feeling like a master detective one minute and completely clueless the next. This is a typical experience at one of Phoenix’s many escape rooms—the most recent trend in weekend, evening, or midday activities that appeal to all ages. Here are the seven best escape room experiences in the greater Phoenix area where you can get your detective on.

1. Escape The Room AZ

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Escape The Room AZ puts a strong emphasis on not only challenging the players but also delivering a thrilling experience. Each unique room allows the player to take on another persona, be it a secret agent, a daring digger, a western bank robber, or a sailor 20,000 leagues under the sea. “Jurassic Escape,” in particular, is like stepping into a certain Steven Spielberg blockbuster, as your team flees from Scottsdale with cloned dinosaurs running amuck. If only for 60 minutes, you can live out an adventure fit for the silver screen.

2. Escape Room 101

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Escape Room 101 features three equally engaging courses with varying levels of difficulty. The saloon-themed “Cowboy Mobster” has the highest success rate, making it an ideal room for newbies. After conquering the Wild West, you can take things to the next level with the “Hangover” room, which borrows from the 2009 hit comedy as your best friend’s engagement ring is misplaced. “The Baker Street” is by far the most challenging room, encouraging players to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes to locate a painter’s lost will. Each room consists of two to eight players with a 60-minute time limit.

4. Mindspark Escape Games Tempe

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Mindspark is one of Arizona’s most intense escape game venues, complete with two rooms intended for large groups. “Spellbound” is the most spine-tingling challenge, taking place at a cabin in the woods where a vampire king will soon rise again. If horror isn’t up your alley, the “Terminal” room is thrilling in a different way, centering on a train crash, a hidden subway station, and a shocking conspiracy. Those flying solo can try out a virtual reality escape room for 10 minutes. Outside of escape rooms, Mindspark also offers an axe-throwing class that’s every bit as wild as it sounds.

5. Puzzle Effect Phoenix

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With a diverse set of inventive rooms to choose from, Puzzle Effect Phoenix makes players feel as if they’re part of a story. Whether escaping from a treacherous pirate ship, finding an heirloom your grandfather left behind or raiding an abandoned warehouse to rescue a young girl, each room plays out like a page-turning novel. As a matter of fact, one of the rooms actually takes place in a mystical bookshop where a fantastic beast has been caged up. You can immediately tell that these rooms were all crafted by gifted storytellers, engrossing players in more ways than one.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.