For a friend’s birthday this weekend, we met at a fairly new St. Louis escape room/puzzle experience that vastly exceeded my expectations, Adventures of Intrigue.
I’ve done a number of escape rooms and had fun with most of them. I appreciate the set design, themes, and puzzles, and there’s a unique thrill of being “locked” in a room with friends.
Adventures of Intrigue is different, though. It’s kind of like a hybrid between my beloved Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser and a traditional escape room. The hub for your experience is tied to a specific theme, but you aren’t confined to that theme: Every room in the large space is beautifully designed after a specific theme/world, and they’re all wide open for you to wander in and out of (which is important, because some puzzles require you explore other areas).
It’s also great that there’s no time pressure; you can take as long as you’d like. We had dinner reservations, so our time was limited, but next time I would order a mocktail and take my time.
Also, normally in escape rooms I feel a little guilty asking for clues or assitance, but at Adventures of Intrigue the staff is constantly floating around. If they see you looking confused or frustrated, they’ll chime in with a subtle hint. Their level of interaction seemed well-practiced and calculated.
In the video below, you can get a little feel of the variety of this space. I walked away really impressed and eager to return for a new adventure in the future. In fact, I like the set design of the castle room so much that I want to hang out there and play board games.
Have you experienced any open-world escape rooms like Adventures of Intrigue? I’ve added it to my St. Louis recommendations list.