Last Second Escape
Last Second Escape
4
This location was reported permanently closed
About
An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Last Second Escape stands apart from the other escape rooms in town by immersing their players in creative themes, storylines, and decor. We're also the only escape room in town who will accommodate walk-in guests. We look forward to being able to wow you soon!
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
11 reviews
Excellent
8
Very good
0
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
3
James R
1 contribution
Jul 2020 • Couples
This is the best escape room I have done. Code critical was fun and challenging! The puzzles were clever and creative. Has two aspects That I have not seen in other places.
The staff is very friendly! Great all around experience!
I highly recommend.
The staff is very friendly! Great all around experience!
I highly recommend.
Written July 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
love2RiceVA
Rice, VA259 contributions
Aug 2019
My grandkids are both 13 and entertaining them has gotten to be a challenge. The escape room idea was passed along by someone and we decided to try it out. I was afraid it would be creepy and scary - not at all. This is absolutely a fun activity. Good for problem solving, working as a group, lots of laughs - we are still talking about it. Honestly, this was serious fun!!
Written August 7, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jerry V
Forest, VA14 contributions
Apr 2019 • Family
Dark Circus room is lots fun and very well thought out! Friendly staff. We drove 2 hours and it was well worth it.
Written April 16, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
southerntravels321
Charleston, SC7 contributions
Nov 2019
During a last minute trip to Richmond, this was the only escape room in the area with availability on a Saturday ... we should've taken the hint! We did Haunting of the High Seas which relies heavily on black light and putting object A in spot A, object B in spot B, etc. The few puzzles were either unintuitive or had errors (treble clef and bass clef notes are different!!!). We escaped, but it was an unsatisfying hour.
Written January 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
riterchick
Richmond, VA49 contributions
Nov 2018 • Friends
Our room lasted an hour, with no connectivity between clues and over dependence on a black light. There were simply a lot of locks to unlock. Room was unimaginatively set up, looked like a table and chairs and that was it, except for unassociated boxes. The opening video was mumbled, the map show on screen cut off so the important part wasn’t visible. Martial music blared repeatedly and loudly. The guy assigned to “help” was surly and clearly bored.
We were a birthday party (of which they were aware), but all we got was a single “O, a birthday. Yeah.”
Don’t waste your time.
We were a birthday party (of which they were aware), but all we got was a single “O, a birthday. Yeah.”
Don’t waste your time.
Written November 6, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We were so sorry to hear of your experience, and appreciate that you took the time to give us some valuable feedback.
The room you played is one of our Beginner rooms, and I'm wondering if maybe it was a little too straightforward for your team. I would love to possibly get you into a room that is a higher difficulty and allows you to sink your teeth in a bit more!
I was the person that put your team in that room that evening, and I remember repeatedly saying, "Happy Birthday" and making a big deal over the birthday person, including lining you all up with them at the front of the line. I felt very strongly that I had made it clear that we were valuing the time you spent with us, as a birthday only comes once a year, but apparently I must not have gotten the message across clearly, and for that, I am apologetic.
I have reached out and left a voicemail to both the person who made the booking and the person whose birthday it was that evening, and I do hope that one of them contacts me back so we can work on replacing this negative experience with a positive one. If you would like to do the same, please feel free to call (804) 517.8693 or email me at info@lastsecondescape.com
Thank you!
Written November 9, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
barrelv
Raleigh, NC41 contributions
Oct 2018
We took on four of the five rooms: Project 00, Mine Shaft, Dark Carnival, and Dragons Keep. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend any of them. I don’t see us coming back for future visits.
We had a great experience with our arrival. The owner was at the counter and chatted with us about escape rooms in general for a few minutes and then led us back to a great waiting area. After that, we didn’t see the owner again and it showed. When we finished one of the staff members (Donovan I think?) asked us for our opinion on the rooms. However, it quickly became apparent he wasn’t taking our feedback seriously and instead was trying to convince us we were wrong.
Each room had a series of repeating problems – broken props, typos and misspellings (“slove willys riddle”, “body type: slinder”, etc.), and puzzles you could ‘glitch’ your way past without solving.
If anyone at Last Second reads this – you can remove most permanent marker by drawing over it with a dry erase marker and then wiping both away with your finger.
Dark Carnival: 5 out of 10
This was the best room of the four. The set was simple, but well decorated. Not that sinister, but a solid carnival feel. We ran into two major problems – one clue was a combo of permanent marker and dry-erase marker, but (see above) wipes completely away. We had to call for a staff member to come in and give us the answer. Another involved light sensors, but several were knocked loose and not aligned to actually point out of the holes holding them. We had to dig our fingers in and push them back in place so we could trigger them. Told a staff member about the sensors and their response was “yeah, they’re loose”. If you know there’s a problem, why not fix it?
Mine Shift: 4 out of 10
Entire room was frustrating due to lighting issues. There were only two headlamps in the room, which would be maddening for larger groups (only 3 people in our group). One of the lights had a short in it and would randomly turn back off. You could shake it (and hear the parts rattling around inside) and it would turn back on. Pointed this out to staff, but they didn’t replace the lamp, just gave it new batteries, making it brighter and still just as likely to randomly turn off.
This *should* be the best room at Last Second Escape, but reset errors let us into the final box immediately The clue to get into another box was locked inside of that box, along with a critical item for the final puzzle. This made the room unsolvable – or it should have been. However, due to the type of sensors used, any “important item” worked as any other important item, so we were able to swap clues from other puzzles to solve the unsolvable puzzle and beat the room. When we finished the room (confused because we had an unfinished map and a locked box still), the staff discovered the reset error. No apology offered.
Project 00: 1 out of 10
We didn’t enjoy this room, start to finish. We barely got any idea what the story was, as the staff-member mumbled and mixed up the story in the intro. Set was dull and mostly empty space. We had a repeat of the permanent marker / dry erase marker problem from Dark Carnival, but this time on a grand scale and the staff wouldn’t give hints for the wiped-away values should have been, so we had to guess from what bits remained. Is it a B? a R? maybe a D? Lots of just searching around 3 rooms with a black light to see what shows up with no clues to guide you where to look. Required leaps of logic to get solutions – difficult just to be difficult. Were so glad when we escaped this one just to be done with it.
Dragons Keep: 3 out of 10
Is it supposed to be Dragon’s Keep or Dragons Keep? Were we stealing eggs or recovering them? No clue, same problem with a mumbled and confusing story intro. We ran into a series of tech problems in this room, including in the final puzzle, so the room kinda fizzled to a conclusion with a female voice saying “Device Reset”. Again, no apology from the staff for the big reveal not working
We had a great experience with our arrival. The owner was at the counter and chatted with us about escape rooms in general for a few minutes and then led us back to a great waiting area. After that, we didn’t see the owner again and it showed. When we finished one of the staff members (Donovan I think?) asked us for our opinion on the rooms. However, it quickly became apparent he wasn’t taking our feedback seriously and instead was trying to convince us we were wrong.
Each room had a series of repeating problems – broken props, typos and misspellings (“slove willys riddle”, “body type: slinder”, etc.), and puzzles you could ‘glitch’ your way past without solving.
If anyone at Last Second reads this – you can remove most permanent marker by drawing over it with a dry erase marker and then wiping both away with your finger.
Dark Carnival: 5 out of 10
This was the best room of the four. The set was simple, but well decorated. Not that sinister, but a solid carnival feel. We ran into two major problems – one clue was a combo of permanent marker and dry-erase marker, but (see above) wipes completely away. We had to call for a staff member to come in and give us the answer. Another involved light sensors, but several were knocked loose and not aligned to actually point out of the holes holding them. We had to dig our fingers in and push them back in place so we could trigger them. Told a staff member about the sensors and their response was “yeah, they’re loose”. If you know there’s a problem, why not fix it?
Mine Shift: 4 out of 10
Entire room was frustrating due to lighting issues. There were only two headlamps in the room, which would be maddening for larger groups (only 3 people in our group). One of the lights had a short in it and would randomly turn back off. You could shake it (and hear the parts rattling around inside) and it would turn back on. Pointed this out to staff, but they didn’t replace the lamp, just gave it new batteries, making it brighter and still just as likely to randomly turn off.
This *should* be the best room at Last Second Escape, but reset errors let us into the final box immediately The clue to get into another box was locked inside of that box, along with a critical item for the final puzzle. This made the room unsolvable – or it should have been. However, due to the type of sensors used, any “important item” worked as any other important item, so we were able to swap clues from other puzzles to solve the unsolvable puzzle and beat the room. When we finished the room (confused because we had an unfinished map and a locked box still), the staff discovered the reset error. No apology offered.
Project 00: 1 out of 10
We didn’t enjoy this room, start to finish. We barely got any idea what the story was, as the staff-member mumbled and mixed up the story in the intro. Set was dull and mostly empty space. We had a repeat of the permanent marker / dry erase marker problem from Dark Carnival, but this time on a grand scale and the staff wouldn’t give hints for the wiped-away values should have been, so we had to guess from what bits remained. Is it a B? a R? maybe a D? Lots of just searching around 3 rooms with a black light to see what shows up with no clues to guide you where to look. Required leaps of logic to get solutions – difficult just to be difficult. Were so glad when we escaped this one just to be done with it.
Dragons Keep: 3 out of 10
Is it supposed to be Dragon’s Keep or Dragons Keep? Were we stealing eggs or recovering them? No clue, same problem with a mumbled and confusing story intro. We ran into a series of tech problems in this room, including in the final puzzle, so the room kinda fizzled to a conclusion with a female voice saying “Device Reset”. Again, no apology from the staff for the big reveal not working
Written September 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Riggs Oddsoften
1 contribution
Dec 2018 • Friends
I'm an escape enthusiast, and in my experience, it's always the independently owned companies that are the most rewarding to visit. Last Second Escape is certainly no exception. From the moment I walked into the door, the Game Masters greeted me not only warmly, but with a themed welcome that tied in to the room I previously booked online. How they can keep that kind of thing straight with rooms booking back to back is beyond me, but it certainly added an extra touch to my visit.
The team at Last Second created an entertaining "Mission Debrief" video that would be exceptionally helpful to beginners and served as a great introduction to the house rules as well as continuing that good old fashioned Virginia hospitality by offering free sodas and waters. The moment the video ended, as if on cue, a the same Game Master from the video (neat touch from a small business) was there to give us more back story on our room. She played off our energy like a pro and was as enthusiastic as we were to start the game.
The room itself was well put together. We played Code Critical, which I'm told is one of their newer rooms. Every puzzle was different, we only used the same pattern of logic to solve two different puzzles one time, which kept the room engaging for the whole hour. There were communication games, logic games, skill games, and tinkering puzzles, most of which were clearly designed to be solved in any order or simultaneously for larger parties. When we did show signs of slowing, the Game Master was already watching and came over the intercom to offer help. She did a great job of gauging her audience and asking us how much assistance we would like rather than just blurting answers, a courtesy I don't have the luxury of seeing often in a GM. Additionally, she stayed just as engaged with the story line as the other Game Master was when we walked in the door.
We made it out with literal seconds on the clock, true to Last Second's company name, and the Game Master came in excitedly to share in our victory. She's got to see people solve this room 6 times a day, but you'd never know it. In that moment, it was about us, our progress, not the room. She sighted specific things she saw happen from moments she wasn't even engaging with us, so we know she was truly attentive to our needs the whole hour, not just when we needed her around.
All in all, this was one of the best escape experiences I've had in a long time. Their 5 stars are well earned, and if I could give them 6, I would. The team at Last Second Escape is truly passionate about their customer experience and for a small team, whom I was proudly told hand makes every aspect of their rooms, the final product was legendary. I'll certainly be back next time I'm in Richmond.
The team at Last Second created an entertaining "Mission Debrief" video that would be exceptionally helpful to beginners and served as a great introduction to the house rules as well as continuing that good old fashioned Virginia hospitality by offering free sodas and waters. The moment the video ended, as if on cue, a the same Game Master from the video (neat touch from a small business) was there to give us more back story on our room. She played off our energy like a pro and was as enthusiastic as we were to start the game.
The room itself was well put together. We played Code Critical, which I'm told is one of their newer rooms. Every puzzle was different, we only used the same pattern of logic to solve two different puzzles one time, which kept the room engaging for the whole hour. There were communication games, logic games, skill games, and tinkering puzzles, most of which were clearly designed to be solved in any order or simultaneously for larger parties. When we did show signs of slowing, the Game Master was already watching and came over the intercom to offer help. She did a great job of gauging her audience and asking us how much assistance we would like rather than just blurting answers, a courtesy I don't have the luxury of seeing often in a GM. Additionally, she stayed just as engaged with the story line as the other Game Master was when we walked in the door.
We made it out with literal seconds on the clock, true to Last Second's company name, and the Game Master came in excitedly to share in our victory. She's got to see people solve this room 6 times a day, but you'd never know it. In that moment, it was about us, our progress, not the room. She sighted specific things she saw happen from moments she wasn't even engaging with us, so we know she was truly attentive to our needs the whole hour, not just when we needed her around.
All in all, this was one of the best escape experiences I've had in a long time. Their 5 stars are well earned, and if I could give them 6, I would. The team at Last Second Escape is truly passionate about their customer experience and for a small team, whom I was proudly told hand makes every aspect of their rooms, the final product was legendary. I'll certainly be back next time I'm in Richmond.
Written February 27, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Darren W
Powhatan, VA19 contributions
Dec 2018 • Friends
My mother and I have been to this location and done every room there. We did Embassy Row today, which ended up not being our favorite room. However, one room does not determine the absolute grand time you’ll have at this location! We’ve enjoyed every room here greatly and intend to continue to frequent this location as their staff is friendly as anything! Something I find to be a fantastic quality here!!! We also did Code Critical earlier this week and had an absolute blast with it!!!! This is a fantastic place to go for entertainment purposes!!!!!
Written December 28, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We really appreciate your support and excellent attitude. We can't wait to have a new room ready for you to play in the New Year!
Written December 29, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Charlie K
Richmond, VA13 contributions
Nov 2018 • Family
Just like Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force team members, you and your crew must disarm a bomb within 60 minutes. With only the use of hidden clues and the wit of your teammates, you & your team must figure out how to disarm Faceless (the terror organization who held you hostage).
We chose the Embassy Row Room. Highly recommend it! There we four of us playing, two adults, 17 year old and a 16 year old... where we disarmed the bomb with 0:32 seconds remaining! The final disarming took ALL members.
This is your mission if you choose to accept it!
We chose the Embassy Row Room. Highly recommend it! There we four of us playing, two adults, 17 year old and a 16 year old... where we disarmed the bomb with 0:32 seconds remaining! The final disarming took ALL members.
This is your mission if you choose to accept it!
Written November 24, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We can't wait to have you and your family back to play another one with us. Hope your holidays have been going fantastically so far!
Written November 26, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Maps05257688047
1 contribution
Oct 2018 • Friends
I had so much fun! My friends and I went for our bachelorette party, and we did the virus x room. Our awesome host, Joe, was so friendly and knowledgeable. We made it out in 48 minutes! I will definitely be heading back. :)
Written November 8, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your kind words! Your group was so much fun, and we can't wait for you to return to try again another time!
Written November 9, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
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