The Ruse Escape Rooms Grand Rapids

Things started off a little rocky since the lobby was locked with no one to greet us immediately, but they soon got much better as our gracious host Solomon laid our game out for us after some prep. Before you even step into your room, the captivatingly anachronistic interior of The Ruse leaves a lasting impression; you immediately feel as if youve entered a space where magic and adventure are afoot. I played The Inventors Room in a group of two. The puzzles were challenging and exciting but not...
Read full review too difficult. The narrative and world-building were also enjoyable. Id recommend a group of 4 to work a little faster. Very funny experience getting tripped up at the end by puzzles that required a sense of smell (my teammate and I still havent regained our olfaction after recovering from COVID). Didnt finish this time, but would definitely play again. I highly recommend The Ruse to anyone looking for an exquisitely crafted escape room experience. The complimentary matches offered at souvenirs are a nice touch.

We had a great time! Hosts were hospitable and friendly. The room was very interactive and had something for everyone in our group. Will look for a chance to come back and try another room.

We love escape rooms, and enjoyed this company s room very much. Very interesting/authentic props, puzzles were not too hard, but not too easy; just right...intuitive. The puzzles had good variety. The gamemaster was great. There was a good flow that kept us moving in the inventor s room. Super fun room for a two people that are into escape rooms.

We have to put The Inventors Guild in our top five list. We have done at least twenty escape rooms (most in Michigan). This was easily one of the best. No surprise answers, puzzles made sense, some incredible surprises, and you really have to work together. If you are an Escape Room Fan, this is definitely worth the time. We will remember it for a long time.

Really fun experience! 4-6 people in the Trophy Room is probably ideal if youre wanting to do that one. Any more and it would be way more difficult to figure out. Nice sitting area, they were super nice and tell you all the rules ahead of time. Would definitely go back.

Absolutely amazing. The building is beautiful, the rooms are very well done, and the puzzles are super entertaining. Its not so easy that you arent getting your moneys worth, but its definitely possible to finish. There were 2 of us in the Inventors Guild room and we finished with less than 2 minutes to spare! The host was really great too! Really a top notch escape room! UPDATE: Its been about a year and we just went back and did The Trophy Room and made it out with about 5 minutes left! The puzzles were just as good and you are in for a real test of teamwork at the end! I cant wait to try new rooms with them!

The checkmate room was a super fun puzzle. We beat it with only a couple minutes to spare.

Such a fun time! Would love to go back. Excellent customer service and support as well.

This place was AWESOME!!! Id give it 10 stars if I could! Phenomenal staff, perfectly themed decorations, and overall a great place to plan to visit. Im certainly going to bring more friends and try the another room soon!

Had a great time! Did not finish the room in time but was close - highly recommend if you are looking for a fun indoor activity with family/friends.

This was one of the best escape rooms my family has done together (and weve done a lot!). We did the Inventors Guild and got out with time to spare, but it was still a very fun time for everyone, including my younger cousins. The staff was friendly and informative, and the room/props/puzzles were top notch. There were a few puzzles that we had never encountered the likes of before, which was really fun for experienced players. The only way I would have made it better is by adding more! Another room...
Read full review, or a puzzle using the papers on the wall (maybe one or two can be stuck to the wall with velcro?) would add just that extra bit of challenge. Otherwise, great experience, clean and exciting facility, good puzzles, friendly folks and a great way to spend an hour.

My group and I had an amazing time with the escape room! It was so much fun and the puzzles we had to complete really showcased each member of the parties different abilities. Everyone was able to participate and there was a really fun story along with the room that made everything so much better. While my group was working in the escape room, I also had a medical reason that I needed to step out of the room for. The guy who was helping us with our room checked in with me and helped me out, which was going above and beyond. He was very kind and made my experience much better. I feel very safe there, especially knowing they have great employees like him! Overall, a wonderful experience and I am defiantly going back again!

We had 8 people and had a blast and Ryan was super cool and explained everything very well and we can t wait to do the outside one

Such a fun experience, and my first time doing an escape room! There were just two of us, so it was like doing it on expert mode, but we still had a blast. Great staff, great atmosphere, the group I saw leaving left with smiles on all their faces, and so did we!

We had such a good time in checkmate. Its a hard room but has so many fun twists! The lobby and bathrooms were clean, overall these gamemasters definitely take price in their location.

The investors guild is by far one of the best escape rooms I have been to. The outdoor escape room was also a great time, what a wonderful way to see the town, although it was more than 3 hours.

Such a fun experience! We ve done escape rooms before but Checkmate was next level. So many fun twists. Would highly recommend.

I really enjoyed the rooms there. It is really challenging and fun. I would definitely come back to finish up all the rooms there!

What a great time! We had so much fun at The Ruse! We did the Inventors Guild room and were very impressed. A good level of challenge (hard but not impossibly so), and really fun thematic elements. This particular room required a lot of teamwork and good communication, which made it even more fun. We will definitely be coming back to try some of the other rooms!

The Ruse itself is in a very old building and the space is SO COOL!! Very nicely remodeled- modern industrial? We escaped the Trophy Room. (Yes, we did it!) We had a group of six and a couple we had never met joined as well- it was really, really great. Challenging and creative. Our host was very friendly and fun. Will definitely go back to try the other rooms they offer.

Had a great time. Went downtown for a different reason, weather changed our plans. Instead we decided to try our luck with an escape room. Thank you for saving our afternoon, we had a blast !! Been to quite a few escape rooms, this is our favorite! We will be back for more challenges.

This was our first experience in an escape room and we had a great time! The puzzles were super fun and some were quite tricky, even with a group of 6.Theres a lot of back story that goes into the rooms and the attention to detail was incredible! We would love to go back to The Ruse and try out any of their other rooms.

Our group had so much fun escaping the inventors guild room! It was challenging and well organized. The moderator helped us out at the perfect times.

This was my two daughters 3-4th Escape Room experience and my 2nd. We had a lot of fun. We did the Trophy Room. We thought the instructions, props, and just enough hints to keep us from getting too frustrated (or arguing) were excellent. Very fun experience. Highly recommended and will be back :)

This was so much fun! The staff was super friendly and helpful, and the room was incredibly well done. We did the Inventors Guild, which was super immersive with a good variety of challenging puzzles, and they did a really good job of setting the scene. The puzzles were really well done, they were all creative, unique, and didnt feel forced. It was my first time doing an escape room, so I was somewhat nervous, but I neednt have been, this was a great experience! I would happily go back to The Ruse, and highly recommend it to everyone!

It was a great experience. We went for a 21st birthday and they treated us nicely, answered our requests patiently and gave us a good experience. Booking and setting up a time for the room was timeless and easy they helped and walked us through the system. In terms of the rooms (as they were explained and our experience) they are well thought out impressive puzzles that is fun to work through with a rewarding feeling at the end. The only issue we had is we felt they gave us too many hints and at...
Read full review sometimes useless times. It felt a little too easy at times because of the hint. We did finish our room under the time but with the amount of hints given it let us finish in time. Of we had 30 more minutes to figure it out then it we would have finished without the hints. Overall the experience was fantastic and I would return again with a group of friends like last time!!!

Our group had such a great time at The Ruse! We did the Inventor s Room and it was so well set up with so many fun and challenging puzzles to keep our whole group busy and engaged! I can t wait to do another room because of how creative and well thought out everything was! I d definitely suggest this as a great group activity!

The Ruse was the best. We held a corporate team building event and could not be more satisfied with the support, the suggestions, and the care with which we were treated. Bill, the owner and manager was amazing to work with. From prompt responses to helpful suggestions, he accommodated everything we needed. Ryan, the on-site manager did an incredible job making sure the physical facility, including our catered dinner came off flawlessly. On the night of our event, Ryan and Solomon made sure our actual escape experience was fun and energizing! It all worked - I highly recommend The Ruse. Have fun!

My family and I had an AMAZING experience with The Ruse. From the beginning, Steve was great to work with coordinating the purchase of my gift card (and even dropping it off to my work) to ensure it made it in time for when I wanted to give the gift and even updating my reservation. He was very responsive and accommodating. The experience at The Ruse itself was even better than the customer service! We have done another escape room before, and this one was infinitely better. When we walked in we...
Read full review were greeted right away by our host Kyle. He was the BEST! He was very through in his explanations and expectations. He was personable and a great story-teller which really set you up for a wonderful experience. Once you got in the room the puzzles were challenging, but doable and highly interactive. The clues they gave you pointed you in the right direction without giving too much away. You could tell they were really paying attention to what your groups needs were.

Christmas 2018 was our familys first experience at The Ruse. Our group of seven went through the Trophy Room and had an absolute blast. We loved it so much that we went back this year (2019) to attempt the second room, The Inventors Guild. Both rooms are gorgeous and so well done. Aesthetically speaking, these are the best rooms in GR, hands down. The staff is friendly and the puzzles are fantastically creative.