Room Escape Artist

Mad Scientist is one of the best games in the Chicago area. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms around Chicago.

The best kind of pointless

Location: Woodstock, IL

Date Played: April 25, 2025

Team Size: 4-10; we recommend 4-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $30 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: None that we can think of

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

One of the great joys of escape room reviewing is stumbling upon a humble escape room company that has made a killer game that is far more than the sum of its parts. Mad Scientist is such a find.

In many ways, Mad Scientist is an old-school escape room: it’s physically small, one room, and very puzzle driven… it’s also set in a science lab (one of the most tired escape room themes).

However the whole package is elevated by 3 things:

• It has in-character on-boarding and gamemastering
• There are great, layered puzzles.
• The detailing, while limited, is in the right places.

PARADOXsquared blended all of this with an abundance of heart, delivering the kind of game that I found undeniably entertaining.

I don’t want to overhype Mad Scientist, as its greatness comes from its humbleness. It’s the kind of game that made me love escape rooms in the first place… and that’s more than enough, even in 2025. I was thrilled to drive outside of Chicago to check this one out, and recommend that you do as well.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Sci-fi fans
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• An exceptional on-boarding and introduction sequence
• Strong, classic escape room puzzling
• Crafty puzzle design

Story

Stop by and spend some time with your friendly neighborhood mad scientist. He could always use a bit of help with one of his experiments.

Setting

Mad Scientist was set within a gritty lab. It wasn’t big or especially elaborate, but it had a lot of character. Everything felt worn and like it belonged. Select props had clearly been passion projects filled with little details.

The presence of a performer at the beginning of the game also added an extra dynamic to the environment, making this space feel like it belonged to someone.

Gameplay

PARADOXsquared’s Mad Scientist was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and solving puzzles. Keen observation led to fun ahas.

Analysis

➕ The introduction to Mad Scientist was phenomenal. We could tell that the performer had honed this introduction over hundreds of performances to draw our attention to specific details. It was masterful. It was also highly amusing. The silliness of the costume and the character created a wonderful vibe.

➕ While escape rooms set in labs tend to be bland, Mad Scientist exuded personality. The set wasn’t especially built out; it had plain, minimal furniture. Rather, the character-led intro set a silly tone and larger props added intrigue. Mad Scientist committed to its own bit… of trolling its players in a playful, fun way.

➕ The gameplay highlights of Mad Scientist were the machines, all of which delivered fun aha moments. We loved how fluidly one worked. In another instance, a prop was reused creatively to add depth to the puzzle design.

➖ Two different puzzles were not fully clued and required minimal amount of trial and error. In one case, the input mechanism made any amount of trial and error especially punishing. While PARADOXsquared was somewhat limited by the (very cool!) props in both cases, we encourage them to find ways to integrate more complete cluing.

➖ The game flow stumbled slightly in lock-mapping. There were multiple locks of the same type in the room, and it wasn’t always immediately clear where to input any given solution.

➕ PARADOXsquared used lighting well to turn opens into moments. We always knew where to turn our attention next, which kept up our momentum.

➕ After the introduction, Mad Scientist transitioned into a fully puzzle-focused escape room. There was a lot to solve, much of which could be worked on in parallel. The gameplay kept our team of experienced puzzlers entertained.

Tips For Visiting

• There is a parking lot.

Book your hour with PARADOXsquared’s Mad Scientist, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: PARADOXsquared comped our tickets for this game.