Room Escape Artist

A Real Life Adventure in The Big Apple

Location: Secret locations in Manhattan, New York

Date Played: June 14, 2025

Team Size: 2-4; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 3-5 hours

Price:  For one team, $190 early bird, $230 full price

Accessibility Consideration: All players must be able to walk approximately 2 miles

REA Reaction

The Great Gotham Challenge MMXXV (GGC) was a puzzle hunt of spectacular production values. Even to a seasoned puzzle/ scavenger hunter such as myself, this event set itself apart by doing things that challenged my assumptions on how a hunt could be integrated into the urban landscape. It successfully hid itself against the bustle of the city that never sleeps, in ways that surprised and delighted me.

The wide variety of ways in which the puzzles presented themselves was such a joy to experience. Sometimes a thoughtful snack was provided. Sometimes we needed to enter a working retail establishment to seek an object. Sometimes we had to track down actors in a crowd to get the next piece of the puzzle.

GGC ran on 2 weekends in June, and I attended the second staging of the event. There was a steady constant drizzle all day, but thanks to an accurate weather forecast, we were all outfitted with proper rain gear and the weather proved to be merely a mild nuisance. Apparently there had been torrential rain during the earlier weekend – GGC runs rain or shine!

GGC involved a lot of walking, covering around 5 miles, but I barely noticed it. The distance between puzzle locations was usually not more than a few blocks, and it also was valuable time for strategizing, or to carefully analyze the clue text to understand what we would need to do when we arrived.

Ultimately, the day felt like a fun expedition through the city of New York with friends.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level

Why play?

• Playing the Great Gotham Challenge felt like a grand adventure.
• Interacting with the denizens of the city (whether actual or acting) made the missions real.
• Puzzle elements took many unexpected forms and were exciting and refreshing.
• Racing against dozens of other teams was thrilling.

Gameplay

The Great Gotham Challenge MMXXV was an outdoor puzzle hunt that took place in a limited area in New York City. The official course was 2 miles long but most teams will probably find themselves walking more than that. The puzzles were of moderate difficulty, and there was a sophisticated automated hint system.

The structure of the game was a linear sequence of puzzles. Each puzzle solved to a word or phrase, which had to be entered in the GGC phone app. That gave us information that guided us to the next location or puzzle. Along the way, players received and collected numerous physical artifacts, including electronic components, a fish (thankfully fake), a movie poster, a scratch-off ticket, and letter tiles, among others.

Puzzles involved logic, environmental searching, deciphering puns, decoding clues, and the occasional dash of inspiration.

Analysis

➕ GGC was designed so that players learned all sorts of fascinating facts about New York, as well as having to visit interesting venues as part of the puzzles. It was a fantastic way to be guided around the city!

❓It was raining and I was apprehensive about spending hours outdoors in the rain. In the end, bringing proper rain gear made it a non-issue. Most puzzle locations were indoors, so we only needed to stay dry walking between locations.

➕/❓For most of the hunt, we did not see many other teams in our vicinity. There were a handful of puzzles that took significantly longer than average, and it was during those times where teams started bunching up in the same location. It was sometimes a bottleneck to access the same puzzle elements, but at the same time, it motivated us to work faster and leave our opponents behind!

➕ We received a snack as part of the game. It was a considerate touch!

➖ In contrast to last year’s hunt, this year had fewer moments I found genuinely jaw-dropping, though it remains in a class of its own for the way it integrates into the urban landscape.

➕ GGC was generous with collectibles and fun actor interactions. 

Tips For Visiting

• All team members should bring a charged cellphone. A portable power bank would probably be wise as well.
• A clipboard is not required, but is helpful.
• You are racing, so bring all the water and snacks you need with you.

For more on, Room Escape Artist previously reviewed GGC MMXXIII and GGC MMXXIV.

This event ran in June 2025 and is no longer available. However, Great Gotham Challenge runs shorter public events all summer.

Disclosure: Great Gotham Challenge comped our tickets for this game.