Room Escape Artist

Mystery Doors

Location: Charlotte, NC

Date Played: July 13, 2025

Team Size: 2-5 for The Grid; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 30-90 minute options

Price: $17 to 26 per player

Ticketing: Public and Private… you play individual challenges with your own team, but teams are going in and out of the same challenge rooms

Accessibility Consideration: Some challenges are more physical, requiring ability or balance, and others are more mental. But a team can abandon any challenge at any point if its not for them.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

District 57 was a challenge arcade with a distinctive vibe. From the moment we entered the building, it was clear we were in a strange dystopian future. This set it apart from many of the other challenge arcades we’ve visited.

We came to District 57 specifically for The Grid, its collection of challenge rooms, including both physical and mental games, that we’d tackle as a team of 2-5 players. However, District 57 offered quite a bit more than that. The classic arcade games also looked fun, and we’ve heard the laser tag there is top notch, but can’t speak from experience.

We had a great time in The Grid. We brought a team with a ton of energy, ready to tackle anything. We cheered at our victories and laughed at our failures (for me, this included throwing any ball at a target.) We tried as many challenges as we could, abandoned any we didn’t like, and repeated any we thought we could score better on with a second or third attempt. As a team of challenge arcade veterans, we were pretty good at these games (my ball throwing skills notwithstanding.)

While the vibe of the District 57 was pretty great, The Grid portion needed some love. It wasn’t on the same level, aesthetically, and many of the games were pretty well worn. The phone map was helpful for tracking our progress, but we wished the doors of the rooms had better indication of what games were inside, so that we could better optimize our limited time. There were also opportunities for the games to give better feedback.

Compared to other Challenge Arcades we’ve visited, we’d rank The Grid at District 57 somewhere in the middle. It wasn’t our favorite, but we’ve certainly visited far worse. If you’re in Charlotte, and you enjoy challenge arcades, it’s worth visiting.

Who is this for?

• Physical challenge fans
• People who are good at throwing objects under unusual circumstances
• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level

Why play?

• An interesting collection of unusual challenges
• District 57 had a great environment, food and beverage options, and classic arcade games
• They really sell the dystopic aesthetic

Story

District 57 has a fair bit of lore underpinning its dystopic aesthetic: In 2085 a blackout appeared to have killed all power across the globe. As a result of the loss of power, society crumbled, and anarchy set in.

Sometime later, a broad spectrum radio signal invited everyone to enter one of 60 Districts established around the world. A group calling themselves the Representative Protectorate offered all who entered sustenance and protection. District 57 is one of those facilities.

Setting

District 57 leaned into the futuristic, dystopic bunker look. Everything looked like it was made from concrete and metal with worn and faded paint. The lobby, bar, arcade, and bathrooms really stuck the landing.

Aesthetically, the The Grid – the challenge arcade area that is the focus of this review – was a bit more mixed in visual quality. Each room was a unique game, and the set quality varied wildly. Some looked pretty good, while others felt under-loved. Nothing looked terrible, but seeing what District 57 was capable of, it was clear that not every room had been given the same level of attention.

Additionally, the hallway connecting the individual rooms of The Grid was deeply underdeveloped. It didn’t contribute to the dystopian vibe. There was very little there to help players navigate or even differentiate between the various doors.

Gameplay

District 57 offered a challenge arcade model of play where teams can buy 30, 60, or 90 minute blocks of time in the game world, The Grid. Once inside we chose a door from a long hallway of 30 rooms. Each room offered a unique challenge (with no indication of what that challenge would be from the hallway and door, other than a point value.) Rooms with higher point values correlated with more difficult games.

The games within varied dramatically from one another. One room might have a logic puzzle, the next a dexterity challenge, another might have us searching for information, and the following would require throwing objects at a target.

The level of difficulty swung intensely from game to game, and also varied with our skillsets. We brought a balanced team with a variety of puzzle and physical skills and a silly amount of experience at these sort of things. It was clear that we were thriving a lot more than the other teams who were visiting at the same time as we were.

Analysis

➕ We loved the vibe of District 57 from the moment we walked in. We immediately recognized that a lot of love and care went into the aesthetics and lore of the overworld. We liked hanging out there. They had a good beer selection. We can’t comment on the quality of the food, but it looked pretty good.

➖ That said, the vibe didn’t carry over to The Grid. Visually, the rooms with the games were uneven. Some were better decorated and more thematic than others. The hallway didn’t add to the aesthetic of the place.

➕ The majority of the games we attempted in The Grid were a lot of fun. Despite some of the critiques to follow, we had a great time tackling these challenges as a team.

➕ /➖ We especially enjoyed some unusual mental challenges. However, once we’d solved the puzzle of a mental challenge, the answers didn’t change, so if we didn’t score maximum points the first time, we could memorize the answers and go back just to input them. This seemed like a missed opportunity in game design.

❓Some of the games with balls were pretty standard takes on regular ball sports. We found these boring, but others might consider familiarity to be a perk.

➖ The games often lacked feedback for correct answers.

➖ Teams can enter The Grid as a group of 2-5, but not all the games accommodate all team sizes. In some games, only two players could actively participate at a time.

➖ There was a lot of wear and tear on many of the games. Some of the wear was an aesthetic choice (which was fine), others were just damaged.

➕/❓ We played with the same group for our entire session of The Grid. While this might be a drawback to larger groups who want to shuffle teams around, we liked the simplicity of it. We only had to tap one wristband to get the whole team through a door. Entering and exiting games was smooth.

➕ We appreciated being able to access the map of the rooms in the The Grid from our phone. The map displayed on one phone for the group, so not everyone needed to carry their device. No matter where we were, we could pull up the map and see which games we’d completed, failed, or not yet tried.

➖ We had no idea what type of challenge would be behind each door. We could see the game’s point value, but not what type of skills would be required to excel at it. Furthermore, because all doors looked the same, it was hard to keep track of which games we’d tried already. We would have appreciated thematic door decor, visible game names, and skill set labeling, in addition to the point values listed.

➖ There is a reason why so many Challenge Arcades assign team names, and it’s because some groups will list team names that a company probably doesn’t want on every screen in their family friendly facility… as evidenced by one of our competitors.

➕ When we mentioned to Charlotte locals that we were going to District 57, everyone commented on their laser tag. We didn’t play, but it clearly has a stellar reputation.

Tips For Visiting

• Parking: There is a parking lot
• Food: District 57 has food and beverage on-site

Book your session with District 57, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.