Room Escape Artist

Zombie Outbreak is one of the best games in Los Angeles. Here are our other recommendations for great escape rooms in Los Angeles.

Use your braaaaains…

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Date Played: August 24, 2025

Team Size: 2-10; we recommend 3-6

Duration: 60 minutes

Price:  $40-55 per player ($90 if premium experience is selected)

Ticketing: Choice of Public, Private or Premium

Accessibility Consideration: One player needs to be able to enter a small tunnel.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The description of Zombie Outbreak on the booking website notes that it “features immersive elements such as jump scares and graphic thematic visuals.” I scare very easily, but am glad to report that I survived the experience, albeit with a slight residual ringing in my ears from the screeching of the zombies.

There was a healthy serving of scares as promised, so it was a good thing that the puzzles were not complicated. The puzzle design was fair – though we struggled slightly with timing and dexterity challenges. The sets were well constructed and spacious, and given that, the spaces after the starting room had the potential to contain more puzzle elements. On the whole, this was a decent horror game, and I had fun.

I was impressed to note that PanIQ offers both a public and private booking, as well as a 3rd premium option which offers unlimited arcade and shooting gallery games, two complimentary drinks and a reserved lounge booth. We opted to try the premium experience, and it was a very nice upgrade, and would be a very nice way of expanding the standard escape game outing into a full afternoon/ evening of entertainment with friends. Additionally, the venue also offers a private karaoke lounge that easily accommodates a dozen people in the space, as well as a quiz game show room for 6.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Horror fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• If you like horror, this room has a lot of it, while still offering a well-crafted gameplay experience.
• The premium experience at PanIQ Room is a unique offering and allows players to have a longer gathering with more fun activities.
  

Story

There has been a zombie outbreak, and we needed to find a dose of zombie antidote and get a motorcycle working so that we could escape.

Setting

The game was set in a realistic looking garage filled with aged and rusty equipment and fittings.

Gameplay

PanIQ Room’s Zombie Outbreak was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and solving puzzles.

Analysis

➕ I found the set spacious, sufficiently lit, and solidly built, which is not always the case with horror-themed games.

❓There were numerous jump scares, often accompanied by extremely loud sound effects. I was still grateful that they were all designed in ways that allowed me to appreciate them as theming without being too scared to enjoy the game.

➕ The puzzles were thematically appropriate, worked well with multiple people solving together, and were approachable even when players (ok, maybe just me) were jumpy about being eaten by zombies.

➖ There was one puzzle that required precise timing, and another that required dexterity. Despite immediately figuring out what we needed to do for each puzzle, we spent many minutes trying to accomplish the tasks. For less patient players, it could have been a frustrating experience. With a larger group, this would probably not be an issue either, as neither puzzle would have blocked any other puzzles from being worked on.

➕I loved that there were cupholders in the room, which encouraged players to order refreshments at the venue bar and continue enjoying them while playing the escape game.

Tips For Visiting

• As a note about the level of horror, there were no actors in this game. The jump scares were environmental.
• There is only street parking available, so go early to find a spot.
• PanIQ is located near many decent restaurants. Note however, that some of their valet services have taken over a few of the nearby street parking spaces.

Book your hour with PanIQ Room’s Zombie Outbreak, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: PanIQ Room comped our tickets for this game.