Room Escape Artist

Play to win

Location: Austin, TX

Date Played: July 18, 2025

Team Size: 2-8; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price:  $39 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: None that we are aware of

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Jungle Game bent our brains in offbeat ways that felt distinct from other escape rooms in Central Texas. Using a not-Jumanji gameboard centerpiece to verify solutions and anchor the experience, the game tied together a gauntlet of brain teaser-esque puzzles that constantly risked frustration without ever quite touching it. The end result was a surprisingly satisfying mental workout.

To support the theme of not-Jumanji, the photos on the website suggested we’d be phasing through walls, gasping at magical mechanisms, and possibly navigating a jungle. In reality, we explored some simple spaces in an old-Austin house with mid-sized franchise-shipped set pieces scattered about. Now, to be fair, the description on the website said “abandoned attic,” and this did indeed give an attic vibe. Furthermore, the generally gloomy space allowed certain moments to shine.

This scant backdrop also highlighted the nature of the puzzling. Aside from a couple of common puzzles, most felt like 3D riddles, leaving a wider than usual mental space between the cluing and the solution. It was always clear what the clues were, but the sparseness of the set left few opportunities to apply them. This forced our brains to work in unexpected ways, leading to hard-earned ahas. Even the simple puzzles were deceptive in their simplicity.

Between The Dreams and Jungle Game, 4 Dreams Escape Game offers experiences unlike anything else in Austin. With atypical puzzles and game flows that defy common escape room tropes, these rooms enable players with different experience levels to participate on more equal footing. Despite the flaws in these games, I’m glad 4 Dreams joined the Austin market and encourage open-minded locals to check them out for a unique experience.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Jumanji fans
• Any experience level

Why play?

• To exercise your lateral thinking skills in a different way than elsewhere in Austin

Story

While exploring an abandoned attic, we stumbled into playing a Jumanji-like game, triggering Jumanji-like problems. Our only hope was to win the game.

Setting

We found ourselves in a dark, remarkably empty attic housing a game-boarded pedestal amidst a small collection of jungle animal artwork.

Gameplay

4 Dreams Escape Game’s Jungle Game was a standard escape room with a moderately high level of difficulty.

Gameplay involved observation, riddles, dexterity, and lateral thinking.

Analysis

➕ The puzzles were fundamentally different than other escape room experiences around here. They felt more like riddles and lateral thought exercises than observe-and-connect activities.

➖ Even though the set technically delivered on the “attic” premise, there seemed a mismatch between the lovely set pieces and the non-descript house they were set against.

➖ One puzzle broke a rule that the company explicitly stated. Even though the solution was exceptionally logical outside of an escape room, breaking your own rules can set problematic expectations for the rest of the experience.

➖ One tactically straightforward activity had no way to gauge the reasonableness of our answer and no upper bound on possibilities. It devolved into trial-and-error.

➕ A clever dexterity puzzle was novel to us and struck a good balance between required effort and low penalty for mistakes.

➕/➖ The central game mechanic gave delightful feedback for correct solutions…over and over again. And it was long feedback. And loud feedback, making it difficult to communicate. It would be lovely to experience one or two repetitions of the whole shebang with shorter iterations thereafter.

Tips For Visiting

• Parking is available in the alleyway behind the building. The alleyway has a narrow entrance and is not well-marked.
• Editor’s Note: This game might be similar to other Jumanji-themed games around the country that are based on an Indestroom kit, and each modified in different ways.

Book your hour with 4 Dreams Escape Game’s Jungle Game, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.