Room Escape Artist

Infiltrate the office for real

Duration: Runs until April 2026

Location: Anaheim, CA

Date Played: February 19, 2026

Team Size: 1-6; we recommend 1-3

Duration: 60 minutes

Price:  $30 per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: None

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Pop Up Escape presented a clever concept by creating a temporary escape game inside a real business during its off-hours. In this case, the venue and the setting were one and the same: a tax preparation office. Clients come in during the day; players come in at night. Same desks. Different stakes.

The introduction included an instruction to disturb the space as little as possible (for story reasons). As I began searching, I was acutely aware that this wasn’t a fabricated set but someone’s actual workplace. Filing cabinets, stacks of paperwork, and office supplies were all real. That awareness added a subtle tension to the experience. Thankfully, it was generally clear which items were part of the game and safe to handle.

The game smartly targeted customers of the business itself. By layering an escape experience over a space players may have previously visited in a very different context, it became a non-threatening way to introduce newcomers to the hobby.

That accessibility extended to the structure. The game had a linear design and each solved puzzle led directly to the next. Clues were provided on sequential instruction sheets, and kept players focused while minimizing the risk of getting stuck. The difficulty reflected its newcomer-friendly goals: approachable, guided, and clearly signposted.

I enjoyed witnessing the creativity with which puzzles were integrated into the office environment. It felt unmistakably like a passion project, and the commitment to using the real space – both in-game and in reality – made it stand out.

What made Death & Taxes memorable wasn’t the complexity of the puzzles, but the audacity of the idea. For the first time, I found myself legitimately combing through a real accountant’s office after hours – aware that every drawer and cabinet belonged to someone.

Pop Up Escape didn’t compete on spectacle. It succeeded on perspective, inviting curious first-timers to experience the thrill of escape games – and to look at ordinary spaces just a little differently.

Who is this for?

• Newbies
• Clients of the business itself
• People considering commissioning a Pop Up Escape overlay in their own space

Why play?

• It is newcomer-friendly.
• You visited your accountant and are now curious about escape rooms.
• You are curious as to how an escape room game could be incorporated unobtrusively into an occupied space.

Story

We had been tasked by the FBI to do a clandestine search operation in a tax preparer’s office to find evidence of illegal activity by the Ecuadorian Mafia and locate a missing agent. 

Setting

This was an actual tax preparation business, disguised as an escape room set in a tax preparation business.

Gameplay

Pop Up Escape’s Death & Taxes was a standard escape room with a low level of difficulty.

Puzzles generally focused on observation, searching, deduction, and decoding.

Analysis

➕ The linear design with printed clue sheets made this game very approachable for its intended newcomer audience.

➕/➖ The majority of the puzzles were cleanly clued. I struggled with one that seemed ambiguous to me, but hints were available via walkie-talkie and I got through it.

➖ One clue relied on information that was available in multiple places in the room, which I found unusual and a potential red herring.

➕ I was amused that it took years of infiltrating imaginary offices before I found myself actually poking around in someone’s actual office.

❓I was a little uncomfortable about potentially sensitive paperwork in a real office. However, the office is now mostly digital so the papers in the filing cabinets were mostly archives. I’m a courteous player, and I knew the host was watching the game, so I wasn’t about to rifle through anything unclued, but I’d still suggest more securely or clearly locking office paperwork.

➕ It was a nice showcase for the pop up escape game service itself.

Tips For Visiting

• There is free parking in the business complex.
• There are some simple food options within a few blocks of the location.

Book your hour with Pop Up Escape’s Death & Taxes, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you. The game is a only available until April 2026.

Disclosure: Pop Up Escape comped our tickets for this game.