About Us
A move from Saint Paul, MN, to Milwaukee, WI, prompted us to take the biggest step of our lives and open an escape room of our own. Together, our knowledge covers every aspect of the business, from creating puzzles and constructing rooms to managing employees and handling day-to-day affairs. We are passionate about what we do and have the drive and determination to achieve our goals!
OWNERS
Nick is a former high school math and computer science teacher whose love of games and puzzles led him to take on a part time job at an escape room in Saint Paul. He took on more and more responsibilities at that escape room, and eventually left teaching to become their General Manager. At that point he took on all day to day operations of the business, and even applied his skill sets to assist in puzzle design and development, as well as programming some of their electronic puzzles.
Allen has a degree in video game design and development, and was a tech artist at a casino game company until early 2020. He was hired part time at the same escape room as Nick in Saint Paul, where his creative problem solving and attention to detail landed him the company’s next and only other full time position. His unique role grew and evolved over time, with responsibilities ranging from prop repairs and room construction, to electronics wiring, graphic design, and more.
Tyler has a Master's degree in physics but works in the field of Software Quality Assurance. In grad school, he worked on writing programs to control machines in a lab on campus. These days, he writes programs to automate manual tasks and interfaces to easily interact with data for software testing. He uses his software engineering skills to design and implement code, making the incredible puzzles at Redacted work.
REDACTED Escape Rooms is a fully LGBT owned business.
We have a combined 10 years of experience running, managing, and building escape rooms.
Updates
Remember when I said it would be worth the wait?
Well… it absolutely is.
We officially opened Heist Havoc as a 90-minute experience on October 11th. In just 2.5 months, we’ve already had 108 bookings—something we honestly never imagined happening so quickly with our very first room.
From the beginning, our goal was to create some of the best escape rooms in the Milwaukee area. What we didn’t expect was to hear, again and again through reviews and feedback, that we had already done just that. Players love our “No Padlock Promise,” saying the lock-free design makes the room feel incredibly immersive and interactive. They rave about puzzles they’ve never seen before and the hands-on spy gadgets they get to use throughout the mission. If you haven’t yet, check out the AI summary of our Google Reviews—it still blows us away.
Building Heist Havoc wasn’t easy. Without a big budget or the ability to hire help, time and money were constant challenges. We had a hard decision to make: open faster with a lesser experience, or take our time, scrape by, and build the room we truly envisioned. I’ll be honest—the longer it took, the more tempting it was to “just open.” But we chose quality over speed, and in hindsight, I’m so glad we did.
Every single group that has played Heist Havoc has told us it ranks among the top escape rooms they’ve ever done. Some have even said it’s the best room in Wisconsin. The overwhelmingly positive feedback has been incredibly heartwarming. We genuinely geek out every time a new review comes in—it means the world to us.
We also celebrated a fantastic Grand Opening in November, attended by David Crowley, Mayor Dan Devine, and so many others who helped make this dream possible. That weekend was truly special and something we’ll never forget.
And we’re just getting started. Here’s a peek at what’s coming next:
A second Heist Havoc room is currently under construction, allowing us to host up to 20 players at once. Groups will even have the option to race each other to see who can retrieve the Divine Diamond the fastest.
Heist Havoc will be transitioning from 90 minutes to 60 minutes in early January to allow us to host more groups each day. If you want the full 90-minute experience, book soon!
We’re deep in the planning stages of Rainforest Ruins, and yes—it will uphold (and raise the bar on) our No Padlock Promise.
In January, we’ll also be focusing on fulfilling all remaining Kickstarter rewards.
As we close out the final week of 2025, the momentum is unreal. Yesterday was a record-setting day with 5 bookings and 22 players—and tomorrow is already on track to beat it. This is always our busiest week of the year, and spots are filling quickly.
If you’d like to experience Heist Havoc in its original 90-minute form, be sure to book online ASAP. And don’t forget to use promo code HOLIDAZE for a discount when booking. This promo code expires Dec 31st, but works for all future bookings.
Visit us online to book your mission: www.redactedescape.com
Thank you for being part of this journey—we truly couldn’t do this without you.
~Nick
CONTACT US
Have questions? Want more information about our updates? Reach out to us!