Introduction
What is an escape aka puzzle room you ask? Well it’s a place you go to with a couple of your friends and are “locked” in a room, and you’re supposed to save the world, rob a casino, make meth, etc. Sounds fun right? I’ve done two of these now, and both times, I’ve enjoyed it as well as the people who came along. If you don’t like solving puzzles, then you may not like it.
So what is it again?
If you’re in the Seattle area, I’ve done one here at Ninja Escapes. Six of us went. Each room has a limit on # of people due to size constraints. If we had booked a room with a limit of 10, then 4 strangers could have booked the same time slot and been in the room with us. If you don’t like strangers farting on you or are the type to get annoyed by stupid people, then I suggest you gather enough friends to book up an entire room (at least for the first time.)
Most of the puzzles in the room require no heavy lifting. Usually each room will have 8-10 puzzles that you need to solve. Each puzzle usually has a box with a combination lock on it (either numeric or alphanumeric.) You’ll search around the room and maybe find a picture with 4 random numbers on it, which will open the lock for the next clue. Or maybe there is a stick in the room and you have to poke it at the ceiling to find a key…? That sort of stuff. You keep doing this until you’ve solved all the puzzles or until your time runs out (usually an hour.)
What do you win?
Bragging rights? An “atta boy” slap on the back? I don’t know.
How much does it cost?
Depends on where it is. I know I paid about $30 per person in Seattle. The one I did in Austin was a bit cheaper. There are Groupons too, so try that route as well.
What’s the success rate?
Usually each location will have 3-4 puzzle rooms that have varying degrees of difficulty. From the 2 I’ve done, the success rate is usually 20-35%. My friends and I actually failed on the first one we did. The second one in Austin, we solved it with 10 minutes to go. I think it’s because we had more people in Austin and the people I went with in Austin were “travel hackers,” so of course they are always looking for loopholes. Each room will give you a limited number of “phone-a-friend” hints.
Conclusion
As travel “hackers,” we’re always looking for loopholes in the system and trying to think outside the box. So these puzzle rooms should be really up your alley. So give it a shot, assuming there’s one in your city.
Did this as a work retreat and it was pretty fun – I was super skeptical at first because, to me, it sounded super lame. I was under the impression we would be in a mostly empty prison cell type room where we had to break out.