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What Is An Escape Room?
An escape room is a live adventure game in which a group of players are locked into a themed room and have to find a way to escape. There is typically a 60 minute time limit to these physical escape rooms. If the group does not complete the room within the allotted time, they have lost. They are the real version of the video games “escape the room“.
How Do Escape Rooms Work?
Each real escape room can vary but here is the overall concept of a real life escape room.
Time Limit
Depending on the location there is a minimum and maximum number of players allowed in each room. We had 5 people in our group. The size of your group and the time you visit may dictate whether you will be alone with your group in the room or working with another group to solve the puzzles during the allotted time. You will not be allowed out unless there is an emergency so be sure to use the restroom before you start.
Information Up Front
The escape room workers tell you any “need to know” information ahead of time. For example, we were told there was nothing hidden under the floor boards so don’t try tearing up the nice wooden floors. We were then placed in the room and given 60 minutes to escape.
Clues
We had the option to ask for clues if we were stuck on a puzzle. Some places deduct time at the end to penalize you for getting clues while others do not – be sure you clarify this before you start. You still get the full 60 minutes since that’s what you paid for, but if you asked for two clues then you would have two minutes added onto your final time. So if you finished in 50 minutes you really finished in 52 minutes after the clue penalty times are added on.
Solving Puzzles
The key to success in a real life escape game is to solve as many puzzles as you can while working towards solving the complete mystery or objective. The puzzles can consist of searching and finding hidden object, solving riddles, discovering keys and other riddles. This is what makes the game so much fun. We found as a team that we were each good at various tasks. Some of us were good at tearing rooms apart and finding objects that were hidden while others were better at solving riddles. That’s what makes these great team building escape room challenges.
Escape Room History
The concept of real life escape rooms originated from an adventure computer game in the 1980s. Players were supposed to escape imprisonment by using their surroundings. About a decade ago, Japan began building real escape rooms and today they have spread worldwide and appeal to a variety of people.
Escape Game Card
If you are an avid escape room participant, consider the Escape Game Card, as it provides discounts at more than 290 escape games worldwide!
Escape Room Reviews
The first escape rooms we ever participated in was at Trapped in Cleveland. We did all four of their escape rooms in one afternoon— it was a lot to handle. After the first two rooms, we took a break and came back for the third and fourth rooms. We found that after the first two rooms we were pumped and excited for the next but after doing the third room, our brains were mush and even more after the fourth. Our fatigue had nothing to do with the quality of the rooms. We were worn out simply because doing four rooms at a time (4 hours of intense brainwork!) is a lot to do. So we would not recommend doing more than two rooms at a time.
Here are our personal reviews, listed in the reverse order of when we played them, starting with the most recent.
- Escape Room Extreme – Largo, FL
- Perplexity Games – Cleveland, OH
- Breakout – Greensboro, NC
- Dare2Escape – Kissimmee, FL
- Escape Room Cleveland – Cleveland, OH
- Escape Room DC Insomnia – Washington, DC
- Tampa Bay Escape Room – Clearwater, FL
- Mysterium – Boone, NC
- Kersey Valley Escape – Archdale, NC (near Greensboro)
- Escape Hunt – Cleveland, OH
- Trapped – Cleveland, OH
Escape Room Extreme – Largo, FL (February 2019)
Upon arriving, we weren’t asked to sign waivers (a requirement at most escape rooms), so we got straight into the game. The Quiz Master gave us the rundown and let us know that all the clues would be linear (meaning that when you solve one clue, it leads to the next). We all agreed this was a huge benefit to our team building efforts because it required us to work together to solve each clue.
There was no penalty when you ask for help, but the Game Master only assists to the degree they think you need it. We didn’t realize until asking a second time that the small monitor in the room gives clues (vs. voice, to which we are accustomed). So we may have missed the first one.
There was also a bonus puzzle that was unrelated to escaping. If solved, you received a free t-shirt (something others could work on when not busy helping with the main game). We were on a roll and managed to finish the primary da Vinci’s Office game with 15 minutes to spare, so we spent our extra time (unsuccessfully) attempting the bonus reward.
There’s no leaderboard at Escape Room Extreme, so no pressure other than to have fun (which we did). The da Vinci room specifically was the perfect balance of types of locks and clues and great for intermediate escape gamers.
Perplexity Games – Cleveland, OH (July 2018)
Unlike most escape rooms where the theme becomes lost in the chaos of clue solving, in the Eliot Ness room it only enhanced the experience. Many of the clues were themed around Cleveland’s history and had some sort of educational component. We really appreciated this special touch.
Atypical of other rooms we’ve experienced, you cannot ask for help or clues in this game. Rather the game master plays a character in the story to subtly guide you along if they sense you are struggling.
The game used lots of sensory experiences (e.g. music, lights, etc.) to keep things interesting. The Eliot Ness room will definitely test your team’s communication skills and will keep each member busy with different tasks that can be worked on independently to get to the common goals.
We experienced no hitches with the game (other than getting caught up for a while on two puzzles). We won’t spoil the room, but let’s just say we were seconds away from solving it and had an adrenaline-filled ending. All in all, it was entertaining and we all agreed that this was among our favorite rooms to date, despite the fact that we didn’t escape (which to be fair, we were down one teammate fro our usual 5 people crew).
Breakout – Greensboro, NC (April 2018)
While a bit skeptical of being handcuffed and blindfolded, we opted for the Kidnapping room. The pace of the clues and the room’s difficulty was challenging, yet fun. Having done several escape rooms, we found ourselves overthinking several clues that were obvious. One perk of this particular escape room is there were no penalties for asking for (unlimited) clues. The only catch is everyone has to agree to ask for the hint. The Game Master was hilarious and would chime in sometimes (don’t look there or don’t use that) to keep us out of trouble. We escaped with 2 minutes and 50 seconds to spare! Personally, this room was one of my favorites. There were no flaws in the clues, the space was clean, and the gameplay was top-notch.
Dare2Escape – Kissimmee, FL (January 2018)
From the moment we stepped into the room, we were transported to the archaeological dig site, complete with canopy tent and Sahara desert sand on the ground (although the room temperature was freezing). To help get into character, Dare2Escape even provided each of us with a headlamp (which came in handy throughout the game since it was a bit dark).
Dare2Escape gives you up to three “free” clues without losing your chance of being on the leaderboard and there is no time penalty for asking for additional clues. These clues were hilarious and super personalized to our situation. We really appreciated our game master’s sense of humor as it helped to break the tension when we were getting frustrated.
After gathering puzzle pieces and uncovering as much of the game as we could, we asked for assistance from time to time from the game master. The clues got us moving in the right direction and we escaped within seconds of the time running out!
Escape Room Cleveland – Cleveland, OH (August 2017)
Insomnia Escape Room DC (May 2017)
Without giving away too many clues or spoilers, we were in a library on a mission to find the Philosopher’s stone. There was great use of interesting technology and a good mix of clue types (locks, cyphers, puzzles, etc.) – enough to trick us up. In fact, we ended up asking for a few clues to help (you get up to 3 without jeopardizing your chance of being on the hall of fame but to find your name there you will also have to complete the room with 15 minutes or more remaining). We were glad we used the clues because we escaped with only 3 minutes to spare! While some rooms have a clock in the room that counts down the time remaining, this one did not, adding to the excitement since we did we were unaware of how much time we had other than periodic announcements. We had a great time and all agreed it was one of our favorite rooms yet.
Tampa Bay Escape Room (February 2017)
Mysterium – Boone, NC (October 2016)
Kersey Valley Escape – Kersey Valley, NC (July 2016)
Kersey Valley Escape
Escape Hunt – Cleveland, OH (May 2016)
Meltdown in the Steel Mill
There were areas we flew through and areas that stumped us. The setup was great and everything was organized. There was one specific puzzle that was quite puzzling which we asked for clues on probably five times. The clues weren’t always great at this location and there were spelling errors sometimes which made us think there was more to a clue than there really was. This room really tested our ability to work together and it was a great team bonding experience. We were so overjoyed when we opened the final door with 2 minutes to spare and were able to leave with a victory on our terms!
Trapped – Cleveland, OH (May 2016)

Overall we enjoyed our experience at Trapped. The only negatives were the cellphone reception was lacking for our helper (see the Chainsaw section) and some faulty equipment (see Apocalypse). Trapped had a variety of cool rooms: Apocalypse, Pirate Tavern, Chainsaw and The Cell. Clues were not counted against our final time at this location.
Apocalypse
The first escape room any of us ever did was Apocalypse. We were all a bit confused when they shut the door on us but we eventually found our groove. There was a briefcase in this room that was broken (it should not have been – that was not part of the game). This was frustrating because it caused us to ask for another clue that we did not really need. The worker ended up coming in the room to open the case for us. In other areas of the room we divided and conquered for puzzles and at some points we all joined forces to complete tasks. It was a great team bonding experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish this puzzle but we were close!
Pirate Tavern
Pirate Tavern was our second room and boy was there a lot to do! This room was filled with tons of little puzzles which meant most of us were doing our own thing so we had time to get everything done. At the end we had about two minutes left and I was playing around with some objects and discovered that it was the final puzzle and somehow got the door to pop open. It was complete luck that we completed this room!
Chainsaw
This had a really cool concept, we were all blindfolded and handcuffed at the beginning of this room and it was pitch dark which added another element of surprise. The final puzzle was pretty tricky so we asked for a clue. Trapped employees use their phones to access the puzzle answers and at the time we asked for a clue the worker’s phone didn’t have reception. As she tried to find the answer on her non-functioning phone, we lost precious time on the ticking clock. It was a bit frustrating and this happened a couple of times. So we never truly found out how to solve the final puzzle in this escape room but the worker completed it for us. So we kind of won this room.
The Cell
This was the best escape room at Trapped in my opinion. Maybe it was because it was our last room so we were pros or maybe it was because I liked the setup. This one had fewer major clues so we all got to work together throughout the entire room — I liked that aspect of it. Plus it was setup like a jail cell which was pretty cool. It actually took place in three different rooms too so you had to solve clues in room A to get through the room B and then to room C. This made it feel like more of a real prison escape situation which was fun to put ourselves in the prisoner’s shoes. We were able to complete this room on our own. We won!
Watch Conan’s Escape Room Experience
Although watching Team CoCo’s experience in an escape room is funny, we suggest you take it more seriously so your chances of escaping within the time frame are more likely.
Our Next Escape Room
Have you done an escape room before? Tell us about your experience! Did you do it for work, a family outing or a first date? Were you able to escape the room in the allotted time? We’d love to hear all about your experience!
Which escape room should we visit next?
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