The Intelligence Report in the October issue of Smart Meetings highlights one of our favorite new activities: Escape Room Games. These experiences offer groups a new and very unique team building opportunity as they force people to work together to solve clues under specific time constraints to unlock a door keeping them in the room. This is a very useful way to show teams how participants can come together as a group and communicate to solve an issue under extreme stress.
The article mentions that nearly 400 escape room attractions have opened in the United States since 2012, and we have three great locations in Columbus for groups interested in testing their hands.
- The Chamber Escape Room experience involves 12 participants locked in a room for 45 minutes (or less) working together to solve a series of perplexing clues, puzzles and codes to reveal a solution that leads to a key, which allows you to escape the room.
- Trapped in a Room with a Zombie by Room Escape Adventures grants 12 participants 60 minutes to find clues and solve riddles, leading to the location of a key that unlocks the room. But there's a catch. A zombie is chained to the wall and with each passing second, his chain allows him to move closer to the group. Can your group beat the clock and the zombie?
- Redemption Escape Room is Columbus newest adventure offering a mental workout for groups of 12 who must sift through codes, props, puzzles and red herrings amidst a sinister backdrop to escape the room before 45 minutes have passed.
It should be noted that these experiences are not meant to be scary like haunted houses, just mysterious like a real-life game of Clue in which participants are the detectives trying to solve the case. We apologize for the lack of photos in this post, but we cant give away the inside of the rooms lest any clues be present. Our team participated in one of the experiences over the summer and made it out with just a few seconds left, then for weeks following we continued to discuss how we could have improved as a group to escape faster. If you are interested in experiencing one of Columbus escape room offerings, let us know and see if you can beat our time!