NYC Bucket: #19 Escape the Room NYC!

19. Escape the Room NYC

Original Bucket List: HERE

I have pretty much always been a lover of puzzles. I love word games, mind games, crosswords, jigsaws, you name it. I love em. So when I found out about Escape the Room NYC, it sounded like a puzzler's dream come true and I knew that I had to experience it. 

WHAT IT IS:

60 minutes. You and a group of friends are trapped in a room that is adorned in puzzles and clues that are set up to help you eventually find your escape. Each room comes with a "Clue Master" who has three clues to give you throughout your hour of escape time. You can ask for each of your three clues at your leisure. If you don't escape by the time your sixty minutes are up, then they let you out (but you are a looooser!).

So on my twenty-seventh birthday this year, I gathered ten of my friends and decided it was time to escape. Escape the Room NYC has two locations -- Midtown (Herald Square) and the Lower East Side, which is where we decided to go. They gave us a few different types of rooms to choose from. 

The midtown Manhattan location offers:

The Office

The original game. For up to 10 players -- everyone's worst nightmare in real life; you're stuck at work and can't leave. You have one hour before the boss returns, or you will be in there forever!

The Agency

The second original game released. The agency is for up to 8 players. You've been selected for a top secret mission. You must complete your assignment in one hour or you are relieved of duty.

The Home

This Victorian themed mystery is for up to 6 players. 60 minutes to escape!

The downtown Manhattan (LES) location offers:

The Theater

For up to 12 players, you and your fellow theater goers are trapped inside of a theater. You have one hour to escape or it's curtains for everyone.

The Apartment

You are trapped inside what feels like your typical NYC apartment: small, intimate, and full of roommates (your fellow puzzlers). You usually just feel trapped inside of your NYC home, but now you are for real! This game is for up to 10 players. 

The room that we chose was actually a limited time offer room called "Project: Puppet". I chose this one because I thought a room full of talking puppets would really freak out my friends. To be honest, I don't think many of them really knew what they were getting themselves into when I invited them, but it turned out to be the best group of puzzlers I could have chosen. Who knew? My friends were all puzzle geniuses! We had a blast from start to finish.

We walked into our puzzle room; it was a small theatre with six or seven rows of seating. There were padlocks on various doors and cubbies all around the space along with a large glass case that contained four puppets with turn-key locks at their feet. Our clue master welcomed us and gave us each a program (like a playbill) before wishing us good luck. Before he left the room, he shut an open door and said, "Oh yeah, that room I just closed contains your air conditioning. Your first mission is to get that door unlocked or else it's going to get real hot in here."

Our game had begun.

Instant adrenaline! We were a group of big children spread out on all areas of the room just reading and touching everything as we yelled out possible codes to each other to unlock all of the locks. After about five minutes of punching in numbers, we unlocked our first lock! It was a padlock box that contained a key. YES. That key unlocked one of the puppets. This is where we learned that for each puppet we "unlock", we get a clue. When the key is turned, the puppet comes to life and speaks in rhyme to give us insight as to where to turn next. 

It was starting to get pretty warm in there without the AC, so getting that door open quickly became our next priority. Lock after lock, key after key, I think it was somewhere around the twenty minute mark that we finally got the air conditioning room open. Phew! At this point in the game, we were doing pretty well. I was impressed with everyone's commitment to this escape as well as their puzzle skills. Throughout our time inside, we did some serious detective work. We unlocked all four puppets, unveiled all the secrets, and not only did we escape... we escaped in record time! Seventeen minutes to spare. 

This was such a cool and unique way to kill an hour with friends. It was SUPER fun, and I would definitely go back to try to escape the other rooms. Thank you to my friends for making this birthday so special. 

I LOVE YOU, NEW YORK CITY.