This weekend, some friends and I decided to try one of those escape rooms. They’ve been springing up around Calgary and every weekend, my social media feeds are filled with people who are talking about how fun they. Â I was worried that it would become one of those things that we all say “we should do sometime” and know that we never get around to, so we set a plan and booked a room.
If you’ve never done it, here are some things I wish I knew before we did our first escape room.
Book early:
We just booked our room a few days before we went and there were very few options left around the city for a bigger group of six. If you were two or three, you definitely could do a bit more shopping around. But if you’re a hoping to get a bigger group, you can’t book early enough.
Pay attention to what room you’re going in:
I was so excited to find a room that could fit six people, I didn’t really look at what we booked. We ended up booking the Psychiatric Hospital at Escape2Gether. Which was pretty cool. Â I didn’t happen to notice that it was rated difficult. Perhaps not best choice for your very first escape room experience….not matter how smart you are. Looking to get my money’s worth, I probably would have booked us a medium, just to be challenged, but not overwhelmed.
Look everywhere:
We wasted so much time in room because we didn’t look everywhere. I won’t spoil it, because that wouldn’t be fun, but I would advise you to be sure that your hands touch every surface possible. Every. Surface.
Ask for help when you need it:
While we were wasting time, we forgot that we could ask for help. You can ring a bell and someone will come in and give you a clue or help you out. Â By the time we remembered, so much time had gone by. We were stuck on this one part for a long time, and wasted too much time.
Have fun:
I know this one is sorta obvious, but it can get intense in there. It’s amazing how you can forget that it is just entertainment. I’m not saying it we like went insane in the room, but your heart starts pounding because you really want to be the team that beats the record. Â Sadly, our group didn’t make it out in the hour allotted, but we do think we were close and we’re already planning our next visit.
For my first escape room experience, I thought it was a ton of fun. It was about $25 a person, which I think is a pretty good value for a unique form of entertainment that you can do with a ton of your friends.
Looking to try an escape room? Â Here are some of them in Calgary:
The Locked Room
2015 32 Ave NE
Level 1 Escape
517 16 Avenue Northeast
Escape2Gether
Unit C6, 416 Meridian Rd SE
Breakout Calgary
810 Centre St N
