CAN YOU ESCAPE?
Solve million dollar heists, decode secret service missions, and navigate through prison passageways. You have one hour!
Sound like fun???? I had heard from many friends how much fun Escape Games were, but I didn’t really understand the concept until I went to my very first Escape Game. You definitely have to try it to get the full understanding of what’s involved. Once you try your hand at one, I promise you will want to go back again.
We went to our very first Escape Game as a family. All 6 of us. My husband, myself, and our four kids, ages 16, 14, 11, and 9, headed to The Escape Game in downtown Nashville. It was our first time for all of us, so we really had no idea what to expect. I had read reviews from friends, the older kids had friends that had been, the younger kids had no idea what to expect. I knew that everyone would enjoy it. We got so much more out of it than an hour of fun. We made memories. The kids had to work together as a team to figure out how to reach our goal and “escape”.
SCREEN-FREE Fun
There were no video games or phones needed for our adventure, but I did miss my Klik her games. In fact, all phones were put in moms purse and left locked in a room for the….entire…game! And, not once during the entire adventure did anyone ask for their phone. There was no Snapchat photos taken, no text messages received, no headphones were blaring. We had real, interactive, family fun.
How It Works
Before making our reservation, I scoured the website to see which room our family would enjoy. After emailing them, the employee we spoke with recommended a room that would be perfect for our kids ages. I was glad for the expert opinion, since this was my first time going to a room, I didn’t even think about the difficulty for the younger two kids.
We signed up for GOLD RUSH, which requires 2-7 players and has a difficulty of 7 out of 10.
About GOLD RUSH: For nearly two centuries, the hope of gold has lured people to the hills of Northern California. No one was captivated more than Clyde Hamilton, a greedy gold prospector who loved to gamble. Clyde made too many bets with the wrong crowd and now he’s missing. You’ve been tipped off to where he stashed his gold…But so has the mob. Finders keepers.
We made our reservation and arrived 20 minutes early to fill out some paperwork. Once that was completed, we were taken to the first room and given instructions and flashlights. It was a little dark in the first room. You could see, and it was not scary at all, but the lighting was not at 100% so flashlights were great to see under things and to read!
Once all instructions were given, the 6 of us were basically locked in a room (with a button that would let us out at any time if needed) and had to solve a series of different kinds of puzzles to find clues to escape the room. This took us to another room and then a third where we did the same. The employee was available via camera and TV screen to help us out and give us clues as needed. We could ask for a total of 3 clues OR if they saw we were struggling, they could give us free clues. We had one hour.
The clues were fairly difficult for younger kids. I would recommend 10 & up. However, our 9 year old was happy with the tasks we gave her. Once the older kids would figure out a clue that would, for example, give us a key, we would give her the key to do the unlocking of the door. At one point we had a puzzle to put together. The older kids found the pieces and she put the puzzle together for us!
TEAMWORK
This was my favorite part of the Escape Game. My kids had to work together to solve problems. At home, the kids can get extra busy with sports schedules, schoolwork, and their electronics, that they don’t really get to work together or play together as often as I’d like. This hour together was the perfect chance to work on those sibling bonds. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures in the rooms, so I had to take some mental shots of these moments!
DID WE ESCAPE?
We didn’t. But that’s okay! We worked hard until that very last second. We had one full hour to reach our goal. I’m convinced that if we had about 10 more minutes, we would have figured it all out.
I fully believe that the next time we go to an Escape Game, we WILL reach our goal. We were so close. And I think since it was our first time ever trying an Escape Game, we were getting our feet wet. We will definitely be back.
Heading to Nashville? Be sure to check out the Escape Game! They offer TWO locations in Nashville.
Not in Nashville? The Escape Room have locations in Orlando, Pigeon Forge, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, and Minneapolis. Check out their corporate site HERE.
Disclosure: We were provided with tickets to help facilitate our review. All opinions are 100% mine!
My family has been begging me to do an escape game with them for months, but I’ve been so scared to do it!! Thanks to you and your family, I’m now afraid anymore – I’m going to give it a try!! I’ll let you know how it turns out – looks and sounds like a blast!
We have been to a few local escape rooms and they are a BLAST! I can’t wait to go to another one.
That sounds like so much fun! I love the idea of a night of family fun that is FREE of device screens.
That sounds like so much fun for the whole family! It’s like a live action board game! I would love to do this with the kids.
Yes! That’s a great way to describe it!
This looks so fun. My mom group and I do something every month, I think this would be a total hoot for us to do together!
I still haven’t tried this, but it looks like so much fun! I need to get a group of friends together and go.
My husband went with his three friends and they didn’t escape either! They got close. And it’s all about the fun and the teamwork.
These always sound so cool! It’s awesome that you went to try one out. Figuring out the clues for the keys must have been fun!
This sounds like a lot of fun. I’ve been wanting to give it a go since it become popular. I would probably do it with friends. My kids are really young, my oldest could probably do it but then the youngest would be upset.
Great family fun without electronics.
I have been wanting to do one of these with my family. I think it would be a lot of fun.
I think this is such a great idea for the family! What a great way to work together and bond while having fun. I will have to suggest this to my husband.
I keep hearing about this! My friends just did this while on vacation and they loved it! I really want to try it, i know my husband would love it!
what a great way to bond with the family! I think this would be super fun and I’m sure my kids would as well… I know my mom would want it ; ) thanks for the heads up!
This sounds too fun. Sad because I don’t think there is one like this over here.
How fun!! I would love to do an escape room!!! One of my best friends lives in Nashville so I will have to the next time I’m in town!!
My daughter did this with her friends and so did my husband with his coworkers. It is called Escape Room here in our area. They said it is so much fun.
I’ve been hearing about this but it’s usually something for adults and not for families. I think it’s awesome to experience this with the kids! I like the concept!
This totally sounds like an adventure! I love that you can experience this with the whole family. It’s definitely something that I’d take the kids to!
We just did one of these for the first time and had fun as well. So cool!
I’ve been wanting to try this place out for a long time! It looks so fun!
I would love to go to Nashville with my family someday. This sounds like a great way to explore the city! I bet my family would have a blast!
I wish we had something like this in our area. This would be so much fun for me and the family. My husband and eldest son are the problem solvers. My daughter would probably just keep on screaming. Haha.
I enjoy spending time with my family, I believe this would be a better place for my family to enjoy the day.