Our Family Adventure At The Escape Game

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. 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!