A childhood spent reading Nancy Drew and a sleuthing résumé that composed of one solved case: the case of the trail of feathers that led to a dead bird in my backyard, failed to prepare me for the mystery awaiting me at Escape Room Live.
After signing up online at Escape Room’s website for a time and room, I found myself at Escape Room’s Alexandria location, which is one of two of their locations, the other being in Georgetown. The business, which caters to a wide demographic of people looking for something to do on any given day, has several themed rooms at both locations that are open at certain times which a maximum amount of people can sign up for. Among the choices of the rooms to choose from are the “Titanic” and “Friday the 13th” rooms, which are based on their well- known movies, at the Georgetown location. Out of the many options, I was drawn toward cracking the case of a kidnapped Sherlock Holmes in the “Sherlock Holmes: A Matter of Time” room in Alexandria.
Upon arriving at Escape Room Live, I was escorted to a sectioned off part of the darkly painted lobby that had seating and an abundance of board and card games to play while I waited for my chance to unravel a completing case. Instrumental music that resembled the background music of a mystery TV show or movie, filled the waiting area as the other members of my group gradually trickled in.
After several silent minutes spent in the waiting room with my family and five other complete strangers, a man with a tall hat and cane appeared. He, our Game Master, briefly explained to us a few rules before placing us in Sherlock’s office with the 45 minute goal of finding out who kidnapped Sherlock and where they took him.
The highly detailed room transported us to another world surrounded by clues. The clues embedded in the room were both clever and creative. One clue would not always lead to another, as there were some implanted to mislead us. If we got stuck we could use the vintage telephone on Sherlock’s desk to ask our Game Master for hints, but we decided to forego taking advantage of this. We failed to find an answer to our case within the 45 minute time period, but our Game Master did not let us leave perplexed. After the alarm went off, signaling our failure to crack the case, our Game Master entered the room and explained to us how we would have solved the case.
Though I was unsuccessful in following in the footsteps of my favorite childhood sleuth, Nancy Drew, I did enjoy my time at Escape Room Live. Its prices may not be student budget friendly. It costs about $30 for a ticket, but the business puts every dollar to use. Its rooms were decorated in detail and interactive clues immerse you in the mystery’s story line while also making your mind interpret them from different angles. Though the price may deter some, Escape Room provides a unique form of entertainment that is worth experiencing at least once.