(Read to the bottom for a coupon to your next escape room!)

Imagine this: You’ve been wrongfully imprisoned in a room, and you need to find a way out. Lucky for you, someone has left clues on how to break free. All you must do is find the clues, piece the puzzle together, and make it out the last door. All in under 60 minutes.

Sound like a movie? Well, it’s not. This scenario and many like it are part of a relatively new craze called escape rooms.

Wikipedia defines an escape room as:

A physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand.

Intrigued yet? Generally, you can find these escape rooms in larger cities and most college towns, but they’re even popping up in smaller cities! You can find one near you by searching your location and some variation of “escape room” or “escape game.” Prices for escape rooms generally range from $20-$30, and games last for exactly 60 minutes.

My first escape room experience was this past September at The Escape Game Nashville. Our theme was “Prison Break” where (like the scenario above) our team was tasked with breaking out of jail. I’m sad to admit that we did not escape – we were SO close! But, that’s the beauty of failure: It makes you want to try that much harder the next time.

Immediately after finishing The Escape Game, we booked a second escape room, themed “The Heist,” for a few weeks later. I am proud to say that we did escape that time, and from that point on, we were hooked!

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect during my first escape room. You mean we’re all stuck in one room solving puzzles? It didn’t quite make sense to me. When you first start the game (especially during your first one), you don’t know what you’re looking for yet, but gradually as you start finding clues, you piece together lock codes and hints.

I’d like to think I’ve become a bit of an escape room connoisseur, but even with all the fun I’ve had with escape rooms, NOTHING compares to my friend Tanner Goldman. Tanner and I did our first escape room together at The Escape Game Nashville, and since September, he’s completed nearly 25 escape rooms! He loves the concept of the escape room so much that he decided to start his own!

Three weekends ago, I had the privilege of serving as a test participant for Tanner’s escape room called The Park Escape, which is based at The Park at North Hills in Meridian, Mississippi. While I can’t tell you much about it (You must never tell the secret to an escape room once you’ve completed it!), I can tell you it involves a missing agent, an office, and many locks that you must find the code for.

Now that you’re ready to experience your first escape room, here are my tips and tricks on how to succeed:

1. Start by searching every part of the room. When the game first starts, you will probably immediately notice several locks that you will have to break into. Don’t worry about those yet. Instead, search in every drawer and under every piece of furniture or item to look for clues or hidden keys. I guarantee you will find something to make you one step closer to unlocking the lock.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for hints. Most escape rooms provide you three free hints from the moderator; any more hints than that will affect your playing time. During my first escape game, we were so afraid to use our hints too early in the game, but instead, we ended up wasting a lot of valuable time on step one that we desperately could have used on the last step. If we had asked for the hint earlier, we would have had more time to spend on the final puzzle.
3. Go with a group of friends. I’ve done escape rooms with both friends and strangers. While I firmly believe you can be successful in both types of teams, I find it easier to work with close friends. I already know how my friends think and what their strengths and weakness are, and often times, we can draw upon our mutual experiences to solve a puzzle.

Escape rooms are a great way to bond with people and get your creative/detective juices flowing. Whether you’re new to the escape room trend or looking for an excuse to visit another one, I hope you’re inspired to go solve some puzzles!

If you’re from the Meridian/East Mississippi area, use the code MACK to get $5 off your game purchase at The Park Escape! OPEN NOW! Book your game via their website.

On left: Tanner Goldman, founder of The Park Escape