As a lifelong reader of mystery novels and watcher of police procedurals, trying an escape room seemed right up my alley. For those that aren’t familiar with the concept, escape rooms are an activity where you’re closed in a room and have to work through a number of clues and ciphers to get yourself out or accomplish a goal. They’re themed – around spies, crimes, treasure hunts – and intricately-designed to be both challenging and exciting.
So when we were searching for an activity that fit into our “Family Issue,” an escape room seemed just the thing. And not long after, a small group of us walked through the doors of Escape U, ready for a challenge. Before we entered the room itself, the manager gave us the basic rundown and a few helpful suggestions. We would have sixty minutes to solve all the puzzles and reach our goal and a total of three hints to help us on our way (if we wanted them). “Make sure you’re looking through everything,” she said. “Hints and pieces to puzzles could be anywhere.”
After these instructions, she led us to our room. Owner Brandon Buzard had suggested that we try Save the Fleet (his personal favorite of the three escape rooms), so once in the room, we were given the backstory and told what we had to do. A hurricane has formed, we were told, and is making its way across Florida and to St. Augustine’s coast. Our group of sailors had to make our way to the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse to turn on the beacon and guide the ships away from danger. But here’s the catch – the Lighthouse is haunted. Throughout the game, we’d hear from three different ghosts and one of them would do all he could to stop us from turning on the beacon. This was a promising (and slightly unnerving) start.
Then the doors were closed, and we were left on our own. Though the game has you navigating in very low light, the first few pieces were found quickly. Of course, those pieces had to be fit together to actually mean anything, and that’s where we got stuck. I’d consider the members of our team to be at least reasonably intelligent people, but only ten minutes in and we felt like we were staring at a blank wall (and didn’t want to admit it). “You say it,” said Brian the photographer. “No, you ask,” said Steve the writer. Finally we called out – “Can we get a hint?” After the voice over the intercom got us on the right track, we found ourselves moving pretty quickly.
For the sake of maintaining an element of surprise and mystery, I won’t give you the details of the room (other than to say that at one point, you’re standing in a 15-foot replica of the Lighthouse). But I will tell you that the entire time, we were floored by the detail and production value of the whole game. More talent and skill went into the set, the story, and the puzzles themselves that we ever would have expected. Sure, it’s not your run-of-the-mill afternoon family activity, but you’ll get the chance to challenge yourself and test your quick-thinking skills in really unusual ways. And the feeling you get from winning is pretty exhilarating.
Learn more about Escape U by visiting www.escapeuflorida.com. Photography by Brian Miller.
