Escape from The Locked Room

Tucked away in a non-descript office park in the industrial NE of Calgary is a games room unlike no other. If you enjoy puzzles, board games, brain teasers and the like, then you will love The Locked Room, an interactive escape room.

Brought to you from the team that has created the Zombie Survivor race and Holiday Rejects, The Locked Room is their latest nerdy enterprise that will have you thinking hard and working collaboratively to solve puzzles, riddles and clues to escape out of “the locked room.” You may have seen this concept on display in a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory where the gang gets locked in a zombie room and end up solving the clues ridiculously fast (sadly, my team was not quite that fast).

Fortunately, there are no zombies at The Locked Room (yet – a zombie-themed room is in the works). The center has three different themed rooms that can hold anywhere from four to eight players a game. My friends and I all got together to fill up an eight-person session for the Pirate room. Most of us were new to the experience but eager to give it a try. The site has free lockers available to put away bags and clothes. No cell phones are allowed to be used in the rooms – to keep from cheating and looking up the answers. When we first arrived we were put into a holding room and got a glimpse of some of the clues we would have to deal with like heavy-duty Masterlocks and wooden puzzle boxes.

We were then taken into our Pirate room – which we had to play in the dark. A few flashlights were provided but not enough for everyone so it meant teamwork was a must. We were put into a caged area initially which we had to break out of to get into the main room and ultimately unlock the main door to find freedom. I don’t want to give anything away but will say that the rooms are elaborate, well thought-out and extremely clever. The Locked Room goes all out with the scenarios and props that they set up in their rooms. Our group is a fairly well-educated and intelligent ensemble, but we definitely had to work hard to figure out some of the riddles. With a one-hour timeline to break out, the game gets your brain going on overdrive and the adrenaline going as you work to overcome the various locked items around the room.

Sadly, we were not able to pass the test and escape from our room. But I had so much fun that I would go back again. Hopefully we have better luck on the second go. I’m ready to best you Locked Room!