I remember lining up in the lobby of Omescape, standing side by side with my cousins, preparing ourselves to enter the Sorcerer’s Sanctum. We were guided inside, told of a lavish story of magical realism, and prepared to play. All of a sudden, the door was shut, the timer ticked, and this rush of adrenaline flowed through my pores, the hairs of my arms rising in unison. 60 or so minutes later, after barely escaping before our time was up, I was now a boy in love- with a whole new world of possibilities.
Your first escape room will do that for ya. Escape rooms are an experience. Something I advise everyone to feel at least once in their lives. And to think, this all started because of a high school badminton team.
As the captain of the Silver Creek Badminton team, I had the pleasure of putting together a team social. After experiencing the rush from Sorcerers Sanctum, I thought, “Hey this would be a great time to see what the team got.” So we rounded up the squad, and went at it: Juniors vs. Seniors for the title of “Best Escapees”. After 3 hours of back-to-back games, we emerged as collective fans of escape rooms - most importantly with a seed planted. For a select few of us, there was now an itch to scratch, and we most definitely scratched it. In the following weeks, months, years a pack of friends -who would soon form the EDscapade team- would go around the Bay tearing through escape rooms. Then we moved on to the rest of California, taking on challenges in LA, SD, and more. Then countrywide. Putting our names on leaderboards in Vegas, Washington, New York even! What started as a bonding event, was now a part of our blood. And in time, that seed blossomed into the belief that “Hey. We might just be able to do this ourselves one day.”
Escape rooms innately touch upon a plethora of unique qualities that excite me to my core. Some puzzles stimulate my desire for knowledge and a brainiac challenge, a constantly running clock that ignites my competitive spirit to push for the top of the leaderboard, and a world of imaginative storytelling that serves as a playground for creativity. When a room effectively makes you feel entrenched in the theme, amidst trials of innovative puzzles, and the pressure to escape in time- that’s a true escape experience. When I’m asked about my favorite escape rooms (outside of EDscapade’s of course), I often point towards, The Edison Room at Palace Games. That game masterfully does everything I’ve listed above and leaves you wanting more and more. In my mind, if I leave an escape room and I can’t stop talking about it, then it's a winner. And not to spoil anything, but let me just say “Chemistry”… if you know you know.
I hope you feel inspired to join us here at EDscapade for an escape room experience! Whether it’s your first time or your 100th- there’s always room for your next escape. I would love to give everyone that comes to experience one of our games that rushing feeling down to your core, that excitement in solving an impossible puzzle, and that race against the clock! We thank you all so much, and can’t wait to have you drop by!