the mommy avenger

I’ve only recently decided to give escape rooms a chance again after many unsuccessful attempts when they started to become popular about 10 years ago. We had a great time when we visited one in New Jersey in December, so it’s changed my original view of them. This past weekend, we decided to give one a try in Draper, Utah–Alcatraz Escape Games.

Draper is one of two Alcatraz Escape Games locations, the other is in Lindon, Utah. To best figure out which game is best for you and your group, I suggest looking at their website. Although, you can also just show up to book an experience, as well.

Here you can choose from a variety of themes. This award winning spot has a slightly macabre feel to the theme choices, which I love. Some of the escape rooms you can choose from can even use VR! We opted for the Prison Bus Escape, given a recent trip to Alcatraz, it seemed quite fitting. It also sounded amazing.

The Prison Bus Escape is described as this: August, 1934. You’ve finally been caught and convicted for your various crimes and been put on a bus headed straight for Alcatraz. Luckily for you, your accomplice on the outside has sabotaged the bus and started a riot to distract the guards. He has set up elaborate puzzles that you will need to solve quickly, in order to escape. With help from a member of Al Capone’s inner circle, you will only have one hour before the guards return.

We arrived, stowed our gear in lockers (you can’t bring anything in with you) and were taken outside to what was going to be our escape room. I had no idea that it wouldn’t just be a simulated room, but an actual bus!

Immediately, I knew this would be unlike any other escape room I had ever participated in. We loaded onto the bus and were given instructions and hand cuffed to our seats. Our guard left, the timer began, and we were on our own to escape, in the most literally sense of the word.

While I can’t go into details of what happens on the bus or clues, I can tell you we did it all in the dark or with very minimal light. It was intense! The ambiance of the bus really changed the entire feel of the situation we were in. It felt far more real and like the stakes were much higher than other games I have played before. While this particular escape game has a low success rate (17%), we were determined to do our best to beat the odds. We did break free of our restraints, but after lots of riddles and clues, we made it almost all the way through, but we did not get it all figured out in time.

We did not beat the clock or beat the guards, but we had a riot playing the game. Time flew so quickly and it’s fun to experience the team building collaboration that takes place and see the talents (or lack thereof, in my case) of your team members. I would highly recommend a fun group date, birthday celebration, or family outing at Alcatraz Escape Games. We will be back to figure out how to really escape the prison bus and we’ve got our eyes on some of the other VR rooms, too.

To learn more about Alcatraz Escape Games, visit them online.

^{*we were invited to facilitate a feature, all opinions are our own*}