There’s no escaping them.
It seems escape rooms are popping up just about everywhere.
These clever spaces where folks willingly fork over cash only to be locked in a room and left to match wits with others to solve puzzles and find a way out — while a clock ticks down — were once only found in tourist meccas like Myrtle Beach or Orlando.
That’s not the case anymore.
Two have appeared in Greater Akron in as many months, and a few others are just a short drive away. One of the new kids on the block was literally built and dreamed up with kids in mind.
And it is not in your typical place.
Dan and Jodi Link are self-described escape room junkies.
From the moment the couple walked into their first Aztec Temple themed escape room in Fort Wayne they were hooked.
They were in the room with complete strangers. But with a clock ticking down, Dan said, it doesn’t take long to become fast friends. You have to work together to solve visual and logic puzzles, get inside boxes and unearth further clues in order to unlock the door before time runs out.
The group solved the puzzle with just 2 minutes and 40 seconds to spare.
“It was down to the wire,” he said. “It was just a rush.”
So when it came time to brainstorm ideas for their church’s youth group, the Loop, to raise money for a mission trip to Puerto Rico, the thought of bake sales and car washes didn’t sound like much fun.
On a whim, they asked whether they could convert a room or two inside of the FallsCreek Community Church, on Northmoreland Avenue in Munroe Falls, into an escape room to raise money for the trip.
The Loop Escape Room is a labor of love and costs $20 per person to explore.
Dan said he and Jodi spent months dreaming up the storyline and puzzles and countless hours building the props and getting everything just right.
“We had faith that God would provide,” he said.
The Loop Escape Room opened to the public late last month.
“We had one kid come through who thought it was going to be an ‘I had to have Jesus help me get out’ kind of thing,” Dan said. “We are not here preaching the Gospel.”
That’s not to say this room is not family friendly — it is.
But like most escape rooms, the puzzles that need to be solved or figured out are geared toward adults and teens. There is one particular critical riddle, however, that seems to be typically solved by escape room captives as young as 8 years old, while the adults were left scratching their collective heads.
“It is cool to see that,” Dan said.
Like most escape rooms, there is a monitor — in this case a hall monitor — since it is set in a high school.
The monitor is there to make sure nothing gets broken and offer a friendly hint or two or three to help the group. The plot of this particular escape room is explained in a video starring members of the youth group.
It seems the star football player for the Looptown Lightning has been ruled academically ineligible on the eve of the big game. The participants have just one hour to solve a series of puzzles to find his football jersey.
“One person cannot do this room alone,” Dan said. “It takes teamwork.”
It’s elementary
The same is true at the Great Escape Room tucked on the second floor of the Kaiser Building in downtown Akron across from Canal Park.
The Sherlock Holmes-themed escape room opened around Christmas and is part of a national chain.
Groups of 10 or so mystery-lovers are locked inside of the famous detective’s library and must figure a way out.
The library has a lot of cool props, including a strange farm animal set on a table that participants must examine and figure out what role, if any, they have in unlocking clues.
Groups have a 35 percent success rate of escaping the library.
Participants can find up to three Holmes-inspired magnifying glasses hidden in the room that can be traded for hints to help solve a troublesome puzzle.
It costs $23 per person on Thursdays, and $28 each Friday through Sunday to take on the challenge.
There are actually two identical libraries at Akron’s Great Escape Room. Manager Roxy Bautista said this allows corporate groups to compete head to head and allow for more participants on busy weekends.
“We had a whole room of engineers here and they couldn’t get out,” she said.
Bautista said most slots are filled on most weekends so reservations are strongly suggested.
“Business is definitely picking up,” she said.
The business is already looking to expand. They are now putting the finishing touches on a third room, the Gameroom, where participants must find a hidden antidote to “thwart” the nefarious plans of Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty.
“Team building is the key here,” she said. “You can see different people’s skills.”
Room for more
There are other escape rooms in the immediate Akron area.
Laser Quest, which has centers in Copley Township and Canton, also offers the Key Quest Escape Room experiences.
The one in Copley offers three different themes and costs $15 per person.
The Vacation Vandals’ storyline involves a would-be traveler stopping by a travel agency to pick up tickets for a dream vacation only to find the office ransacked. The group has to solve a series of puzzles to find the tickets and make it to the airport on time.
In the Cellar scenario, a serial killer has taken a group hostage in a basement.
The final scenario is Detention, in which participants have 45 minutes to contemplate the consequences of being the class clown or solve a series of puzzles to leave early.
Canton has two other escape room ventures, including Escape Room Downtown on Market Avenue South that offers two different scenarios. One involves a detective’s office and another is called Moonlight Gallery.
Escape Canton has six rooms inside the Factory of Terror haunted house on Mahoning Road NE and is home to other scare-appropriate themes, including Outbreak, which features a live zombie.
Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.