Unlocking the Joys of Austin’s Puzzle Rooms

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Escape Game Austin

Word is, the Nashville-based Escape Game company – with locations across Tennessee, Florida, and Texas – dropped a cool million dollars on this Austin outlet, and it shows. My friends and I signed in to the iPads in the stunning, polished lobby in a spot just around the corner from the Convention Center.

We'd opted to try our hand at an art heist, and due to the company's open sign-up system, our crew was rounded out by a birthday party of preteen boys and their mother. After leading us to the entry room, dressed as the world's tiniest art gallery, the facilitator played a well-produced introductory video. We were to break into the private collection of a master art thief, find the stolen painting, and get the code that would allow us to leave before the hour was up. Our host answered a few questions from our young friends, locked the door, and began the countdown.

A brief search of the entry room yielded no clues on how to proceed, so our team called for a hint. (We could ask for as many as we liked, but after a few free ones, each additional piece of advice would add minutes to our total time.) The rooms are monitored remotely by camera, and our request was answered by a prompt on the video screen.

Before long, we made our way into the main game room, where our options greatly expanded, with a few solid starting points for us to latch onto and a substantial assortment of puzzles to discover and work through. We had opportunities to work both independently and as a team to unravel the trail of clues, which were organized to give our progression a sense of narrative. The layout and decor were as high-quality as anything else we'd seen, and it was clear which set-pieces and objets d'art were part of the game and which were merely for decoration – red warning tape marked several as not to be disturbed.

Though we stalled at a few points, there was just the right amount of obstacles to keep all the team members busy, while not being overly confusing or frustrating. The party group worked well with the rest of us, and the puzzles were devised in a way that even the youngest player could contribute to the overall effort. After uncovering a few more entertaining surprises (and calling in some more hints, including one to help retrieve a team member accidentally locked behind a secret door), we managed to retrieve the painting and make our way out of the room, with minutes to spare. We had our victory photographs taken, received stickers for our successful escape, and exchanged high fives.