What is an escape room?

A real-life gaming experience where you search through a specially-designed room to find secrets, solve puzzles, decipher clues, and complete the goal! The goal might be finding a particular item (such as gold or a painting), or it might be escaping through a different exit than the way you came in.

Will we actually be locked in a room?

Not for real! The entrance door remains unlocked and you can come and go as you like (e.g. to use the restroom). To win the game, though, you have to find the final object or figure out how to open and use the room's OTHER exit... which may not be so obvious!

Do I have to be athletic?

Not at all! There is no running, jumping, or climbing needed in any of our rooms. You will not have to wriggle out of handcuffs or crawl through the ceiling like Mission Impossible. We bring the cool factor in other ways while keeping our experiences as accessible as we can for everyone!

How long does it take?

You'll have 60 minutes, so it's up to you whether you win sooner! If not, we'll come in at the end of the hour and walk you through the rest of the gameplay (unless you don't want to know the secrets... 😉). Either way, the next step is to gather your belongings and take any group photos you'd like. Plan for about 10 minutes after the game to be spent on walk-through and debrief.

Do you give us any help?

If you want it! You'll be able to ask for clues during your gameplay, so if you want a nudge in the right direction, just let us know.

Anything I should bring?

Nope, all you need is yourself. All other materials will be provided for you in your quest to escape. Your ordinary clothes are fine too (although we fully support all the amazing groups who have dressed up to match their room themes!).

What's your hardest/easiest room?

Difficulty varies widely by group! Each room features a different mix of puzzle types, from logical to lateral and everything in between. Every group will rank room difficulties a little differently. That's why we don't list levels usually - just when we think we've got them figured out, someone comes along and proves us wrong! The biggest factor seems to be whether you've done escape rooms before. For your first, you'll probably want more players and more hints from us until you get a sense of how the game works.

What's the age limit?

We recommend players over 12 years old, as that seems to be the age people can fully understand the concepts and clues. Younger kids can still have fun! (We've had some VERY clever 8-year-olds.) But they often end up in more supportive roles, like finding things that are hidden around the room for their group to solve. We do require an adult to play alongside anyone 14 years old or younger.

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Admission must be purchased for those 6 years old and up. Children this age have proven to be some of our best seekers, and benefit greatly from an opportunity to practice reading and thinking critically!

Do I need an appointment or can I just walk in?

You'll want to give us a call before coming in. If we have availability, we can book you as soon as possible! Reservations in advance are always preferred.

What if we have more than 8 people?

Some of our rooms vary in size very slightly, so if you need to add one or two more players it might be possible. Call us and we'll talk it over. At a certain point, it works better to split your group into two rooms. We can arrange to run them alongside each other, like a competition, and see who escapes first!

Okay, but what if we have a LOT more than 8 people?

Like a big party or a corporate event? We can do that! Bookings of over 16 players might be eligible for a discount. Give us a call or send us an email to the closest Escape Room Virginia by you.