Today I paid a hefty sum of money to be locked in a room for just over an hour, and it was awesome! Brandon and I, along with our wives, visited a great new entertainment experience called Breakout Waikiki. “Breakout” falls into the category of escape rooms, which are starting to pop up all over the US and offers customers the chance to find clues, solve puzzles and see if they have what it takes to escape from a room within a set amount of time. How did we do? Keep reading to find out.
We booked our experience in advance and managed to try Breakout’s “LOST” themed room called, The Hatch. For those of you who know about my love-affair with the show LOST, you know that this is already starting the experience on a high note (some of the first few times Brandon and I hung out were over at my house for LOST viewing parties). We were escorted into the room by our host, DJ, who explained the rules and let us know that he would monitor the room and was able to provide hints if needed (we got three free hints without it impacting our time).
Now, in order to maintain the value of the experience, (and because I signed a waiver saying I wouldn’t) I’m not going to give away any of the details about the room or the puzzles themselves. I will say that the team did a great job in creating a LOST feeling, without it actually using any of the source material from the show. There were a fantastic variety of puzzles and a few surprises along the way as well. It really took the efforts of all four of us in the group to get though all the clues and successfully exit the room with only a minute to spare. The current success rate on this particular room is about 22%, but I feel the fun is really in the process of going through the room, whether you get that final door open or not. I have to give a quick shoutout to the Breakout staff as well, who were all very friendly and helped make the overall experience really fun.
While I can’t speak personally for other businesses or the quality of other games, if there is an escape room in your area you should definitely give it a try. It is a great group event and provides something unique and challenging. There are many that can be great for a group of adults or even families. I’ll be honest, I was feeling the effects of an adrenaline high for almost an hour after we were done. If you are on Oahu and are looking for something a little different from the standard beaches and sunshine, definitely give Breakout Waikiki a try.