Let’s talk about riddles. Or, as the Joker might say, “Riddle me this.”
What do you get when you lock eight people in a creepy room and give them an hour to break out? No, not mass panic and confusion. You get Operation: Escape Room, and you get yourself a darn good time!
The Beaverhausen clan was able to beta test this new fun spot this past weekend, located on Broadhead Road across from Papa Dukes in Center Township. We are not new to Escape Rooms, as there are a few located around Pittsburgh and beyond. But until now, there wasn’t one anywhere near us! It would take an hour to drive to one, another hour to play, at least a half hour to place blame on whoever in the room made us lose, and then a final hour to drive home. Who has that kind of time?! Not me, that’s for sure. Now the two hour total commute has been whittled down to thirty minutes! That is perfect!!
The first room at Operation: Escape Room is called “Dixmonte”. Those of you from around here certainly have heard rumors of Dixmont State Hospital and the abundance of craaaazy inside. Kilbuck Township was once the home to this one active campus. It was demolished in 2006 but still remains a big part of Pittsburgh’s history. That is what this Escape Room is based on.
When you enter Operation: Escape Room, it feels warm and inviting. There are lockers to hold your phones and personal items, because where you are going…you won’t need them! Evil laugh!! Mmwwwhahaha!
Ok, but really, entering the building you will find one of the friendly staff, which it turns out are all family. Mom, dad, daughter, husband, sisters.. aka Michael Sklack, Donna Sklack, Tahishia Simmons, Matt Simmons, Michelle Sklack, and Dana Sklack. This is a family affair! You sign in and wait for your reservation.
Once your group is called, it is GO TIME! One of these friendly family members will escort you through the first door, down a hallway and to your room. Then the game starts. You will be told the background on the room: you are visiting an old insane asylum and you unfortunately got locked in one of the rooms! You have an hour to find the code to the door and if you don’t succeed, you will be locked.. in the room.. forreevvverrrrr (insert evil laugh again Mwwwwhahahahaaa!!).
You are now inside a patient room in Dixmonte, and it’s not nice. There are screams coming from all around and writing on the wall. Just an overall spooky sight! I won’t get into ALL of the details, beause you really need to check it out for yourself! I will say though, there is a real straight jacket that you can wear. Whoa, lady!
For the next hour, you and your people will work to solve clues that will ultimately (hopefully!) end with the discovery of the door code and the door being unlocked! Not to brag, but we got out with three minutes to spare. It got a little dicey there for a few minutes though! We thought we were goners quite a few times.
The beauty of this room is the control room. Someone is constantly monitoring your progress from a few strategically placed cameras throughout the room. These cameras pan to every spec of floor so that at any time, they can see what you are doing and provide you with clues if they see that you are stuck. You can also request three clues. So if you are really feeling stuck, ask! They can see you, they can hear you, and they will respond on the screen.
The next room that will be available right after Thanksgiving is called The List. This one is based on Santa’s naughty and nice list. What a fun way to do some holiday team building or fun family time! Also did I mention Papa Dukes was right across the street? Because gyro. Obviously.
The nice owners also clued me in on what will be coming for the spring, which is even more amazing than this even being located so close. The MOBILE Escape Room! A trailer of clues will come to you, all set up and ready to go! These games can be as short as 15 minutes, or as long as an hour, to accommodate any sort of party you may be having! Graduation parties, birthday parties, you name it and they can be there. Talk about convenient!!
Be sure to check out Operation: Escape Room on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/OperationEscapeRoom/?fref=ts and you can start booking your escape now!