Escape rooms are the perfect combination of three stress relievers: spending time with friends, participating in fun activities and solving puzzles. As such, going to an escape room with a group can help refresh the brain and calm the mind.
The East Lansing area offers three escape room attractions for students to enjoy as the spring semester picks up and homework loads get heavier.
Escapology
One of the fastest-growing escape game franchises in the United States, Escapology, offers more than just escape rooms. Its Lansing location opened in 2019 and includes volleyball courts, private and traditional bowling alleys, ax-throwing, an arcade and bumper cars.
Its escape rooms have a wide range of themes including murder mystery, science and military. The four rooms – Under Pressure, Budapest Express, Antidote and Cuban Crisis – each have detailed descriptions and video trailers on Escapology's website.
“The Magnificent 7” gamer personalities are also listed on Escapology’s website to allow players to reflect on their puzzler-personality. It's recommended that a group of eight players solve a room together and each puzzle has a time limit of 60 minutes.
“We host a lot of events and fundraisers for the college and the fraternities and sororities,” Escapology owner Mike McColeman said.
Women bowl free on Tuesdays and all attractions are 50% off on Wednesdays.
Escapology is located at 3101 E. Grand River Ave. in Lansing and is open Monday through Saturday from 1 to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 11 p.m.
Challenges East Lansing Adventure
Featuring five escape rooms – Pharaoh's Revenge, The Haunt, The Naughty List, Tin Star Saloon and Special Agent Cold War – Challenges East Lansing Adventure also offers mobile escape games that can be played in-person or rented and played elsewhere. The mobile rooms include The Christmas Heist, a 35-minute game with a limit of two to four players, and The Pirate’s Code, a 65-minute game allowing two to six players.
In-person games recommend around two to 10 people per room depending on the game, and puzzles are 60 minutes long.
Two new escape rooms, Villains and Heroes, will be available later this year. Both will give players the opportunity to host larger parties and compete against each other by breaking into the opposite room.
Located at 3044 E. Lake Lansing Rd. in East Lansing, Challenges East Lansing Adventure is open Monday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m.
Breakout Escape Rooms
With its priority of three major elements of an escape room experience – immersive theme, challenge and fun – Breakout Escape Rooms provides its guests with a variety of unique escape game options and free photoshoots.
“One of the biggest things we pride ourselves on is being super beginner-friendly and family-friendly, but also still being very, very challenging for those who have done escape rooms before,” game master Krys Kenny said.
Rooms are organized based on difficulty and the amount of time given to solve a puzzle and the recommended group size depends on which room is chosen. There are six escape rooms to choose from: Zombie Roadhouse, Heart of a Pirate, Ringmaster’s Den, Chamber of Illusions, Heart of a Pirate and Ringmaster’s Den.
The escape rooms demonstrate a variety of themes and can be played in a number of ways. For example, guests can request two identical rooms to play for competition. Some rooms can be played in a head-to-head competition style as well. Additionally, the escape room puzzles can be linear, multi-linear or nonlinear.
“All of our game masters are in costume when you come to play your games,” Kenny said. “It’s really cool, very immersive.”
Breakout Escape Rooms is open from 10 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., 7 days a week and is located at 2722 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing.
