Escape Chambers MKE / Facebook
It was 10 p.m. on a chilly Saturday night when two friends and I entered the barren halls of The Shops of Grand Avenue and headed up the escalator to the second floor. Escape Chambers Milwaukee certainly stands out among the rest of the darkened shop windows; thick strips of decorative caution-tape wrap around the space, illuminated by bright lights and TV screens. A friendly blonde receptionist greets us and starts filling us in on what our night has in store.
A Des Moines based import, Escape Chambers has made a name for itself in the Hawkeye State for fusing ingenious puzzle making, intricate sets and elaborate narratives. In each challenge, groups of 1-10 individuals are locked in a room with an end goal of solving a mystery or escaping. Patrons are only given one hour to find and use the clues hidden in the space to complete their mission. Think National Treasure meets Sherlock Holmes. Escape Chambers Milwaukee currently has two rooms available with more on the way; our room is simply called “The Assignment.”
After laying down a few ground rules, owner and game master Aaron Larimer shuffles the three of us into what appears to be a small closet. He motions towards a large TV screen on the wall where a huge timer is set at 60 minutes. This screen is also where clues will pop up periodically throughout the experience, although only three are given. He hands me a small yellow envelope; enclosed are the details of our mission. And without much warning Larimer turns on his heels and clicks the door shut behind him.
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Rifling open the envelope, I start fumbling over my words as I hurriedly read the description. We are a team of secret agents bent on thwarting a Professor David Morgan; once an esteemed colleague of the FBI, Morgan is the suspected mastermind behind a string of recent historical document thefts. It is up to us to find a set of important P.O. Box numbers before the professor returns from class. The problem is; Morgan has a deep-seated proclivity for secrecy and riddles.
A door to our right appears to be the entrance to Morgan’s office, and all three us start scouring the space for anything that might be a clue to how to unlock it. Was it under the heavy leather trunk? Clung to a tchotchke? Or perhaps etched into the documents plastered to the walls? It’s these times that you wonder what all those years reading Nancy Drew novels was really for.
We eventually figured our way into the office, and instantly rummaged through the desk drawers, bookshelves and even couch cushions for clues. The sensation was akin to sneaking into an older sibling’s bedroom, completely immoral but utterly exhilarating. There is a “Big Brother-esque” feel to the experience, as all of your moves are being monitored and heard from the outside.
What makes the experience so eerie is how realistically the room is set; from the meticulously arranged shelving units to the documents on the walls. More than once I caught myself thinking I actually was an FBI agent. Professor Morgan certainly made sure his secrets were kept safe, and as we progressed from one clue to the next we found that each small task required a unique set of skills. Some portions needed mathematics; others required teamwork and some admittedly were a complete shot in the dark. Eventually, everything seemed to fall into place. Scraps of newspaper led to keys, which opened trucks, which directed us to a map… but never in the order you would expect.
As time slowly ticked away and desperation set in, I found myself thinking everything was a piece of evidence. I will admit at one point I was convinced a small black pen-mark on an encyclopedia page was a breakthrough! But at 13 minutes left and no clues remaining it seemed we were finally stumped with nowhere to go.
“You guys were so close,” chuckled Larimer, entering the room as the timer hit zero. He happily walked us through the remainder of the puzzles, showing how each clue led to the next. We were only three steps away from completing our mission, not bad for a ragtag team of spies. Although we did let Professor Morgan get away with his crimes, the fun we had at Escape Chambers was well worth the cost of his freedom.
Escape Chambers Milwaukee is located at 275 W. Wisconsin Ave, on the second floor at The Shops of Grand Avenue. Reservations can be done online at escapechambers.com. Tickets run $30 per person per room.
