Combined Minds

Combined Minds

The girlies attempt a prison break

Ambar: What do girls love more than toxic men and horoscopes? Escaping prison (naturally). A prison-themed escape room, that is. 

Carmen: I mean, escaping a toxic relationship is damn near escaping prison.

Ambar: We decided to put our delusional minds to good use and sign up for an escape room at the Escape Game in Town Center. Now, I’ve done a couple of escape games and may even go as far as to say that I am an escape room enthusiast but nothing could have prepared me for “Prison Break.”

Carmen: I’ve done one other escape game and didn’t even make it out of the first room, so, expectations were very, very low, though I was excited. But like my colleague said, nothing could have prepared us for “Prison Break.” 

Ambar: Before the timer even started, we were shocked (and slightly scared) to find out that we were to start the game in separate prison cells. Dark, grimy, and a little too realistic prison cells. 

Carmen: No. Literally. Dark, dingy, slimy, dirty, dark and dirty little prison cells. I walked in first and was fully expecting Ambar to follow me in until the staff member shut and locked the door behind me yelling “Good luck.” I didn’t even have a flashlight. Just a pair of dirty socks. (I’ll explain later.)  

Ambar: Did I mention that this is one of the hardest rooms at Escape Game? 

Carmen: The first part of the game was to figure out how to break out of our own cells to meet up in the main cell room. The only advice the staff memberstaff gave us before leaving us to rot like the criminals we are, was “communicate with each other,” which if you know anything about us, communication is not our forte. 

Ambar: Now we won’t give away too much just in case you want to go experience this yourself, but communication is key. Literally. You have to communicate to find the master key (that is not in either of the prison cells) that will allow you to move on to the next challenge. Also if you decide (for whatever reason) to take on this escape room for a first date, just know that whoever gets the master key holds the power. Meaning, I could have left Carmen to live out the rest of her days thinking about her crimes. 

Carmen: There were keys hidden in unspeakable places that made me wish I brought a tub of hand sanitizer. Speaking of hand sanitizer, I really could have used some when I realized I had to pick up a pile of dirty socks (as if someone wore a pair for a week straight out in the wilderness with no shoes on) and throw them out of my cell into a basket. (Don’t ask.) 

Ambar: Once we (semi) successfully made it out of the cells, we did a celebratory dance and 

took a little too long to realize that the clock was still ticking. We weren’t safe just yet. Actually, we still had a long way to go. 

Carmen: When I tell you, these clues were hidden to the point neither of us were confident we were supposed to be touching/pulling/grabbing/throwing things. But once we realized pretty much nothing was off the table, we started to get the hang of it … That was until the secret door opened and we were met with the blue lock, nozzles, switches, pipes and tic-tac-toe. (Again, don’t ask.)

Ambar: That f***ing blue lock.

Carmen: All I will say is the staff member had to pause our time because while we had the correct passcode, that stupid f***ing lock WOULD NOT OPEN. We wasted 15 precious minutes on this lock.

Ambar: Shoutout to our staff member (aka God) for pausing the timer. Even though as soon as the clock stopped ticking, the lock magically clicked open, and we were onto the next puzzle. 

Carmen: Again, we don’t want to give away too much but be prepared for a jump scare.

Ambar: After going through what felt like a near-death experience, we went through a tunnel and knew not to get too excited because like with any game, there’s always a final boss. And this final boss was chess, puzzles and maps. Every girl’s nightmare.

Carmen: I was floored. I was ready to give up and go back to my cell. We had five minutes in a room that had 30 minutes worth of challenges. I’ve never played chess, and after this, I never will. 

Ambar: Somehow by the grace of God (aka our staff member), we completed all the challenges and escaped prison with two seconds to spare. TWO SECONDS. 

Carmen: Remember when I said these clues and challenges were so realistic we weren’t positive we were actually supposed to be doing them? The final challenge was to physically cut a wire. Literally, cut a wire inside of an electrical box. Ambar was terrified we were about to get kicked out when the door swung open.

Ambar: And in came God. I never believed in religion, but I guess prison really does change a person.