For a Mother’s Day present, my dad decided to take the family to a new attraction located in Bristol, TN called The Tri-Cities Escape Game. And it was awesome. The Escape Game is an up and coming attraction where a group is locked in a room for an hour, and they have to solve a slew of puzzles and escape before the time is up. The Escape Game in Bristol currently only has one theme, but by the end of the summer, they will be adding two more types of escape rooms. The room my family, and a group of four nice strangers solved was a tornado theme. The theme was on a road trip tornado starts to form, and we have to find shelter. The only shelter for miles is an old farmhouse that is almost like falling down the rabbit hole, and to survive you must open the shelter located in the house before the tornado touches down and tears the house apart with us in it.

If you are into puzzle solving, his is definitely the type of game for you. At first, I was weary going in, and really didn’t and really didn’t want to be there. My negative thoughts quickly changed soon after the game started. I can proudly boast that my family and the lovely group that joined us got out with just 30 seconds to spare, and when I really got into the game, it was like I was thrust into a Sherlock Holmes novel, or a high-stakes detective movie. At the Tri-Cities Escape Game, the record time was 45 minutes, set by a group of college students, and from personal experience of being in that room, that is actually a phenomenal record.

Taken from the perspective of an avid book-lover/ English major, the best part of the game was the story behind it. To spare taking the fun out of the actual game, I won’t spoil the actual twist, but I will say that it is amazing! When you are first put in the game, you are only given a few pieces of the puzzle. As the game progresses, and more pieces of this elaborate puzzle are discovered and unlocked, the clearer and more interesting the story gets.

The one thing that probably terrified the most going in was the idea of being locked in an enclosed space and not being able to get out. I can tell you now, the room was not small, and getting into the game, you forget you’re locked in the room until the very last piece of the puzzle. It’s not some dark, scary Harry Potter closet, but a proper room that can fit around eight people in it comfortably, and plenty more not so comfortably. So my worries were instantly gone the moment I stepped into the room.

The Escape Game was an awesome experience, and it was an excellent team-building exercise, as well as a good way to test out our common sense and logic. I highly recommend playing this action-packed game with friends and family. Your Escape is in your hands!