Escape rooms or locked rooms whichever name you prefer to give them is a fun way to test to see how smart your team, friend group, family etc. is. I love doing them because I get this rush of adrenaline as my friends and I try to gather the clues and figure out how to escape. This weekend I was able to experience one of Calgary’s creepiest and frightening locked rooms.
On Saturday during the snowstorm, my friends and I were attempting to complete this room without any hints. If you escape the room within the hour without any hints, you are able to be placed on the leaderboard. If you think that you can cheat the system by using your phone for hints, they do not allow you to bring your phone into the room. I have done two locked rooms before this one so I would say I am somewhat an intermediate at escape rooms. However, I will say that in comparison to other ones I have never been as close to escaping except for this room.
The storyline for this locked room is pretty creepy and may or may not send chills down your spine. Essentially, it is has been two years since the zombie apocalypse has started. You were out scouting for supplies when you were hit on the back of the head causing you to faint. When you wake up you discover that you have been caged up with other people. They tell you how you have been kidnapped by cannibals who plan on eating you. The goal is to now escape before the cannibals come back to make you their next meal.
Overall, the soundtrack and decorations really added to the lore. It made you feel more anxious and frightened. The clues in the room may not have been that hard to figure out however, being scared might make it harder for some to escape. Luckily, the friends that I did the room with always made it a priority to ensure that everyone was feeling safe and comfortable. I guess that a reason that the escape rate of this room is low is due to people possibly scaring their friends instead of focusing on escaping.
When starting in this room, your group will get divided into two cages. If anyone feels claustrophobic in the cage, there is an emergency key right next to the lock of the cage to allow anyone to be released. I really liked this idea because I could see someone easily crying or having a mental breakdown because the locked room is pushing them to their limits. Individuals may not know what their limit is so, the emergency key allows them to be relieved from this stress. Due to the snowstorm, the power in the room turned off which increased how scared I was feeling. I can recall how my friends and I all screamed and initially believed that this was just a part of our locked room experience. The emergency lights kicked in and one of the staff members appeared with flashlights and ensured us that it would be safe to continue. I find that this power outage really heightened my experience because, in reality, there would probably not be any source of stable electricity during an apocalypse.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed doing this locked room and would recommend this to people who may what to experience what it would be like living in a zombie apocalypse. Generally, speaking though individuals should try an escape room/ locked room with friends or family because it is a good way to bond together. If it is your first time, I advise you to not start with any rooms in the horror genre. The location I was at recommending their video-game based one to newcomers. Lastly, if you plan on doing a locked room make sure you read all the instructions or a clue before you start answering it. Literally, that was the main reason why my group was unable to escape, We were too excited and forgot how to open simple locks, like how you must turn the lock a certain amount of times before inputting the number.
If you want more information or want to book a locked room of your own head to this website: https://www.thelockedroom.ca/
