As we walked into the dimly lit back room I had this thought: "I literally PAID for this man, that I have never met, to lock my husband and four of our friends in this room for an hour. Am I about to live the opening chapter of Steven King's next thriller?"
Andrew (the man I had never met) took a group "before" picture for us, went over the last minute rules and asked if we had any questions. The clock was set for 62 minutes. (We were given two free minutes because our birthday boy agreed to wear the ridiculous birthday hat for the entire game. Score!!) The door locked behind him and the 6 of us began taking apart The Forgotten Outpost.
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The Escape OKC is a live action escape challenge. I first heard about it through a friend's post on Facebook. At the time I had been trying to come up with the perfect gift for my husband's birthday. Last year (while we were still dating) I had given Zac a gift to unwrap, but also had planned a surprise road trip for him. He talked about that road trip for months! Including listing it as his favorite date for a quiz I had to take at a shower before our wedding.
As soon as I saw their website I knew this was it. It would be another experience we could share and not just something else to sit on a shelf. I booked us a challenge time and read up on everything I could about the game.
As I read reviews I saw a few that recommend you have at least 4 people to do the challenge. (It took quite a bit of time to physically locate all the clues throughout the room.) So I secretly invited some friends to join us.
On his birthday Zac unwrapped this poster I had made:
On Saturday we attempted The Forgotten Outpost. A cold-war themed room complete with a large poster of Stalin and an old marked-up map of the USSR. We had a blast working together to find clues, solve riddles and figure out each puzzle we were presented with. Even though we didn't actually escape the room in the time allotted we were very, VERY close. Andrew told us that they try to keep the puzzle completion rate at about 25-30% so that it's not too easy, but it can be done.
It was a ton of fun and we will be going back to try the other room, The Four Brothers, very soon! Andrew told us that they are about to open a new murder mystery room called The Uptown Murder, and will be having a special Halloween-themed room open during the month of October.
Go do The Escape OKC!
Group Size-
You can have up to 6 people in your group. I would absolutely recommend that you have a large group. There were a few times we were all working in 2s around the room. 2 people working on one riddle, 2 looking for more clues and 2 working on a second puzzle. 4 people would probably be okay, but Zac and I agree that we don't think we would have even come close if it had just been the 2 of us alone. Also the more people in your group the cheaper the cost, which brings me to...
Value-
It costs $75 to book a challenge and is, in my opinion, completely worth it. The cost is the same no matter the size of your group. So if you split it amongst 6 people (the max. group size), its only $12.50 per person for a truly unique experience. (You can easily drop that or more on a 3D IMAX any weekend.)
Staff-
The staff was very friendly. All jokes about being locked away by a stranger aside, they were focused on providing an enjoyable experience for us. Andrew, the owner, was very personable, friendly and made sure we understood the challenge before he got us started. As we waited for our turn they were checking in on groups that were in progress via video feed and it was obvious they wanted to see people succeed.
Am I smart enough?-
YES! When I booked the cold-war themed room I was a little bit apprehensive because of my lack of cold-war knowledge. (I was hoping my history-buff-hubby would have enough in his brain to make up for my lacking.) Without giving away any clues or too much detail, I can say that the room itself supplied you with all the information you needed to complete the challenge. We were told that we could bring in our phones and Google anything we wanted, because it really wouldn't help. The challenge is contained within the room so your cracking the code doesn't rely on your 8th grade World History report card. It takes some sense and patience to put the clues together, but it takes no special knowledge other than the information contained in the room.
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Find out more and book your own challenge at www.theescapeokc.com
About 20 mins after parting ways our friend Derrick, who had worked on the challenge with us, sent us a text, "If they have any openings tomorrow night would you guys be in for trying The Four Brothers?"
Oh Derrick... Yes! Yes we would! :-)
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