When we first came up with doing playdate reviews, we hated that we couldn’t find an escape room. For every spot in our area, the minimum age was maybe 10. Fast forward a year or two, and I get a flyer for Escapology at my girls’ field hockey practice. A new space was opening up literally 10 minutes from us. I could’ve kissed the mom (who happened to be the owner) who said that they didn’t quite have a minimum age.

“How could this be?”, you say. KIDS MODE!

Escapology is an immersive, and always private, escape game where players are gathered inside a themed room and must complete their mission before time runs out. Stepping inside a real-life adventure, they must find hidden clues, crack codes, and solve puzzles to make an escape—all in an hour.

We were excited about their Kids Mode format, designed for kids 7-14. At each location, there are about 4-6 different themed rooms. For our spot, two of those rooms could be played in Kids Mode. So you are still solving the puzzle but depending on the ages of the group, they can give you more hints and headstarts throughout the challenge. Ooooh, now you’re speaking our language.

There are locations all over the country and internationally.

The OT Part

Escape rooms can give the same vibes as going to a Not-So-Scary Haunted House: you’re not sure what to expect, but you know it’ll be fun (and a bit stressful). The small room is darkly lit with detailed, interactive décor. Disembodied sounds and voices emanate through the walls with riddles or clues. Oh, and there’s a timer that counts down while you figure out what to do. While this can be fun, it’s also a real test of self-regulation. Can your child work calmly under pressure while solving the puzzle?  

In an escape room, they’re going to be using :

• Critical thinking. Riddles and puzzles allow kids to think analytically and consider unconventional solutions.
• Social skills. Working with others requires effective communication as well as acknowledging and appreciating each other’s strengths when solving a problem.
• Time management. The time constraint provides a sense of urgency to prioritize and focus to complete a task and move on to the next clue without hesitation.
• Attention. The ability to observe and notice subtle differences and patterns in the environment is helpful when searching for clues.
• Resilience. When at first you don’t succeed, try again because you don’t have a choice. Many escape room designs are built on previous clues and riddles. So while it’s frustrating and disappointing for your child, it’s building their ability to persevere and adapt.
• Self-confidence. Your kid gets a win for every puzzle they solve. Can you imagine the sense of accomplishment they feel if they escape the room with minutes (or even seconds) to spare?

Escape rooms also require executive functions, like working memory, self-control, and flex-thinking. However, kids are still creating and refining these neural connections to be efficient. So while they initially can sustain attention to this novel activity, it may be tricky to remain on task when there are so many items to engage with.

They may not know how to plan and organize their findings to solve the riddle or forget what they were supposed to do because they’re worried about the time ticking down. We saw this with our kids. While they worked together as a team, there were moments when they needed redirection and help to organize and guide their thinking. Despite the stress, the adrenaline kick coded this experience as a positive memory that they want to do again.

The Parent Part

We signed up for Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Castle Adventure. Since each booking is private, you are not locked in a room with another party. Minimum is 4 people, up to 8 people per room.

Once you are in the room, there are no cellphones or photography. So sorry that we don’t have a fun slideshow, because it was awesome! The décor and clues around the room were very Scooby, and the mystery was definitely worthy of Mystery Inc. Screens with the Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby all led us through the different parts of a ton of different clues. In addition to riddles, puzzles, and game pieces, there were secret rooms, ciphers, patterns and combinations.

The puzzles started out pretty simple and then got gradually trickier toward the end of the hour. Mary and I did a good amount of distance guiding, but as the problems needed more puzzling out, we became much more involved.

Let’s not forget that this is a mystery we’re trying to solve. So there is definitely a bad guy and a cast of characters straight out the cartoon. Once we started getting into darker rooms and murder weapons, the kids started getting a bit spooked. “If we don’t figure it out, are they going kill us? Are we stuck in here forever?”

Remember we talked about Kids Mode? Each room is monitored by the Escapology team, so they are ready to drop hints, give clues, and even open the door if there is an emergency. We definitely needed a clue or two to get us warmed up.

We admit that it is a bit unfair. Mary and I are huge puzzle game fans, so it was hard for us to really sit on the sidelines. Encouraging teamwork and making sure that each of the kids was able to answer a problem or open a lock took a bit of mediating. When we jumped into the more complex puzzles, we did our best to delegate. During times where the kids seemed stumped or not into that particular puzzle, we would have to reel them back in with a leading question or an attaboy.

In very dramatic fashion, we escaped the Spooky Castle of Crystal Cove with seconds to spare!

We were initially worried that maybe our kids wouldn’t be into it as much as we were, but they wanted to do another escape room immediately after.

Verdict: Yes!

Especially with #spookyszn this month, this would be so fun to take your kids. If your kid is into puzzles or they’re a big Scooby/Nancy Drew/Clue fan, this would be right up their alley.

Ages 7-8 is about the right age to really enjoy the full room, especially since there is a lot reading involved. My 6-year-olds could handle it, but younger kids overall will need a lot of redirecting and encouragement.

We are excited to try out some new Kids Mode rooms, and maybe book a fun date night/girls night for the harder mysteries. There’s an art heist mystery room coming soon, that I’m super psyched about.

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Check out our other Playdate Reviews.
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