Can you crack the cases and escape the rooms at Escapology?

You’ll need to put your thinking cap on to come up with a plan to escape from these challenging games at Escapology: The Live Escape Game.

Live escape games are a fast-growing entertainment sector, and the progress made by Escapology: The Live Escape Game over the last few years bears testament to that. The business was founded in 2014 in Orlando, and since then has grown with a series of franchises in North America and one currently in Ecuador.

Find yourself faced with a unique series of puzzles and riddles that, once solved, will enable you to make your escape from the locked room scenario you have chosen! The main site in Orlando has seven fiendish escape game rooms, so there’s plenty of choice for you and your group.

Escapology has recently won the title of ‘Best Escape Room in Orlando’ from Orlando Weekly, as well as earning the 2018 TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence, so why not book a game with your family and friends, and answer the question of who is best at puzzles once and for all?!

You won’t be left to flounder – each group is assigned a Game Master who will help to guide you through your experience – if you do get stuck they are always on hand to give a hint!

Before your game starts you will receive a video briefing of the scenario you find yourself in, and on completion you will be debriefed, as well as having a group photo taken to mark the occasion!

Each scenario is based in a different setting, offering various challenges. There are even some great games that are ideal for Halloween. Do you want to be a FBI agent tracking down a notorious hacker? Or how about a detective solving a murder mystery? Be the real life Poirot or Miss Marple as you crack these cases! Escapology has given its games difficulty ratings from 6.8/10 to 8.9/10 – which of these escape game rooms appeals most?

Antidote (Difficulty level: 6.8/10)

This is the easiest rated game; set in the desert scene of Nevada in 2015, where you will find yourself trapped in a biological lab that is due to be decontaminated – including of human life – in the next hour!

The backstory to this tricky game is that you are investigating US chemical weapons specialist Dr Brandt who has been developing dangerous viruses for the military and unfortunately, as we learn, has now defected to a foreign enemy, with this research! You find yourself as part of a scientific team who are searching the lab for his antidote before the virus is obtained by the enemy. Unfortunately a clumsy team member has knocked vials of the virus onto the floor, where they have broken and infected you all. The base has automatically gone into lockdown – you have to find the cure before the decontamination process starts, or it’s game over for you in more than one sense!

You’ll need to find his antidote by solving a series of riddles, codes and puzzles, using your combined knowledge and observational skills to find a cure, save yourselves, protect the world’s populace and defeat Dr Brandt!

Cuban Crisis (Difficulty level: 7/10)

Rated slightly harder than Antidote, Cuban Crisis sends you back in time to Havana in 1962, where CIA Field Operative Gerry Droller is working directly for JFK to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s palace and work out who was responsible for the shooting down of a US spy plane, and try to avoid the situation escalating to all-out war. On entering the palace however, you learn that Castro and his bodyguards are on their way back – you have only 60 minutes to complete your mission – discover evidence of whether it was just an accident by solving a series of riddles, and finding the intelligence that will avert a nuclear war, before you are discovered!

TH3 C0D3 (Difficulty level: 7.3/10)

Modern technology comes to the forefront in this 2015-set room. Renowned hacker Nitr0 is about to release a computer virus that will steal over $75bn from 100 million US bank accounts. That is unless FBI Agent Alex Vargas from the Cyber Crime Unit can stop him. After receiving a tip-off, he finds himself trapped in the room – it was Nitr0 who sent him there and is setting him up to take the fall for the hacking! You have to find Nitr0’s kill code and stop the program from running – saving yourself from being the fall guy, and the bank accounts of millions of innocents being emptied!

Escape room tip: Work together! Communication is key in any escape room. Without it, you and your team will NOT escape.

Narco (Difficulty level: 8.1/10, adults only game)

Narco is the only game room that is designed with adults in mind; as a result the minimum recommended age is 15.

Also set in 2015, here you are invited by an old school friend Lewis Salinger to visit him at his Caribbean mansion. Things take a turn for the unexpected however, when his private jet collecting you, takes you instead to a landing strip in South America.

You soon learn that Lewis was not really inviting you all on a holiday, but to carry some drug-filled suitcases back to the US for him in exchange for $1 million each. Realising that you want no part of this plan, you will have to find a way to escape before you are due to fly out in one hour, gathering enough evidence for the authorities to act and stop his illegal dealings once and for all.

Under Pressure (Difficulty level: 8.9/10)

Head back in time to 1944 and WWII, aboard the US submarine Steel Shark, for this fiendishly tricky game. You are carrying out your mission to spy on the German battleship Scheer, when, all of a sudden, the submarine’s engines stop and it starts to sink into the depths of the Atlantic. As the hull pressure rises you have only 60 minutes of oxygen remaining; you realise that the sub has been sabotaged and you must now get everything working again and rescue your crew!

Murder mystery escape games - great for Halloween!

If you aren't big on the ghoulish spooky aspects of Halloween, but still want to do something fun and scary, attending Escapology could be an ideal alternative activity – especially if you select some of the more perilous games, such as Budapest Express or Mansion Murder, where failure to complete your challenging mission will result in the killer potentially finding you!

Budapest Express (Difficulty level: 8/10)

Take a trip on the famous Budapest Express train through central Europe in 1931 for this game, which takes its cues from classic Agatha Christie mysteries. You are travelling in the company of the famous French detective Karine Peaufiner, when you find yourself at the centre of an onboard murder mystery: Sir Clarence Hayden has been killed! You have one hour before the train reaches its next stop, and the murderer will be able to make their escape. You can narrow the suspects down to five people who were in the carriage at the right time, though they now know that you are on their trail, and have decided that only you stand between them and their freedom. You will have to use your best detective skills to solve puzzles, gather evidence and identify the killer before they find you!

Mansion Murder (Difficulty level: 8.9/10)

The final escape game room is set at the turn of millennium at a Scottish mansion in the Highlands. The 9th Earl of Kildermorie has arranged a family New Year’s celebration, but pandemonium breaks out as the Earl is discovered dead in his library! As you are the next heir, the finger of suspicion is pointed at you – you’ve clearly been framed. In one hour the police will arrive; you have to unearth family secrets hidden in the mansion to discover evidence which will clear your name and identify the real killer – either that or you will find yourself behind bars with no inheritance!

Tickets and important player information

Located on Orlando’s International Drive, not far from the I-4, and the SeaWorld sites, groups of between two and eight players can work together to solve the brain-teasing challenges in each of these rooms. If you have a special day coming up, it’s worth noting that birthday and group packages are also available; more information is to be found on the Escapology website.

Costing from $29.99 per person (excluding sales tax) your group will have exclusive use of the game room for the duration of the event. A VIP upgrade is available on bookings, where for an additional $15 per head (again, without sales tax) you will receive an Escapology Orlando T-shirt, ‘Cogs’ pin – based on the Escapology logo – and a wristband with your game name on it. These items can also be purchased individually, though would cost over $20 to do so.

Escapology is not recommended for those under the age of seven, as the games might be too tricky for them to understand. Additionally those participating who are under the age of 18 will need to have a waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

Tickets can be booked through the Escapology website >

If you’ve been to Escapology we’d love to hear from you about your experience – did you manage to escape in time? Which room would you recommend for novice or veteran players?

Opening times: 11:00am – 11:00pm daily

Location: 11951 International Drive, Unit C3, Orlando, FL 32821