Our Escape Room Fun in Cary, NC

I’ve been a fan of escape room adventures for a couple of years. Last week I was invited to have some escape room fun at Game On Escapes and More in Cary and jumped at the chance to try my hand at another adventure. Escape rooms are one of my favorite ways to bond with the kids. I grabbed my teen-aged daughter and headed to MacGregor Village to meet friends and enjoy a night out puzzling and collaborating while doing some Mama and daughter bonding at the same time.

My 14 year old and I were excited to try out a local escape room. We’ve managed to escape adventures in Wilmington, Wilkesboro and Nashville but had yet to tackle a local Triangle escape room together.

One of our enthusiastic game masters!

We arrived and mingled with friends while the owners divided us into groups. There are 4 escape experiences at Game On and our group of 6 was tasked with trying to “Escape the Jungle”.

The Premise:

“30 years ago, the HEADMORE Research group sent a group of researchers to the Amazon Jungle, but they never made contact and their last location is unknown, until now. You are being sent as part of Alpha Response Team to investigate the source of a distress beacon matching the team’s signature. Upon approaching the location of the signal, your helicopter loses power and crashes. You have about 60 minutes until nightfall, which coincidentally is when our scans of the area always drop signal.”

We got to work right away trying to find the hidden clues in our “jungle”. We used tools we found and all of our combined brain power to open locks, unearth compartments and discover our next clues. Luckily, I had a teen with me who is smart as a whip. Anytime we were stumped, I could count on her to think outside of the box to solve a clue. She led this team to victory with 6 minutes remaining in our 60 minute allotted escape time.

We found the escape room to be moderately difficult. It had just enough layers of clues and puzzle solving to make it challenging, and some easier pieces to solve that kept you from getting too frustrated. The game masters helped by watching through video monitors and gifting us with three clues throughout the experience plus a bonus tip when we struggled too much on a particular piece of the puzzle. We had three experienced escape room fun enthusiasts in our group and three newbies- it made for a perfect combination.

We cheered as we conquered the last task and “escaped” and the enthusiastic game masters cheered with us. Afterwards, we headed over to the wall of fun escape themed signs and snapped pictures of our team as proof that we accomplished our mission.

Game Masters following our every move.

The Lowdown:

An escape room is basically a complex puzzle that you have to solve with a partner or team of players. You’ll find hidden, intricate clues that will lead you to your escape.
You might be tasked with escaping the room, finding a specific object, or saving the planet. All adventures are slightly different. Usually the adventure lasts for 60 minutes.
The rooms are not usually locked, but if they are, there is always an emergency exit available.
The escapes are generally pretty challenging. A group with diverse talents usually does better than one with similar ones.
Escape rooms are a fun family activity! We love taking the four kids aged 9-16 for family date nights. Everyone usually contributes in some way to our escape (even the youngest). It’s one of the few activities that each family member enjoys in their own way but that we can have fun doing together. Ya know, the family that escapes together, stays together!

Our winning team from left to right: Sri, Me, Lu, Maddie, Melissa and Kathie.

The Details:

Game On Escapes has a total of 4 escape rooms that accommodate between 2 and 8 people. We love doing escapes as a family and I find the sweet spot to be around 4-6. At Game On Escapes, they suggest the minimum age to be 8 for most of their escape rooms (some have darker elements that might be too scary for the youngest in your family). They do have one escape room, Sorcerer’s Mistake, specifically designed to be kid-friendly for children 5 and up. An adult does still need to be present in the room with all kids 14 and under.

I love that the folks at Game On Escapes are willing to coordinate special corporate events, larger groups and even help you plan a special event. They recently planned a gender reveal for a couple that asked to have the envelope with their baby’s gender written inside hidden somewhere in the escape room. How cool is that?!

Whether you’re looking for a fun family experience, a bonding opportunity with your teen, a team building exercise with your co-workers, or a fun night with friends, escape room fun has you covered.

Location: MacGregor Village 107 Edinburg South Dr. Suite 203, Cary, NC 27511 (2nd floor)

Cost: $29 per person plus $20 if you want to have a private experience for your group or family. Pay online at time of booking.

Escape Rooms: MacGregor Manor, Trapped in a Jungle, Rest East Motel, Sorcerer’s Mistake (Kids 5 and up with their families)

Contact: Check out their website or email them at contact@gameonescapes.com. You can also reach them at 919.438.0798.