If you are a regular around here, you already know that I am always on the go & I am always on the hunt for new ways to keep my family – especially the boys, entertained. Recently the four of us had a chance to check out The Great Escape Room in Providence, RI and not to give too much away right off the bat, we LOVED it.
You’ve probably noticed that escape rooms seem to be popping up more and more & I have been curious for a while now to check one out to see what all the buzz is about. I have never done anything like this before, so I honestly had no idea what to expect. Let me just say that our experience at the Great Escape Room far exceeded my expectations.
Here’s a little background: “The Great Escape Room is a real-life room escape game based on the popular computer and mobile phone escape games. Escape games are the newest craze sweeping the nation – a fun, team-building, brain-busting experience! After entering a room with your team, the door is locked behind you. 60 minutes are on the clock! You must work together in order to find clues and solve puzzles that will lead you to your escape. It is part scavenger hunt and part puzzle game. Only about 20% of groups are able to meet the challenge and escape in time!”
Before you start, you will be asked to sign a waver.
Our adventure took place in the library, but The Great Escape Room in Providence is currently working on two more rooms, which are opening soon. The four of us put our thinking caps on and were ready to solve some puzzles in order to escape from the library.
As mentioned, you will get an hour to solve all the puzzles and escape from the room. There is a guide in the room with you to offer little hints and very minimal help along the way. Our guide was Carson and he while he did not solve anything for us, he helped steer us in the right direction a few times during the hour.
First we had to search for a series of clues and then we had to figure out what they all meant. The puzzles are challenging, but not impossible. The point is for everyone to have fun, which my family certainly did. While we didn’t get out within the hour, we had an absolute blast and can’t wait for the other rooms to open so we can go try our hand at those.
Here is a tip for success: look everywhere and leave nothing unturned. Some of the clues are well hidden and you literally have to turn the room upside down to find them. Unless something is marked otherwise (and those items not to be touched are very clearly marked), nothing is off limits. The mom in me came out at first and I was putting everything back the way I found it, but Carson said not to worry about the mess and to tear the place up. So that’s what we did.
You really have to think outside the box while deciphering the codes and figuring out what to do with each clue. In the library, there are three magnifying glasses hidden in the room in which you can turn into the guide in exchange for a helpful hint. We only found two of them and used them both.
The Great Escape Room is a perfect way to spend some quality time with the kids. If you’re wondering if it’s appropriate for kids, yes. My boys are 8 & 11 and solved as many clues, if not more, as my husband and I did. The Great Escape Room would also make for a fun night out with friends, date night, girls night out….you get the point. Plus there are so many great bars and restaurants nearby, you could easily make a night of it.
Honestly, it was one of the most fun things we’ve done as a family in a long time & we are all excited to go back and have another go at it. Oh, and they have a bunch of fun props to pose with after you’re done.
The Great Escape Room Providence is located at 146 Westminster ST, Floor 4 in Providence, RI. You can book your tickets online by clicking here.
**Note: My family received complimentary admission to The Great Escape Room Providence in exchange for this post. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and were not influenced in any way.
Ive never heard of this but it seems so cool! Something my kids would really enjoy!
Wow. This would be awesome! Great activity for the family. I would also love to suggest this for a team building activity in the office. Thanks!
“ESCAPE Room” games are huge here in Singapore too! I like the props provided in your game!!
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
I have never heard of this before but it certainly sounds like fun! I probably would remain locked up after the hour was over also–but what the heck–a fun filled afternoon or evening is worth it!
I have to say I never heard of this before but it sounds like it was a lot of fun! Great way to keep busy and just enjoy a good night out. I think this is something my little guy would love.
We have a couple of these that just opened up here in Orlando. They’re on my “must-do” list. It looks like it would be a blast!
Oh my goodness! Such a fun family activity. I’ve never seen an Escape Room before but I know my family would love it. Especially my boys. They’re all grown up but they’re kids at heart. They’d have more fun than the grandkids!
What a fun adventure for the whole family. I wish we had one here. I would love to try this with my family.
This sounds like so much fun! I wish we had something like this out here! It would be a blast to do with my family
My son would totally love to try out a great escape room. I wouldn’t want to do it but I would just for him. I’ll see if there is one near us.
Sounds like a great place to visit and have an adventure in. My sons would really love it here!
I hadn’t heard of Escape Rooms before but this does sound like a lot of fun. My husband and I are taking a trip to RI later this summer so I’ll have to look into getting us tickets to The Great Escape Room.
Now this is so cool! I really want to do this with my husband now!
This sounds like great fun! I love games that make me use my brain and work with other people. I need to find one of these around me.
The Los Angeles area is full of events/businesses that do things like this. Some are horror, some are just good old fashioned problem sleuthing. This is definitely an experience on my bucket list!
I love escape rooms. We did one with my son, brother, and hubby last Summer and loved it. It is so much fun and it brings the whole family together 🙂 sounds like The Great Escape Room would be just as much fun!
This sounds like so much fun and we JUST got an Escape Room in Rapid City. I can’t wait to give it a try!
So freaking cool, I’ve only watched people do it on TV. I need to find one in my area, this is the type of thing we like.
That looks like such a fun family adventure to have, glad you were able to experience it!
I swear I just stalk your blog to find fun places to take my family too, since we are relatively close to each other 🙂 This must be added to a place for us to visit too!
What fun!! I wonder if we have these here?? I have to look that up for sure, sounds like a blast!
My sister was just telling me about the Great Escape Room! This would make for an awesome date night with the hubby!
I was thinking the same thing! I am sure my husband would have so much fun.
This sounds like so much fun. I wonder how fast we’d be able to escape. It sounds like a real challenge.
My sisters were talking about doing this. It looks like so much fun!
Oh my gosh the signs had me legit laughing out loud. Looks like a blast!
Wow! Have never heard of this but sounds fun! Really enjoy these online so this would be cool!
It looks like you had a great time! We have reservations to escape room next weekend and the kids are psyched!
This looks like the ultimate test in teamwork. It would really be a great family bonding experience and force us to work together.
Sounds like a great opportunity to take the family another one for my list =)
That sounds like a lot of fun. I think my family would really enjoy something like that. I love those signs too. They’re funny.
What a fun place to go as a family and get to see. I have never heard of this place, love the signs makes for fun pictures!
I’ve heard so many great things about this place! Thanks for sharing your experience, I would love to go!
Omg how fun!!!! My family would have a blast at Great Escape! So need to go 🙂
These escape rooms have been popping up everywhere in my city and they seem like so much fun. I like that the one you visited is ultra kid-friendly! Makes for a great family outing.
I would love to do this with the family or like you said, on date night! I think I need to move because we have nothing like this near me!
I have heard about these and I have always wanted to try it! The bossy person in me would take over, but I’m not sure if my shyness would allow it!. lol
I’ve always wanted to go to something like this! It looks so fun!
That sounds like a great time! It would be interesting to do that with my family.
One of the teams at my company just did an escape room and got out! I saw one on Kate plus 8 and they got out too! I bet my family wouldn’t get out. I totally want to do it. We just saw one by us down here in MD, and I’m checking into it for my son’s birthday!
I was able to do this with my family and it was so much fun. We were able to escape the room in the last few seconds.
I have been seeing more and more families participating in this activity. I wonder if my family would fare well.
You go on so many fun trips with your family. I remember going to Providence as a kid and your post makes me want to bring my own children there.
I’ve never heard of a place like this before! It looks like a fun adventure.
What an epic idea. Never heard of this sort of game before, other than the Crystal Maze.
My Kids would love this.
How fun! The upper management in my company did a room and they had said they enjoyed it. I wondered if it would be a family friendly find. Thank you for sharing your experience! We will going soon!
The Great Escape Room sounds like an amazing fun family activity to do for sure. I would love to do something like this with my family. It is all about team work. I love the photos with the props after you escape the room. Thanks for sharing this family fun activity.
Oh my! I don’t think I have the energy and patience for something like this! I think that’s me because we spend so much energy with our son! He has special needs and it can be so much work (I love being his mom!). 🙂
The Great Escape Room definitely sounds like a fun activity to try on a date or even back when my husband and I were dating! Ha!
This looks so fun! We have an Escape Room place here in Indiana that we’ve thought about going a few times. Maybe I’ll check out this one in Providence. We regularly go to the outlets at Wrentham during the summers, so this is only a hop skip and a jump!
One of these just recently opened in Detroit. Not too far from me. Looks and sounds like fun. I might have to try it.
How fun. My son asn I would have a grand time in here.
I have never tried this before but it is on my list of things to do. And a detectives themed room sounds fabulous! I would love to get into the shoes of Sherlock and solve the mystery. 🙂
This sounds like a lot of fun. I think it’s something that my son and husband would love to do together.
What a great experience! Looks like the whole family enjoyed it, and that is always the goal!
Mitch
I love that you did this. My husband went with his two brothers to one in Jacksonville, FL. He wants to make one up here but someone already has.
That does sound like a really fun place to stay! I think my s/o’s boys (8 and 13) would have a blast.
I had a similar experience to your ‘Great Room’ escapade last week when my co-workers and I went to a fun team building event and we had a similar objective – to get out of a room using clues. It was really fun!
That sounds like so much fun! I’ve never done anything like that with the kids before.
How fun! I love your photos and how everyone has such a great time! This looks like it would be so much fun!
I have been really wanting to try these places. My boys are 9 and 12 so should be a perfect family activity!
What a clever way to make the kids use their imagination and thinking caps. I wish we had something like this around here, I’m sure I’d enjoy it as much as the kids would.
wow looks so exciting. A perfect fun-filled family outing.
I have always wanted to try this. I am interested to hear about your experience and the fact you didn’t get out. So many people only tell the good, its neat you had fun without meeting the deadline.
This looks like a lot of fun. They have a couple in our area and we were thinking about trying it.
Such a unique way to spend time with friends or family. I don’t know how I feel about being trapped in room, but considering there is so much too do I think I could get over that feeling.
That’s awesome! I wonder if there are any around here. I go and do that!
This game sure seems like a challenging one…fun!
This could be a wonderful way to spend time with family or loved ones! It seems quite entertaining and I’d love to go
I LOVE mysteries and this looks like the most fun experience. Wish I lived nearby.
Okay that is just way to awesome! I would love to visit RI and do this too.
I hav e never heard of such a thing. What a fun idea. Looks like you had a blast!!
My best friend and I want to dot his. It looks like so much fun!
A friend of ours just did this and I think it sounded like so much fun. Would love to do that with my family.
wow this is truly an amazing adventure. I’d love to do this, in fact, I might. We’re not too far away.
I’ve heard about places like this. They pack on the riddles and the clues and give you an hour to escape, some make it more exciting by sticking to a horror theme. It sounds like a cool place to go to with family or friends!
I think sounds like a blast. I never heard of it until your post!
I love a good mystery and I like that you chose a library. What a wonderful way to spend time as a family in the Escape rooms.
My daughter would be too young for this but my son would love it! Looks like loads of fun! Love the pictures with the props lol
My daughter and her friends have planned a Great Escape Room day. They’re so excited. I’m sure they’ll have a lot of fun.
This sounds amazing! I wonder if there are any of these in the UK, I would love to try it out! It sounds like great fun.
I was going to try this while we were in London, but ran out of time. Now I am definitely going to try it in NYC. Sounds like such a fun family activity. Glad it was enjoyable for you!
I have heard of this before and think me and my dad would be up for it.
We both like puzzles and my dad in particular, is a very logic-minded person.
I have always wanted to try one of there. We have a few that have opened in our area. What a fun thing to do with your family
That’s so cool. I saw that on a reality show I was watching and thought it would be cool to do.
My son got invited to one of these this weekend. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled, but it sure looked like a lot of fun.
Wow this looks like so much fun! My husband and I were just talking about escape rooms being a “thing’ now! Awesome!
Oh my goodness, I want to do this so much!!! It sounds like super fun and I think it’s a great team building opportunity for the family. With a tween boy, I need all the help I can get. BTW, I would have started tidying up, too — LOL!
🙂
Traci
I have always wanted to visit and try one of these escape rooms. I wondered if they would be good with kids and now I know. My daughter is 12 and would probably solve more than us just like your boys did.
I have never heard of this before but it certainly sounds like fun! I can’t wait to find one!!
I have never heard of this! Looks like fun!
I have been hearing about these kinds of room all over the place lately! I am going to have to try one out soon!
This looks like a lot of fun! I am constantly seeing these on Groupon and stuff!
We have one of these in orlando that i’ve been dying to try. Im just waiting on the hubby to get back from deployment!
The Great Escape Room sounds like a lot of fun. I can’t wait to go there to check it out for myself.
This is such a neat idea. I would totally love to put one of these on as a fundraiser or something. Thanks for sharing!! I am so excited to start planning this!!!
We have done one great escape room experiences before and honestly they are a lot harder than they look!
We were just starting to make progress and then time ran out. Needless to say “we didn’t escape” the room. LOL!
I’ve only just heard of these recently as a friend is talking about making one in their new home. They have what was a small library room and think it would make a great escape room. Seems like it’s really catching on
We have a place in my city that has different themes in the different rooms. I believe you have an hour to breakout of the room and then time is up. There was six of us that did one of the rooms and we broke out with time to spare and even set a record!!
We have these in Utah. It is on my summer fun list!
I’ve always wanted to go to one of these! they look like so much fun
This sounds like so much fun! I have always been a fan of doing things with the family or Hubby that are unique and engaging. This certainly fits that bill.
Wow, I would love to go there, you guys seems to have fun. I like to see this great escape room, I heard so much about it.
Wow! I wish we had one of these here where I live. It sounds so fun.
I love that you have to think outside of the box. And hurrah that it exceeded your expectations too. Sounds like a fun way to spend some time. 🙂
I love escape games. Good to hear that they do it in real life, sounds fun!
I’ve never heard of anything like this! It sounds like such a great way to spend some time with your kids.
Wow, this is a nice place. I like computer games and bringing them to life is so cool.
I can’t believe that there is a place like this, I would be so happy to explore it, sounds fun!
This sounds fun specially if you go with a group of people. I would love to go explore!!!
This looks like so much fun! We have a place similar to this but I haven’t been yet, I’ll have to go!
How fun! I keep seeing ads for escape rooms around Atlanta, but most of them seem to be zombie related, or scary.
This sounds like a lot of fun. Very interesting indeed. Would love to try it too!
I had never heard of this but it seems so cool! I want to get together some friends and try this out. I wonder if they have any nearby. Thanks for sharing! Now I can channel Sherlock.
This look a lot of fun! Glad you guys enjoyed yourselves.
We have friends that have done this and LOVED it! My kids are still a little young, but this is definitely something I want to try in the future.
What a fun family activity! There is one where I live and I really want to do it.
I have never heard of this kind of an experience, but it sound like great family time for us and our girls. Also, it might be a fun date night with friends. I could also use it for my groups at school.
We LOVE the game on my phone; I absolutely need to find one in real life. This would be such a fun date too!
What a great idea. I had no idea these games existed and I can see why they would be a huge success, Heading to Providence this summer. My family would love this place. Going to go!
We have the same company down here in Orlando. It was our first Escape Room & we loved it!
Super interesting idea! would love to try this kid my family
My daughter wants this for her birthday! There’s this Mystery Manila and reak out Manila here which offers the same kind of adventure.
I have always wanted to do an escape room! We have one in the next town over from us. Now I think I will have to try it.
WOW! robin so many comments. why? coz you’re awesome 😀
This place looks epic! would love to go