Over the past 6-7 years there has been a huge surge in this family fun, hour long adventure. If you’ve never been to an Escape room, it can seem like a slightly scary thing to do for fun, but with the vast variety of themes and levels of difficulty that they have to offer, people of all ages have been known to enjoy them.

Though every Escape room is different, they generally go something like this; you have 60 minutes to make it out of a locked room that’s usually fit to a particular theme, there are several puzzles and clues that you must figure out that will help you unlock the door and complete the challenge.

Most rooms require or suggest having anywhere from 2-10 players to work as a team to escape the room. This activity has been known to surprise many people once they’re done with the experience. Escape Rooms have been used as a team building exercise for businesses, fun bonding time with family and friends, and even friendly competitions to see who can escape a room in the fastest time.

In the early internet days, there were a ton of online games you could play through various websites. Around 2005-2006 there was a spark in simple point and click escape games that challenged you to escape things like jails, closets, and bathrooms. In 2008 a Japanese company called Real Escape Games decided to be the first company to bring the niche Escape Room world to life and that quickly spread to different countries including the U.S.

Speaking with the manager of Escapology Rochelle Gore, she speaks on her experience of working at an Escape Room. She says, “It's honestly really fun. You get to observe different types of personalities and how people communicate.

It's honestly allowed me to learn a lot about myself and how I communicate with my staff members. We play them as a staff for fun and every time we put out a new room, we have to play it to learn it.”

Fayetteville is home to three unique Escape Rooms that are almost perfectly scattered locally across the city. They all have a different and special selection of rooms to experience.  Themes for these escape rooms can range from a Scooby Doo Mystery adventure to catching a killer clown.

For any of those willing to test thinking skills at one of these great locations, here are the addresses and hours of these amazing Escape Rooms across Fayetteville.

Escapology is located at 2770 Freedom Parkway and is open from 10:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Sundays. For more information visit http://www.escapology.com or call 910-302-6981.

Xscape Factor is located in Downtown Fayetteville at 136-A Bow Street, open from 3:00 to 9:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. On Fridays they’re open from 12:00 to 10:00 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays they’re open from 12:00 to 9:00 pm. They’re closed on Tuesdays. For more info call 910-676-8926.

Escape Room Fayetteville is located at 3639 B. Sycamore Dairy Road and is open 3:30 pm to 9:00 pm on Thursdays, 3:30 pm to 10:30 pm on Fridays, 12:30 pm to 11:00 pm on Saturdays and 1:30 pm to 7:00 pm on Sundays. They’re closed Monday through Wednesday. For more info call 910-920-1781.