This fun is inescapable

COEUR d’ALENE — A squad of FBI special agents has exactly 60 minutes to defuse a "bomb."

But before they can stop it, they must find it. And they better get to stepping, because the path to safety is riddled with clues and puzzles that must be solved before the timer runs out.

This is Escape Game Coeur d’Alene, a live-action gaming adventure that tests your skills, including teamwork, problem-solving, observation and deduction.

"The fun part for me was that there were so many different brains working in the room, that oftentimes one person in the group would see the puzzle differently than the others and solve it while everyone was still unsure of the solution," said Bryant Wilson of Coeur d'Alene. "It's truly a team activity where everyone can and should participate."

Nerdy? A little. Fun? Absolutely, especially when you have a good mix of people with different strengths and perspectives (and that mix of 30-somethings is feverishly trying to beat the record set by middle-schoolers).

I recently experienced this new concept of fun when my dear friend, Sara Lewis of Post Falls, decided to celebrate her birthday by trapping her friends for an hour and making them solve puzzles to defuse this “bomb” — it doesn’t actually explode if the 60 minutes expire, but I’m told a very loud and scary noise goes off if the “bomb” is not found and defused in time.

"I've been wanting to do an escape room for a long time since I play the games online," Lewis said. "I decided to go with a group of friends for my birthday this year and everyone had a lot of fun. It was something new and different to do and it was interesting to see how everyone worked together."

It may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but our group was immediately into it.

We were given the scenario that we were FBI agents trying to find a bomb planted by the bad guy, Skullface, who had infiltrated the Bureau.

Then, locked in a room (with two employees to ensure we didn’t stupidly dismantle the TV or something) the 12 of us began scouring for clues. By the way, our phones had been deposited where we checked in, so we had no communication with the outside world.

Although off duty, my reporter instinct told me to start observing and take notes. Some of us jumped right in, finding a tiny locked door, combinations without locks, locks without keys, switches without direction and devices without batteries.

Communication was indeed important as this process unfolded. Three people would be onto something, and it would take one person to find the final clue to solve that puzzle and after a small celebration we’d move on to the next item.

"The games are well thought-out," said Alex Feierabend of Coeur d'Alene. "The puzzles are difficult enough to keep you on your toes but not so complex as to become frustrating."

Everyone’s blood pressure ticked upward with the minutes, especially when balloons had to be popped and no warnings were given before said balloons exploded.

Without giving everything away, some moments really made us think outside the box as light bulbs went on over our heads.

We scrambled as the clock wound down, and finally we found the “bomb.” We solved one final clue and gave the wire cutters to the birthday girl, giving her the honors of delivering us to safety or sending us into oblivion if the "bomb" exploded.

We had just more than four minutes left when she cut the wires, a moment heavily celebrated with high-fives, hoots and hollers.

Escape Game Coeur d'Alene, located at 202 E. Sherman Ave. in Coeur d'Alene, usually has three or four different scenarios to choose from, all of which are dreamed up by owner Bart Mitchell. Mitchell said reception from the community has been strong since his Escape Game entered the scene in August 2016.

The recommended age is 10 and older and admission is $25 per person, a fair price for a unique experience.

"It’s for people who like to be adventurous, looking for something fun to do outside of the ordinary," he said. "Families come and participate, and I'll get feedback from parents saying, 'This is the first time our family has not had someone in front of a screen and all woked together.'"

Mitchell said sometimes people are intimidated by the premise of the game, but worry not, because it is an activity that requires a variety of thinking.

"We try to be very tactical about how we craft the games and make sure different types of problem-solving are necessary. It requires logic, visuospatial, induction," he said. "We make it so that everyone can feel comfortable solving something."

Escape Game gives you an opportunity to show off your detective skills while doing something more than just sitting in front of a screen or in a noisy bar.

It puts the pieces of your brain to work that your math and speech teachers always said you would use. It’s like a role-playing board game, but instead of reading directions and rolling dice, you’re actually doing it.

Our crew was a little bummed we didn’t defeat the middle-schoolers’ time, but, hey, it was only our first time playing the game.

We’d love to go through again. Next time, though, maybe some warning about the balloons.

Info: www.escapegamecda.com or 208-770-0973