Escape rooms started to become really popular some years ago, as they are really excited games. Anyone who plays, gets so invested into the game as time is ticking and they have to discover the clues, solve the puzzles, and accomplish the tasks in order to escape from their “prisons” and win.
Escape rooms usually have a story line or theme. The most popular themes are of detective/police/crime style. Now, imagine yourself trying to escape from a real life prison.
While most escape rooms are set and decorated accordingly to the story line, there are those who thrive off authenticity. Which is why there are plenty of escape rooms that are placed in real abandoned prisons to create an ominous and creepy atmosphere for an extra level of horror.
In Maui, Hawaii, the Prison Break is a 60 minute escape room set in West Maui County Prison for all levels players. Players are separated in two adjacent cells to start. It costs $38 per player. Gather your friends as groups of 4 to 10 people are needed to find a way out before the guard comes back.
Set in Christchurch, New Zealand in the extensive holding cells of the former District Court where you are sent completely blindfolded and handcuffed into a briefing room within the prison. You only have one hour to escape.
In this escape room, you have been sentenced to 12 years of jail for robbery, though you are giving one hour to commute your sentence, if you give up the mastermind of the heist as the governors only knows you were part of the robbery but not the actual mastermind of it.
What’s interesting is that it was the oldest working prison in the United Kingdom as it was built in 1610, up until its closure not so long ago, in March 2013.
It´s considered as one of the most haunted prisons in the world.
Fox in a box gives players one hour to escape as the guards have all vanished after a riot, so you have the chance to save yourself. It’s a real decommissioned 1960’s jail from Iowa installed into the rooms to get a more realistic experience.
From 1863 to 2002, the Historic Cornwall Jail in Ottawa, Canada was a high-security prison for inmates condemned to die. Some say there are still bodies buried in the rec yard. After a false accusation, you and the rest of your team will have an hour to solve the crime unless you want to stay locked away forever.
The former historic Ross-Sanders building in downtown Buchanan, Michigan, housed decrepit jail cells with chains still hooked to the walls which were perfect to create this escape room and make it more authentic. It has quite an original story line, starting from Frank Costello, a man that has been detained while you and your friends have intentionally committed a crime so now you’ll be all locked up. Once inside, you have to help the man to escape without setting off the alarm. You will be hand-cuffed and locked in actual jail cells with only one hour to set him free.
Pärnu prison was closed in 2007 and now serves as a home for the biggest Escape Room complex in Scandinavia. The prison hides many stories behinds its walls and it’s so big that up to 24 people can be part of the game. Unlike other escape rooms that give you one hour to resolve the puzzles, this one is a three-hour long game which makes escaping to be challenging and way to get your adrenaline pumping.
It’s the only escape room in real jail cells located in Arlington, Massachusetts. They offer two options, to try and solve the puzzle in one hour to escape before the guards come for you or the newest addition named ‘Art of the Heist’, where you are part of a group of professional thieves that have been hired to recover a priceless suitcase. You only have 60 minute to recover the suitcase before the police return.
9.Franklin County Historic Jail
What makes this escape room so interesting is that it was once a real prison in Illinois with a notorious prisoner, who was held at the Franklin County Jail from June 1927 to April 1928. He tried to bust a way out, but his attempt was unsuccessful, so you’ll have one hour to prove if you are smarter than him to escape from the lower cell block.
Have you ever gone to a escape room?