Exit Strategy - it’s like the Saw movies, but for group fun instead of slow death

The Concept

Via Exit Strategy: “Sixty minutes may sound like a lot of time until the pressure of cracking clues and solving puzzle after puzzle begins to get more intense with each passing second. At Exit Strategy, 60 minutes is all that the small teams of friends, family members, or Houdini impersonators will have as they attempt to unlock a tightly fastened door before time elapses and the game is tallied as yet another win for the room and its devious challenges.”

The Facts:

• Owned and operated by Mylene Labrie and husband Jelani Patterson.
• The concept: Players are locked in a room and have to use their wits and follow clues to find their way out.
• Concept was pioneered in Japan and has just recently made its way over to the US.
• The business is about 6 months old.
• Rated as the #1 Fun and Games activity in Charlotte on TripAdvisor.
• Customers pay $25 for an hour in one of two theme-designed rooms (a psychedelic 1970s room or more ominous “Cabin in the Woods” room) and solve a series of puzzles and answer trivia to make their exit.
• Players who can’t find a way out of the room in an hour but want to keep trying pay a little more for an extra hour.
• This week, Exit Strategy will move from a 1,200-square-foot facility to a 5,500-square-foot building on Stuart Andrew Boulevard.
• Labrie says a 4th room “Lost in Space” is coming this month.
• $2 off if you bring a clock and give it to them. No joke.
• No, you can’t bring beer. I know you’re thinking about this.

Reviews (via TripAdvisor):

C5’s take:

I am willing to bet that this is the most interesting thing offered in Charlotte in a long time. Personally, being trapped in a room is totally terrifying, but from reading the reviews, I am down for scaring myself with this brain-teasing, exhilarating activity. Couples, families, and even companies cannot get enough of Exit Strategy. Judging by their success (they launched in February!) and the reviews, put this on your “must” list for the weekend.

Photos: Facebook and Site.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 12:38 AM with the headline "Exit Strategy - it’s like the Saw movies, but for group fun instead of slow death."