AN exciting new attraction will be coming to Wells in February with the opening of an escape room.
In an escape room, participants are shut in a room and usually have 60 minutes to escape by solving a series of puzzles which each get them closer to freeing themselves.
The Enigma Escapes escape room in Wells is the brainchild of Michelle Bateman and Rachael Downton, who are big fans of escape rooms and regularly try out different ones with family members. “We’re a little bit addicted to them,” said Rachael.
“We did one room and we were like ‘we should open one in Wells, there’s nothing like it in Wells’,” said Michelle.
Their escape room will be in a container at the Wells Self Storage site, opposite Morrisons. When that room is up and running, they will expand into a second container, and eventually possibly a third, all with different themes.
The first room, due to open in February, will have a jungle and temple theme based around the fictitious Cluzu tribe. Michelle and Rachael dreamt up the concept and the puzzles people will have to crack one day in The Quarter Jack, surrounded by Post-it notes.
“It’s our own puzzle ideas, very unique to us, what we would like to see in an escape room,” said Michelle.
They are creating the room from scratch, rather than having the room built for them and moved to the site, as often happens elsewhere. “We have a lot of foliage,” said Rachael. “We want people to walk in there and feel like they’re in a jungle.”
The pair are both self-employed – Rachael is a dog behaviourist and trainer, and Michelle is a photographer – and have children at The Blue School. They are being helped with the escape room by their husbands, who have building and IT skills.
Other family and friends are testing out the escape room so that things can be tweaked if necessary. Another has been helping with the puzzle ideas, bringing them to life by making them out of wood. The game will be for a minimum of two players. It will start with an explanation of the backstory to give players an insight that should help them with the puzzles.
“I feel like Wells is missing that attraction side of things to do – something fun, exciting and different. We’re giving something different to the community,” said Michelle. “I think this adds a bit of fun to Wells, especially for the younger generation.”
The cost, at least initially, will be £22.50 per person, which is a ten per cent discount on a typical escape room price of £25. Enigma Escapes are also running a competition at the moment in which someone can win a free escape room opportunity for four. Details are on their Facebook page; the closing date is February 1.