Escape Rehoboth tests teamwork, problem-solving
When groups test their skill at Escape Rehoboth, the new escape room on Coastal Highway and Bay Vista Road, the only sure thing is that the clock will be ticking.
With a 60-minute deadline to find, assemble and decode clues in one of two themed escape rooms, groups ranging from four to 10 players are challenged to find their way out of a locked room in this real-life adventure game.
Teams must work together to locate clues and interpret their meaning. Sometimes these clues are physical keys, but often these clues are located within content in flash drives, books or lockboxes.
Sometimes an item that seems to be a clue may be a red herring and the team must work together to pursue the correct course of action.
Billed as a team-building activity for corporations and an adventurous rainy-day activity, Escape Rehoboth owners Diane and Clint Thornberg said they have had a warm response since the escape room opened and they anticipate interest will only grow.
"It has been great," Diane said. "We are adding rooms and new themes as we go."
As the Orendorf family headed in to the time-travel escape room recently, younger daughter Becca was skeptical.
During a de-briefing before the family entered their escape room, their smart phones were confiscated while the owners laid down the rules. The family members were given flashlights, notepads and pens, and directed into the room.
"We are all very 'Type A' personalities," Becca said. "This is going to be interesting."
Picking their way through combination and key locks, puzzles, coded messages and interactive technology, the family scoured the room, looking for clues in coats, umbrellas, picture frames and book shelves.
Some of the tasks involved slow, methodical work but part of the excitement of involved their hurried unlocking of doors and discovery of new clues.
"Did you hear me," mom Tori said, trying to get the attention of her family. "I said, there is something about these spare parts that is significant."
Groups are given two free clues when they run into a roadblock in problem solving; after that, each additional clue costs five minutes of time for the team.
No less than 44 minutes after they were transported to the 1800s in their time-travel prison, Mike Orendorf was able to unlock the last door to lead his wife and daughters back to present-day Rehoboth Beach.
Diane said only about 30 percent of the teams end up completing their task in the given time, but she thinks this family had the right approach.
"That's what you needed was a bunch of 'Type A' personalities for this," she said.
Escape Rehoboth is the first escape room in Southern Delaware. Currently open weekends-only, the owners said the facility is also available by appointment during the week.
For more information about Escape Rehoboth, go to www.escaperehoboth.com or call 302-344-6125.
