Nordic sent two reporters to the Entangled Escape Room in Lynnwood to tackle “The Cell,” a prison-break themed escape room. In this room’s storyline, players pretend to be investigative journalists who have been inspecting a series of disappearances in the area. The players’ investigations have led them to a warehouse, but as they enter, they fall through a trapdoor where the suspect has laid a trap to capture the participant and their partners. The challenge is to escape the room and find the cannibalistic suspect of the case before time runs out, and the participants become the suspect’s meal!
Immersive Experience
The room is decorated as a warehouse that belongs to the suspect behind the disappearances, and it is scattered with the remains of his former victims. The entrance to the escape room is a mysterious gray door, with bloody handprints for added intrigue. The inside is decorated with ominous decor and props including severed human hands and feet that were hung on a wall, as well as the skeletal remains of former captives. The minimal, low lighting in the enclosed space creates an eerie ambiance that encourages us to find the few flashlights that are hidden in different parts of the first section. Fake blood is splattered around the walls, emphasizing the chilling environment. The tense background music adds to the already high-stress atmosphere that had us thoroughly terrified.
The Puzzles
Some of the puzzles in the room involved simple math and connecting written hints that were hidden inside locked storage containers. There were a few hands-on activities that were important to unlock more hints, such as organizing blocks, working with different types of locks and collecting objects in the different sections of the room to unlock more hints. The puzzles were excellently thought out and well-connected throughout the different sections of the room. Discovering different clues and solving the various puzzles was satisfying and engaging. Some of the struggles with the interactive puzzles involved working with the locks in the very dim lighting and connecting the clues to find the necessary objects in the first two sections of the room. Some of the more intricate clues were scattered in hidden locations that were difficult to find, causing the hour spent in the room to go by quickly.
When we got stuck and called out our confusion with the more difficult puzzles, a “character” provided help through the intercoms by reemphasizing clues and providing helpful hints.
Room Options
While “The Cell” is a tough room with a 31% success rate, there are two other rooms at the Entangled Escape Room with different scenarios that have other interactive puzzles. “The Cube” is themed around an intergalactic game show, where the participants of a group of 2-8 players have been kidnapped by aliens to play in their game show and try to save the earth. The other option is the pirate themed room, “Dead Mans Cove,” which allows for 4-16 players that can split into two teams to try to conquer the room by retrieving the treasure.
Final Thoughts
Despite our failed attempt to escape the room, we did get a chance for team-building and personal bonding as we worked to solve the clues together. We would recommend this escape room to those who don’t get scared easily because the environment was difficult for us to adjust to.
The price was $40 per person for an hour in, making it potentially on the pricier side for those looking to challenge an escape room. Comparatively, there are escape rooms available nearby in Seattle that have prices ranging from $30-$50 per person. Appointments can be booked online at their website entangled.games.
