The Union community may recognize Escape Rooms from student activities council’s pop-up shop in the fall. Because of the success of the on-campus experience, the team decided to expand it to the greater Jackson community.
Instead of being located in a vacant dorm, Jackson Escape rooms is located at downtown at 620 Old Hickory Boulevard. There is a large, four-story office building and the interactive attraction occupies approximately 2,000 square feet on the second floor.
Jared Dauenhauer, creative director, said he and the team have worked tirelessly to create the four escape rooms and the championship room.
“There is a really lively creative community in Jackson,” said Dauenhauer.
The four unique escape rooms are Message in a Bottle, Nursery, Avenge of the Nerds and Code Breaker. Teams of 6 or less will have 45 minutes to escape their room, and the cost is $10 per person.
“We are inspired by the creative community of Jackson. We are excited about what is happening in our city,” said Lee Wilson, communications director. “We want to play our part because we think it is important for people of faith to be in the middle of that.”
While Jackson Escape Rooms is about having fun, there is some healthy competition at stake.
The fastest escape artists in each of the four rooms will advance to the championship round at the end of the week. The fastest escape artists during the championship round will be deemed the Jackson Escape Rooms Champions and receive a trophy and premium prize pack.
All of the details of the rooms – every idea, puzzle and trick – have been designed and implemented by the leadership team, which consists of Dauenhauer, Wilson, and their wives Allie and Beth.
Allie Dauenhauer helps with the logistics and Beth Wilson helps with “everything else.”
“We just really enjoy each other. We go to church together and work together. It is just a fun, collaborative environment,” Wilson said.“It is fun to watch Jared’s gears spin in his head when he is trying to create a puzzle. It really is a thing to behold – a thing of mystery.”
Wilson said he and the leadership team leave the creative elements of Escape Rooms to Dauenhauer. He said when they try to follow his direction, “it’s like we are squirrels trying to solve a grown-up problem.”
Potential customers who may be nervous about being locked in a room should know that Escape Rooms are challenging and fun, but not scary. In the event a member needs to leave the room, they can knock on the door three times and be let out, but will not be permitted to return and will not qualify for prizes.
The Jackson Escape Rooms’ leadership team said they could not have done it without the help of their partners. Partners include Our Jackson Home, the CO, Into the Woods by Union University Players, Burrito Meal and Say Grace.
Customers can find out more about the rooms and book their room on the website.
Great article Felicia!
It’s imprtant for folks to know that we will be in operation until March 28th … then we are gone until the next pop up sometime this summer with all new rooms.
Also, we have a special Monday promotion! College students with a student ID who book out a 6 person room will get to bring a free 7th player into the room with them.
Rooms are booking fast. Don’t delay!