An immersive new escape room opening today in Seattle challenges introverted participants to complete a series of challenges designed around avoiding pleasant small talk with warmhearted, midwestern coworkers.
“Our past escape rooms had fantastical themes ranging from sci-fi spaceships to medieval dungeons, but this year we decided to focus on more realistic social situations that locals are desperate to escape from,” said Phillip Kwon, owner of Evergreen Escape Rooms. “You choose from a variety of workplace settings like office breakroom, hallway by the bathroom, or our hardest setting—the elevator. Then we release an affable man from Minnetonka that’s just dying to have a nice conversation with you about the weather—do you have what it takes to escape within an hour?”
The unorthodox escape rooms have been a hit with Seattleites who want the thrill of escaping mundane social situations without the risk of actually having to follow up on a generous offer to go to a birthday party.
“I’ve already been twice this month—they have this great scenario where your friendly co-worker Stephen corners you with photos of his nephew back in Wisconsin,” said escape-room aficionado Tom Peck. “But the twist is it’s 5 o’ clock and you only have minutes to catch your bus or you’ll be stuck at work another hour—do you hurt his feelings by pulling a fire alarm and making a break for it, or fake a relative’s death to avoid being rude? It’s a real adrenaline rush.”
With the success of the Office Escape series, Kwon is already working on future escape scenarios including Petitioner Outside of a Store, Ex at a Local Bar, and Friend Who Recently Got into Crypto.
