Are you itching for something a little different – a little outside of the normal weekend routine of brunch, shopping, frisbee golf in Zilker, etc?
Well, have I got a recommendation for you – Austin Panic Room.
It’s one of the funnest group activities that I’ve done in a very long time, and they have recently relocated from East Austin into downtown Austin at 1205 Rio Grande, near ACC and Pease Elementary.
Here’s the scoop: Austin Panic Room is basically just a big puzzle you solve with your friends (and maybe some strangers) in about an hour.
You use clues in the room to decipher various parts of the solution to your puzzle. It’s extremely open-ended and very challenging. This experience was created by a group of UT grads, and opened in late 2014. They’ve already had about 10,000 folks come through their door.
Here’s what to do: You decide you want to do Austin Panic Room. Go to their site and book your room. There are two rooms – each with a different “puzzle.” Then, you show up at your specified time and begin solving! You can sign up individually, with a friend or friends, etc – but you may be paired with strangers unless you reserve your whole room.
It’s $20/person, and the whole “session” lasts about 80 minutes. If the new location is anything like the old one – it is not a fancy or high-tech set up. This is low-fi, simple fun – a great way to truly unplug!
We recently got together and experienced “The Bomb Room” at their old location. We were soooooo close to solving the puzzle, but ran out of time before we could solve the last piece. Apparently, only about 20% of groups actually solve the puzzles, so, the bar is high! However, it was a GREAT team experience and something I would highly recommend to others!
If you decide to try it (or have already done it) – let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Austin Panic Room
1205 Rio Grande, 78701
http://austinpanicroom.com