To escape is truly an experience—both literally and metaphorically. An escape room is a unique challenge in which a team of players cooperatively discover clues, solve puzzles, and complete tasks in one or more rooms in order to progress and accomplish a specific goal in a limited amount of time. The concept is pretty straightforward. A group of friends or family, work colleagues, or even strangers are brought to a room and must collaboratively work together through a series of challenges and puzzles to essentially escape.
Growing in popularity over the past few years, there are now 5,000 escape rooms worldwide with over 2,300 right here in the United States! Last summer, Bridgewater residents Kimberly Lucci and Patrick Scaglione, opened Ultimate Xscape Rooms in Downtown Somerville.
Part of what sets Ultimate Xscape Rooms apart from the competition is that they are not a franchise.
“Our rooms are one-of-a-kind, and our approach is to provide a unique experience people cannot get elsewhere,” says Kimberly.
People often ask the couple how they came up with the idea to open an escape room. In the summer of 2016, they were on vacation with their daughter. Together with another family, they decided to visit an escape room. They had never seen anything like it before and were surprised by how much fun they all had.
Kimberly explains, “I really enjoyed the cerebral challenge.”
What Patrick liked most was the social aspect. “It’s fun to go out with your friends and do something challenging with them.”
During this time Patrick was on the Board of Somerville’s Arts on Division, a charitable organization dedicated to building community through the arts. While thinking about the revitalization of Downtown Somerville, he felt a calling to open something that would provide entertainment value to the community. The couple thought back to their trip and the fun they had at the escape room.
They wanted to add an attraction that would bring more people to Somerville—teens can come with their friends, adults can play a game and then grab dinner, and professionals can use the rooms as an opportunity to strengthen their team-building skills! The couple decided to take the plunge and go for it.
Kimberly and Patrick both bring something creative to the table when it comes to the construction of their escape rooms. Together they design the rooms, conceptualize the gameplay, do beta-testing, and create and find all the unique props to fill the space. Each room has an authentic feel and places players in an immersive, highly-themed environment. Players come from near and far to try their luck at Ultimate Xscape Rooms.
“We’ve had escape room enthusiasts who have done over 200 rooms come to play here,” says Patrick.
Kimberly adds, “And we also get travelers or people who are visiting and it’s a compliment when they say, ‘You guys are great!’”
Currently, Ultimate Xscape Rooms has two rooms open for players to experience. The first is Thomas Edison’s Secret Laboratory—a room themed to the year 1885, and the second room is Dragon Castle. In this room, the team is called upon to embark on a secret quest to recover a hidden treasure. Two additional rooms will be opening this year—Wizarding School and Sherlocked.
Because they place a priority on providing an excellent customer experience, the staff makes an effort to debrief groups after every game. People come back to try other rooms because the experience is completely different in each themed escape room.
What the couple wants to stress is that ultimately, you don’t have to escape to have fun. It’s really about the process and experience of working as a team and spending quality time together.
To book a room visit Ultimate Xscape Rooms.
