Escape on Purpose
Overview
Expert Summary
Detailed Insights
Escape on Purpose specializes in providing highly engaging and immersive escape room experiences that are particularly praised for fostering strong family bonding, especially between parents and teens. It's an excellent choice for special occasions like birthdays, or simply for a memorable family outing focused on teamwork and collaborative problem-solving.
Key Highlights
- ✓Exceptional for parent-teen bonding; one parent reported significant bonding with their 16-year-old son through the '(T)ERROR IN THE SKY' room.
- ✓Rooms like the 'Submarine room' are highly immersive and elaborate, making you feel genuinely within the setting.
- ✓Specific rooms, including the 'Uncommon room' and 'Space Mission', are well-designed with challenging yet solvable puzzles and fun, unexpected clues.
- ✓Staff members (e.g., 'Attic', 'Jay') are consistently lauded as awesome facilitators, friendly, upbeat, informative, and clear in explaining game rules and difficulty levels.
- ✓Offers a great activity for birthday celebrations, particularly for pre-teens and teenagers (e.g., a 14-year-old's party).
- ✓Successfully fosters teamwork and communication among participants, making it a solid experience for families and groups.
- ✓Staff frequently offers to take commemorative photos at the end of the game, adding a personalized touch.
- ✓Accommodates first-time escape room players effectively with clear instructions and guidance.
Standout Features
- ⭐Highly immersive and elaborately designed rooms (e.g., the 'Submarine room' felt just like being in a submarine; 'Space Mission' was described as 'cool to look at').
- ⭐Exceptional game masters and facilitators who significantly enhance the experience with their friendliness, clear explanations, and supportive presence.
- ⭐A variety of rooms are available with different difficulty levels (e.g., 'Submarine room' is medium difficulty), allowing groups to select based on their preference and experience.
- ⭐Proven ability to foster significant family bonding and teamwork.
- ⭐Provision of a commemorative group photo at the end of the game.
Perfect For
Ideal For
💡Pro Tips from Reviews
- →**Always make a reservation** beforehand to avoid long wait times and to secure your preferred time slot and room.
- →Be prepared for potential delays if you arrive as a walk-in, as staff might be busy with other groups and you may wait in the lobby.
- →Inquire about specific room difficulties when booking to ensure it matches your group's experience level and preferences (e.g., the Submarine room is medium difficulty).
- →Consider the '(T)ERROR IN THE SKY' room for a particularly strong parent-teen bonding experience.
- →The 'Uncommon room' is highly recommended for groups who enjoy challenging puzzles with fun, unexpected clues.
Things to Consider
- ⚠Can experience significant wait times for walk-in groups, especially if the venue is understaffed (e.g., only one employee on duty busy with another group).
- ⚠There is a potential for staff to be occupied with other groups upon arrival, which can lead to delays in greeting and initial onboarding for walk-ins.
Price & Value
No specific pricing information was mentioned in the reviews, making it impossible to assess the monetary value directly. However, the experiences are consistently described as 'awesome' and 'great', indicating high satisfaction and perceived value for the engaging and bonding experiences provided.
♿Accessibility & Special Needs
- •No specific information regarding accessibility features was mentioned in the reviews.
🍎Food & Drink Policy
- •No information regarding food and drink policies was mentioned in the reviews.
🚗Parking Info
- •No information regarding parking was mentioned in the reviews.
👥Crowd Levels
- •Reviews suggest the venue can be busy enough to warrant only one employee on duty at times, leading to potential wait times for walk-ins. However, there is no explicit mention of overwhelming crowds or overly busy environments within the rooms or lobby.
🛡️Safety Features
- •No specific safety features were mentioned in the reviews.
⏰When to Avoid
- • Visiting as a spontaneous walk-in during potentially busy times if you have a tight schedule or young children who struggle with waiting, as significant lobby wait times are possible.
- • Assuming immediate availability of rooms or staff without a reservation; rooms can be fully booked, and staff may be occupied with other groups.
Pricing/Package/Events
Pricing & Packages
Mission: Submarine Attack!
$30 Per PersonDuration: 60 minutes (gameplay), ~90 minutes total experience (includes 15 min briefing before and 15 min debrief/photos after)
Captain, board your crew on the USS Tang. Your submarine has suffered a devastating depth charge attack. You and your crew must now prepare the submarine to launch a counter attack. Seems simple right? But now the enemy is circling back to finish you off. Sound the alarm-battle stations! You have an hour to launch your torpedo!!! Failure is a trip to Davy Jones' Locker.
Includes:
- •Finding clues
- •Solving puzzles
- •Conquering challenges
Starship Mission
$30 Per PersonDuration: 60 minutes (gameplay), ~90 minutes total experience (includes 15 min briefing before and 15 min debrief/photos after)
It's 2834 you and the crew are returning from a very successful deep space mission. In an instant you go from smooth sailing to abandon ship. An irreversible warp core breach has occurred and the abandon ship alarm fills the air. In an instant the crew and shuttle craft have launched. This leaves you on the bridge with the task of accessing the bridge transporter room and then beam to safety. It would seem a minor task; however, the bridge crew and captain were on the first shuttle. You assess the situation and decide that having no starship experience is only a minor setback.
Includes:
- •Finding clues
- •Solving puzzles
- •Conquering challenges
The (Un)Common Room
$30 Per PersonDuration: 60 minutes (gameplay), ~90 minutes total experience (includes 15 min briefing before and 15 min debrief/photos after)
You make a wrong turn on a road trip one night because sometimes GPSs just suck. You end up at a rather odd B&B at the edge of town. Your gut tells you to leave, but the innkeepers beg you to stay and help figure out the mystery of the Inn’s common room. Strange things are happening there around midnight each night. They seem like nice people and they're anxious for your help, so you stay. Clearly there must be a logical explanation. But is it normal for curtains to shimmer and candles to light themselves? Perhaps this B&B’s common room is not so common after all. It's 11pm …freakin’ GPSs.
Includes:
- •Finding clues
- •Solving puzzles
- •Conquering challenges
(T)Error in the Sky
$30 Per PersonDuration: 60 minutes (gameplay), ~90 minutes total experience (includes 15 min briefing before and 15 min debrief/photos after)
Welcome to Dirt Cheap Airlines where we pass the savings (and the risk) onto you. You’re on a flight back to North Carolina and your pilot mysteriously gets locked out of the cockpit. Your plane is heading out over the Atlantic. It’s critical to get that pilot back in the cockpit and turn around to land safely. Due to recent budget cuts, you only have one hour of fuel left before you're beyond the point of no return, so you must hurry! Before that seat cushion becomes a floatation device and you experience (T)Error in the Sky …
Includes:
- •Finding clues
- •Solving puzzles
- •Conquering challenges
Events & Schedule
🍎Food Policy
- • No food or drink allowed in game rooms.
- • Alcohol is strictly prohibited on premises.
🛡️Safety Policy
- • Safety precautions are in place to provide a safe game environment.
- • Decision on whether to mask is left to the individuals.
- • If there is a question that someone in your group may have Covid, the reservation can be moved to a future date at no charge.
- • Hand sanitizer is provided before and after the game.
- • Rooms are equipped with a secure door but every door has an exit button for players to leave at any time.
- • No cellphones or other electronic devices are allowed in the rooms.
- • No photography is allowed inside the rooms.
📅Booking Policy
- • All games are paid online at the time of booking.
- • Booking at least three participants reserves the entire room for your group.
- • Minimum of three participants required per room. If only two, a gift card for the third person is provided.
- • Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your game start time.
- • Games will begin exactly at their start times; being late might cause less than sixty minutes of play.
What People Say
What's Great
- Fun and entertaining activities (mentioned in 3 reviews)
- Great for birthday parties (mentioned in 3 reviews)
- Spacious play areas (mentioned in 6 reviews)
Areas for Improvement
- Can get crowded during peak times (mentioned in 2 reviews)
Recent Reviews
Rhonda Holloway
a month agoMe and my son did (T)ERROR IN THE SKY, and I can say, that’s the most bonding we did since he was 10. He’s 16. Not only did we spend a great time together, but we bonded and spent some much needed time with each other. It was both of our first escape room. Escape on Purpose and Attic made it a wonderful experience! Thank you Attic for being our guide☺️
Jawan Brown
in the last weekWe visited Escape on Purpose as a walk-in with no reservation—my wife, 9-year-old son, and adult niece in tow—hoping they could fit us in. Thankfully, they did! We did wait quite a while in the lobby before anyone came out to greet us, but it turned out there was only one employee on duty, and she was busy prepping another group. Once she came out, she was incredibly friendly, upbeat, and informative. She walked us through everything clearly, including how to book in the future and the difficulty levels of each room. We chose the submarine room (medium difficulty) and had a great time solving puzzles and working together as a team. At the end, the staff member snapped a photo of us to commemorate the fun. Overall, a solid experience that we’d be happy to do again—with a reservation next time!
Courtney Rosser-Mirabal
a month agoWe had an awesome birthday experience for my 14yo and her friends. Attic was an awesome facilitator and we loved the Uncommon room! It was challenging but not impossible and had fun unexpected clues! We will definitely be back to check out the submarine room! Highly recommend this place.
Carrie Chalfant
3 months agoWe visited for the first time on Saturday January 18th, 2025. We were going to the Space Mission escape room, for my wife's birthday. Attic was an awesome host for this escape room. The room was well-designed and just cool to look at. We were well-informed about how the game operated, and what the rules were. The games matched the difficulty we were expecting. We all participated and had a great time. I highly recommend this place, we will be back again!
Miranda Freeman
3 weeks agoWe did the submarine escape room for my daughter’s birthday and had a lot of fun. The room was really elaborate- it felt just like being in a submarine! And the game master (Jay) did a great job. We would definitely go back and do another room.
Contact Information
7072 NC-751 STE 102, Durham, NC 27713, USA
View on Google Maps