Subscribe to the Frisco Podcast on iTunes! or get the Podcast RSS Feed Show Notes & Links: Countdown2Escape on Lifestyle Frisco Countdown2Escape.com (972) 235-2025 Countdown 2 Escape on Facebook Countdown 2 Escape on Instagram Countdown 2 Escape on Twitter Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on: Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Transcript Scott Ellis: Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis and this week we are joined by Scott Hartman, the owner of Countdown 2 Escape. If you’ve never been to or even heard of an escape room, get ready for some Frisco fun. Welcome to the show, Scott Hartman from Countdown to Escape, glad to have you here today. Scott Hartman: Glad to be here. Scott Ellis: You are the owner of an escape room, which sounds a little scary at first, but it’s actually a ton of fun. Why don’t you tell people who may not already know what an escape room is. Scott Hartman: I got to tell you, it’s such an exciting venue for people of all ages, as well as for corporate team building events. An escape room is where you and either your family or your friends, or even complete strangers or business colleagues would go into a themed room, and you basically have nothing, but the clues that are provided for you in that themed room to try and escape, or solve the puzzle that’s inside the room. Scott Ellis: Okay, so you may not literally be trying to get out of the room. We don’t want people to think that they’re seriously locked in there and can’t get out, right? Scott Hartman: Right, yeah. Scott Ellis: There is a puzzle or something that they’re trying to solve and that is the escape, that is getting out of the room. Scott Hartman: Correct, yeah. In the State of Texas actually, we cannot legally lock you in the room. Otherwise, we break some state laws. Scott Ellis: Yeah, I’m sure people would be glad to hear that although nobody is too surprised, but yeah, it’s a team oriented activity and there’s a couple of different themes that people can pick from, so what are the puzzle themes that you guys have going right now? Scott Hartman: Yeah, so far to date we have three puzzle themes. The first being cabin fever, where we have actually constructed a cabin inside of the room. The second being old war games, which is set back in the Nixon era and the job there is to stop a nuclear launch, and then the third theme is casino heist, where your job is to, based on some tips you have, figure out how to get in and find the money. Scott Ellis: Okay. All of those sound like a lot of fun. Are there varying degrees of difficulty? Are these all appropriate for all ages? What should I expect when I’m coming? Scott Hartman: Well, we [inaudible 00:02:35] than anyone 12 years old or older can play the games. Most of our customers are adults of all ages and a lot of times if it’s a family, they bring their children with them to play, so everyone can participate. The venue is really built for, again, adults of all ages, so for example when I first played it was my father, who’s 82 years old, myself and my brothers, all of our children, which went down through teenagers and down to a 10-year-old, all played in one room and we all had a great time. Scott Ellis: It sounds like fun, but any of the rooms would really be appropriate for any age? Scott Hartman: Yes. Scott Ellis: What about the difficulty? Scott Hartman: Any of the rooms are appropriate for any age. The cabin fever is considered our entry level room. Cold war games would be our intermediate skill level and then casino heist would be considered our most difficult skill level. Scott Ellis: Okay. I have to admit the cabin is intriguing, but something about a casino heist and the cold war launch that really have my attention. They sound like they could get a little bit intense though, so maybe walk us through a little bit of the experience when we first come through the door. I’m at the escape room. I’m coming for the first time. What happens next? Scott Hartman: Well, the first thing we do is give an orientation to the group. We’ll have one of our game masters come out and talk you through how to use each of the locks and then give you an overview of the theme and the story behind each room prior to going into the room. Once you get into the room, you’ll be given further instructions and you’ll notice that you have a big flat screen TV with 60 minutes on it, and as soon as we shut the door, the clock starts to tick down. Now, while you’re in the room, we give each group up to 3 hints and unlimited, what we call code checks, so the hints obviously would help you along if you get stuck in the game, and code checks are simply if you get what you believe to be the right code for a lock for a particular puzzle that was solved but it’s not working, you can ask us and we will gladly tell you whether that is correct or incorrect. Scott Ellis: Okay, so if we get stuck, we’re not just stuck in place. We can get a little bit of help along the way, a little nudge here and there if we need it? Scott Hartman: Yes. We’re there. We interact with you via walkie-talkies in each room and we have cameras in every room to watch the play, so we’re there to help your experience to be the absolute most fun it can be and to help you be as successful as you can be in the room. Scott Ellis: Okay. What is the number …
