I tried a virtual escape room because being trapped at home wasn’t enough

I’m quarantining in my home, like most of us across the globe. It’s been snowing where I live, so I feel even more hunkered down against the outside. Sheltering in place is the right thing to do amid the coronavirus pandemic, of course, but it’s claustrophobic and anxiety-ridden. It’s pretty much the exact wrong time to double down on trapping yourself somewhere, but I tried a virtual escape room with three friends from work. Yes, we survived the meta of it all. No, it wasn’t what I expected—but in a good way.

I should preface this by saying that I’m a bit of an escape room ringer. My friends and I have escaped many a room in our day—not as much due to skill, but to sheer force of will and, honestly, an astonishing number of attempts. So recently, when my colleague Brittani surprised me with an invitation to an escape room game over Zoom during our lunch break, I knew she roped me in for my experience. We assembled our Ocean’s 4 of this mission: Brittani as the namesake leader, Gretchen as the puzzle-master, Danielle as the one we all liked being around, and I as the not-so-grizzled veteran.

But a virtual escape room? During quarantine? This was another level.

Here’s the setup: We were trapped on a train and had to hop from train car to train car, discovering clues and jumping off undetected. Thirty minutes were on the clock.

Oh, and there were multiple timelines—Abraham Lincoln was even involved. TBH, it was complicated and I didn’t totally follow the plot, but I enthusiastically marched forth nonetheless. It all felt very Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express—minus the murder. (Again, as far as I could tell. Complicated.)

You can watch an abridged version of our entire virtual escape room experience above. There was some high school math involved. (If this train leaves Washington at 11 p.m. and…) There were plenty of moments of stumped silence. (Thank goodness for the hints.) There were moments of triumphant virtual door unlocking. There were laughs—despite our very serious mission of protecting Abraham Lincoln. At least, that’s what we think we were doing.

Through all of that, I learned that virtual escape rooms are, ironically, a great quarantine activity.

Since we began practicing social distancing, I’ve been at home with just my husband and dog for company. I have a chronic illness—a cardiovascular condition—that has kept me fearfully away from even essential activities, like grocery shopping or picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy. I thought an escape room would make me feel even more trapped, but it actually did the opposite.

The virtual escape room experience got me out of my quarantine bubble and expanded my social life. As an escape room vet, I should have seen it coming. The experience is all about teamwork, conversations, connecting, and coming together toward one goal—life-or-death in the context of the game, but entirely inconsequential IRL. It was just what I needed.

If you want to try escape room games online, there are lots of options.

We used Escape the Crate and its online-only Midnight Express game in our video. For that, all you need is a timer and a pen and paper. The company also offers subscription boxes that have many more bells and whistles if you want to take your escape room to the next level.

Seattle’s famous Puzzle Break has also transitioned to online escape room games for the duration of quarantine. For $35 per person (though there’s currently a $25 offer), you and up to five of your friends can tackle the “Grimm Escape,” hosted by a person from the company, over Zoom. Denver’s Paruzal is also doing live-hosted virtual escapes, and Enchambered has a handful of free two-person games you can do on your own time. The Escape Game has a few options for experiences: free online puzzles in more educational locales, like museums and historic landmarks; a board game you can purchase; and more traditional virtual escape rooms. Muggles can even try to escape Hogwarts with this Harry Potter-themed online room.

All of the above is just a fraction of what’s available, so investigate your local escape room businesses to see what they might offer, too.