Are puzzle room/escape games a thing in the US? When we were in Berlin last summer, they were all TripAdvisor could talk about. They were quite pricey, though, and we were in Berlin to see historical stuff, not the inside of a puzzle room, so we didn't go.
Well, a puzzle room/escape game place just opened in Dubai, and some neighbor friends and I went the other night. The one in Dubai is called HintHunt, though I gather there are dozens of these kinds of places with all different names. The concept is that you and your friends (3-5 people) go in a room, and to get out, you have to solve puzzles/clues/codes/mysteries. There is a one-hour time limit. A minder is watching/listening to you from a control room, and s/he can feed you hints through a monitor in the room.
I had a GREAT time at HintHunt. I can't compare it to another puzzle room since this is the only one I've done, but I would love the chance to do it again there or elsewhere (every few months, they open up a new puzzle scenario). I loved being engaged with friends in solving a mystery. I loved working together and focusing on each other's strengths - what one of us couldn't do, another could. It was wonderful to be out of the house, away from work and the kids, but not sitting there, stuck in small talk about, you know, the house and work and kids. Instead, we were completely focused on solving the puzzles and getting out of the room as quickly as possible.
The best moment in our game came about 2/3 of the way through. In one of the rooms (HintHunt's setup actually has a progression of three rooms rather than just one), there was an old glass bottle of (fake) whiskey on a desk. In another room, we solved a certain thing and came up with an object that we weren't sure how to use (I'm being deliberately vague so I don't spoil it for anyone!). Our minder must have seen our confusion, so he fed us a hint: "Who's thirsty?" My Muslim friend looked at me, the Mormon, and we both completely drew a blank - there was no water or juice in any of the rooms. But our friend, who is neither Muslim nor Mormon, immediately clapped her hands together and yelled, "THE WHISKEY!" Oh it was so great. And we have not let her forget it.
We were able to solve the mystery in under one hour, but only with twenty seconds to spare. At the end, the minder was feeding us hints at rapid speed, and I was glad - we could almost, almost get there on our own, but not quite.
I recommend trying out a puzzle room if you can. They're not cheap, but when split among a group, the cost is worth a good, unusual time!
