I might have had the wrong idea about escape rooms. I just envisioned being trapped in a dark room with endless tricks and no way out. On a recent Saturday night, my fiancé and I were meeting another couple, and we were all looking for something different to do. The idea of an escape room came up, as none of us had done one before, and upon further investigation, I realized just how many different rooms and themes existed.

As a true crime and mystery junkie, I was immediately drawn to the Conundrum room at Doylestown Escape Room. The 1930s murder mystery whodunit was right up my alley, as it was with my friends. We booked the experience; and luckily, even though the room had capacity for eight, no one else booked, and the four of us were able to solve the mystery ourselves.

We had to figure out the killer and the weapon — á la the classic board game, Clue. The escape rooms really do force you to examine everything with a critical eye. Anything and everything can be a clue, and things in the room that you wouldn’t put together can somehow connect. But on the other side of that conundrum, you also have to be careful not to second-guess yourself and sometimes to follow your intuition.

We solved the crime in under the allotted 60 minutes, correctly guessing the murderer and the weapon. And we had a great time along the way, with each person contributing something crucial to the plot. Working together is key, and no idea is too big or too small. Try everything you can to solve the puzzle.

— Kim Krol, editor in chief