One of the best things to do in Johannesburg South Africa for team-building or a double date-night is to visit Hashtag Escape. An “escape room” also known as an “escape game,” is a game in which a team of players work together to discover clues and solve puzzles in one or more rooms in order to progress and achieve an outlined goal within a limited time period. With a multitude of Escape Rooms springing up all over South Africa, I thought it was about time I put my clue-solving skills to the test at #HashtagEscape, which as it turns out, was not a ploy to expose anyone’s lack of general knowledge – but rather the perfect way to test common sense and have a few laughs in the process!
This Escape Room based in Norwood, Johannesburg, has three ultra-modern themed rooms for teams to choose from, with one hour to complete the mission and “escape” the room. Hand crafted by a team of South African puzzle masters, Hashtag Escape is truly unique experience!
A successful escape requires you to find hidden clues and solve challenging puzzles throughout the room. The three rooms include: “Closure” which consists of a “haunted-house” theme and is the easiest of the three options, while “The Rebel Room” is the “middle-child” of the trio at medium-level difficulty. The “Hack Out” prison-break themed room is the hardest – and naturally the one that my friends and I chose.
What I love about the #EscapeRoom we chose was that our team of four was initially split into teams of two on the opposite ends of the room. Each clue that was picked up by a team on one side of the room, was linked with a clue only visible to the team on the other side of the room and so back-and-forth communication was crucial.
Our first challenge was to find the key to unlock our handcuffs, then to break through the wall to be reunited with the other two players, and then to all four break through the prison cell. Once we had escaped the cell, the challenge was not over yet, as we were faced with what I experienced as the most difficult puzzle-solving section. This last leg was especially daunting as each player is aware of the time running out!
The atmosphere of excitement is heightened by the illuminated count-down clock that shows how much time is left to escape, along with a few hints that get fed into the computer in the #EscapeRoom by the guide watching the progress from outside. This provided great comfort to me as I knew that if our team was heading astray, there will be some guidance to get us back on track.
Although my team was not able to “escape” within the time period, we made great progress. A further enjoyable element was the guide’s willingness to walk through the activity with us again and explain the unsolved clues so that we could learn how the full escape would have been achieved.
This is an absolute recommendation for a fun double-date, a team building activity, or any group of super competitive mates! Each room takes between 3-8 people with 3 rooms available. Visit https://www.hashtagescape.co.za/ for prompt and professional service.
Photo: Gathercole and Meyer
bye for now
xx
Mikaela O 