The clock starts when the door closes.

Once the door is closed at Unravel Escape Room Experience in Aberdeen it is a race against time to work with your closest family and friends to find all the clues and solve the puzzle.

“You are working together as a family the whole time,” Unravel Escape Room owner Jessica Fischer said. “You are communicating, you are solving things together, you are talking and interacting. It is meant to be an activity that is fun – but also challenging.”

Unravel combines riddles, mystery, and adventure with physical clues that are planted throughout a locked room. Participants need to find all the clues and escape the room within 60 minutes. Northern Electric member Jessica Fischer got the idea to open Unravel a few years ago after visiting a similar business in another state.

“I came home thinking, ‘Aberdeen needs one of these,’” Fischer said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the next couple of months and finally decided to go for it and open one.”

Fischer opened Unravel in late 2018 in the basement of Karisma Boutique in downtown Aberdeen. The business has two rooms with two different themes along with a third room geared toward kids. Fischer’s inspiration for the rooms comes from her own interest in mystery.

“I read a lot and have been a mystery book and movie buff my whole life. I usually try and pick a theme that I can design room décor around pretty easily and simply.”

Unravel Solves Its Own Mystery

This spring, however, Unravel was presented with its own mystery to solve. As the pandemic forced businesses to close their doors to the public Unravel started searching for a way to continue offering challenging puzzles to the community. Fischer was inspired by her family as she decided to escape her downtown location and offer a scavenger hunt throughout Aberdeen.

“I had the idea out of sheer boredom,” Fischer said. “My kids and I were all going stir crazy from watching TV and being stuck in the house in the spring. I mentioned the idea to my husband, and he said he thought it could be a big hit. It was.”

Unravel offered the first ‘Great Hub City Escape’ in late April to help families get out of the house. The first driving-scavenger hunt was so popular that Unravel created two more ‘Great Hub City Escape’ scavenger hunts. Both activities are still available for problem-solving participants on the business’s website. Fischer also created a custom scavenger hunt for the Elm Lake area in September.

“The Elm Lake Association contacted me looking for something fun to do for their association members as a way to celebrate their members and have something fun for families to do over Labor Day weekend.”

Fischer is open to doing more community-wide scavenger hunts and said the Elm Lake hunt could easily be adapted for Mina and Richmond lakes.

New Puzzles for The Fall

Unravel is preparing some new ideas and puzzles for the fall. One of the rooms in downtown Aberdeen is going to be turned into a Harry Potter-themed escape room for October. Unravel plans to do a holiday-themed escape room for November and December. They also have a Wizard of Oz room in the works for 2021.

Fischer plans to offer another escape room alternative for those who would like to stay at home this fall and winter.

“I am also working on some ‘escape room in a box’ take-home games for people to rent. I am hoping to launch that as we go into the winter months,” Fischer said.

New options that Fischer hopes will be an avenue for the community to escape their ordinary routines during a unique time as Unravel continues to evolve its business.

To learn more about Unravel Escape Room Experience or book a time to solve one of its puzzles visit aberdeenescaperoom.com