By Neecole Bostick

When Chrissy Lemmons' family first began their adventure at Bull City Escape, they were running around, yelling at each other and trying to find all the clues at once.

But then each family member fell into their role. Her brother, a natural leader, kept them on time and on task. Her engineer sister focused on solving puzzles. Lemmons, a UNC student, became a facilitator with the walkie-talkie, connecting the puzzles and making sure everyone knew how their work fit together.

With that kind of teamwork, the Lemmons family escaped the room with 24 seconds to spare. They beat the odds — only 30 percent of groups get out of the room within the one hour limit.

“We all think through things very differently in my family; I am a big picture person, but my sister is very detailed,” said Lemmons, who has done at least 15 other escape rooms. “A lot of the time we would look at a puzzle, solve it at the same time, and come up with two different answers.”

Bull City Escape is part of a growing trend of entertainment rooms that challenge the brain and group dynamics. Groups of two to eight people are locked in a room for 60 minutes — the only way out is to find and solve a sequence of clues that leads to the final combination. The concept started with online games, then evolved into interactive, real life rooms.

“It’s what you would do with a date or a group of friends,” said Jarrett Saia, a Bull City Escape customer and UNC employee. “It's a completely different experience, and when you know the people well, it's a lot of fun.”

Bull City Escape has three rooms, all with 30 to 39 percent success rates. A Study in Murder tops the charts as the hardest, its room resembling a Victorian parlour. Lunar Lockdown is a spaceship setting, and The ‘90s Room depicts quintessential ‘90s pop culture, Beanie Babies and all.

“I’ve done a lot of escape rooms around the Triangle,” Saia said. “Bull City (Escape) is my favorite one because they go the extra mile to make it seem like you’re in a different place.”

Bull City Escape founder and owner Alice Cheung has a background in psychology and education. She designs each room with the player in mind. She knows people have different types of intelligence, and therefore can approach tasks differently.

“It's good to have a variety of backgrounds among your group,” Cheung said. “Different perspectives foster creative thinking.”

Bull City Escape attracts families, groups of friends, tourists, companies, mystery and puzzle addicts for celebrations, fun, and bonding.

Groups tend to start in a state of chaos of finding clues and exploring the room for the first five minutes, but eventually members break off, taking on different kinds of roles depending on the dynamic of the group. Players tend to gravitate towards roles that adhere to their strengths to help the team get to the next step.

“The first time I went was with five coworkers,” said Alyson Zandt, a Bull City Escape customer and UNC graduate. “It was interesting to see how we worked together and how we all thought of it more as a group project. It was a great way to build trust, and reassert our willingness to work together.”

What role will you take on in 60 minutes?

Coordinator

The coordinator takes on a leadership position, making sure they’re aware of what each member while keeping an eye on the countdown timer. They might take notes, and they'll need great listening skills so they can understand what different groups of people are doing around the room to connect clues. The coordinator keeps the group cohesive and efficient.

“In Lunar Lockdown, I was the one keeping track of what everyone was doing,” Zandt said. “I helped keep up communication because that becomes difficult along with the time restraint.”

Investigator

The investigator takes on an action-oriented role by finding and identifying different puzzles. They try everything out at least once, and delegate different tasks to members. They don't get stressed easily, so they help keep the group calm.

“Communication is a part of it,” Saia said. “It’s easier to know the dynamic of the group so you can divide tasks up and look for clues.”

Puzzle solvers

The three rooms present a range of challenges, but some types of puzzles emerge more often than others, rewarding specific types of skills. Here are a few:

Codes and Ciphers: If you’re into Sudoku, these puzzles may be the most fun for you.

“Puzzles with a lot of numbers I give to my sister,” Lemmons said. “We divide puzzles with what we know how to do, and it bonds the group together.” Code-breakers think like Indiana Jones: they read the signs and numbers to find deeper meanings, solve combinations and open locks to get to the next step.

Spatial Reasoning and Awareness: These puzzles require players to navigate and analyze three-dimensional images and environments.These challenges may involve noticing details around the room that seem mundane at first, but ultimately work together to solve the puzzle.

Logic: Here, a sleuth must observe and draw associations between different elements in the room to help solve clues. The puzzles require you to be able to distinguish between clues and distractions.

“You’re never 100 percent sure what’s a clue and what’s a decoration because all things seem like they mean something,” Saia said.

Bull City Escape is open Thursday through Sunday, and upon request for private groups. To book a game, visit its website.

By Cliff Bellamy

DURHAM — Remember the 1990s? Knowledge of the decade might help you navigate the first problem-solving game at Bull City Escape, but immersion in the decade is not necessary to participate in the game, said Alice Cheung, owner of the business that opens Friday, June 5 at 711 Iredell St. in the Ninth Street business district.

Teams of two to six people get 60 minutes to search clues, solve puzzles and look for codes to the key that will allow them to escape from the room. The theme of the first game is the 1990s, and the space has paraphernalia from the decade — Furbies, calendars and magazines from the decade, posters of Boys II Men and the Spice Girls, and videos of “Independence Day,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and other movies from the era.

Bull City Escape (bullcityescape.com) describes itself as “an interactive, real-life escape game,” recommended for families, companies and groups, and puzzle enthusiasts. Participants can solve the escape puzzles as a team-building exercise, or just for fun.

*The Herald-Sun | Bernard Thomas (L. to R.) Briles Johnson, Melissa Terrell and Zaina Robinson are looking for clues that will allow them to escape, at Bull City Escape.*

Cheung played her first escape game about a year ago, and “I loved it immediately,” she said. She has played games in spaces in different cities, all with varied themes — a pirate theme in San Francisco, an office theme in Philadelphia, a warehouse theme in Birmingham.

As she played the games, she began wondering, “If I designed it, what would I do differently?” and the idea for Bull City Escape emerged.

Cheung keeps a notebook with her in which she brainstorms ideas for puzzles and future themes. Future escape room themes might be a mad scientist scenario, or a combination murder mystery with a “Downton Abbey” feel, Cheung said.

Cheung, who will mark her second year in Durham this summer, thinks Durham is an ideal fit for this kind of business and activity. There’s “such a quirky and brainy population here. They’re so open to new ideas,” Cheung said. She has lived in different cities, but “no place has felt like home quicker than Durham.”

She mentions The Scrap Exchange as one example of Durham’s creativity. She also credits American Underground for nurturing entrepreneurs, and the city’s support for small businesses.

Before opening the business, she attended seminars on small businesses at Durham Technical Community College, and worked closely with the non-profit Women’s Business Center of North Carolina-Durham, which she called an “incredible” resource for new businesses.

Bull City Escape’s Ninth Street area location was perfect. “I gave up square footage for location,” Cheung said of the space. “I love that we’re surrounded by small businesses.”

Employees at the Women’s Business Center helped her to test the escape room and game. Members of the center also will participate in a group-building game at the Friday opening. The game will be both a team-building exercise and a way to help Cheung grow her business, said Briles Johnson, executive director of the center. Johnson said she had never participated in this kind of game before, “which is another reason why it is very intriguing and exciting.”

Cheung studied psychology and education in school, and brings that knowledge to bear when designing puzzles and games. “All of the puzzles are designed for different kinds of intelligence, so everyone in the group can contribute something,” she said. “The most successful teams are the ones that bring those different kinds of intelligence” to the problems, she said.

People who want to play one of the games can show up individually, or as a group. Cheung recommends reserving a time on Bull City Escape website.

Cheung said she is open to talking to groups about new themes and game ideas. Looking ahead, one of her dreams is to have a larger space, and perhaps multiple themes in different spaces in Durham.

Escape games are “an immersive entertainment,” Cheung said. “You’re not just absorbing something from a screen. … You’re fully present with your team members and you’re working toward a goal” of solving the puzzle.