SLO County’s newest escape room offers ‘spicy’ challenges — from mad scientists to outlaws
North County gamers and puzzle lovers have a new entertainment option in Atascadero at The Great Escape.
The business, which features two escape rooms as well as a robust wine and beer list at its attached bar, opened in late September 2021.
Bill Murrieta, who has lived in Atascadero for nearly 10 years, said he first tried an escape room while traveling in the Midwest.
“I was thinking to myself ‘It’s like Atascadero needs something like this,’ ” he said. “We don’t have enough entertainment for families and people who just want to come in and relax and have some fun.”
He decided to elevate the escape room experience by combining his love of wine with his love for puzzles, and opened The Great Escape at 8115 El Camino Real.
Since launching, Murrieta said he’s received a lot of support and enthusiasm from city officials, and said the Atascadero city planning office even came into the business to try the escape room.
The Great Escape isn’t like other escape rooms in the area, he said. This one serves refreshments, meaning after they solve their puzzle — or their hour is up — patrons can stick around and enjoy a glass of wine, a pint of local beer and even some appetizers.
“You can do it all at The Great Escape,” Murrieta said.
What visitors can expect at Atascadero escape room
The way an escape room works is a group of people are locked in a themed room, where they are given a puzzle that they need to solve in order to escape.
There are a maximum of six people allowed in the rooms at The Great Escape and the escape room experience lasts for one hour. The puzzles are family-friendly, though participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult, Murrieta said.
The Escape Room features two physical escape rooms and one virtual reality option.
The premise of the first room — “Dr. Chadd O’Nay Goes Mad!” — is a mad scientist invents a virus that will infect all of the wine grapes on the Central Coast in one hour, unless your team can solve the puzzle to stop the crazed doctor’s plot, Murrieta said.
“We came up with this wine theme idea that people really connect with,” Murrieta said. “It really connects people to the Central Coast, something they’re very familiar with, and adds a bit of humor.”
The second puzzle is called “The Hideout.” In that room, a cowboy bandit has robbed all the banks in Atascadero and set up booby traps throughout his hideout. Your team must solve the puzzle to find the missing money, Murrieta said.
There is also a virtual reality option for people who are curious about the new technology. With that, a maximum of four players can play on a team and can choose from between 25 escape rooms and other popular games.
At The Great Escape, room difficulty is set from easy to diabolical, and something unique about Murrieta’s escape room is the variability in the puzzles. He can change the route of escape every day, so escape room aficionados can return again and again to test their puzzle skills.
“We try to keep it spicy and alive and whatnot,” he said.
Everybody has different problem-solving skills and strategies, but there is one key skill that will help participants unlock the escape rooms, Murrieta said.
“The people that communicate the most effectively are the ones who succeed,” he said.
Central Coast wines and beers on tap at The Great Escape bar
After stopping Dr. Chadd O’Nay’s plan to destroy Central Coast wine grapes or thwarting Atascadero’s cowboy bandit, escape room patrons can then head to the bar to grab a drink or appetizers and relive their experience.
“So the other thing is after the escape experience, what do you do?” Murrieta said. “Well you want to go get something to eat or have a refreshment or sit down with friends and you can do all that here.”
Murrieta, who is also a certified sommelier, pours local beers and wines from the Central Coast and beyond at The Great Escape.
He said he plans to rotate the wine list to spotlight some stand-outs in the future and also offers wine flights. The bar is open to the public and doesn’t require participating in the escape room.
