The newest attraction in Lake George requires out-of-the-box thinking and the ability to play well with others. Escape LG cut the ribbon on its escape game rooms Saturday, June 2 and offered the public a tour of the business. “We’re very excited,” said Evan Jalazo, who co-owns Escape LG with his wife Beth. Evan and Beth’s daughters Ashley and Katie also work for the business, making it a family affair. Jalazo believes many people are looking for new experiences, rather than another gift shop, when they visit Lake George.
They opened Memorial Day Weekend while putting finishing touches on the remodeled storefront. They had a steady stream of players Saturday and Sunday, says Beth. “We even had some people on Monday.” To date, about 60 people have already tried out the new Lake George attraction.
Escape LG has four themed escape rooms — The Lost Jewel of Zanzibar, which is an African safari, The Lucky Duck Speakeasy, a Prohibition-era crime-solving room, Blackbeard’s Brig, which puts patrons in the belly of a pirate ship, and What Happened in Raven Woods?, a haunted forest. Teams book a room and are assigned a Game Master, who sits in a control room and watches players as they work through clues to unlock the room and escape. The rooms are not actually locked; players may leave at any time.
Each room has a backstory and a mission. For example, teams in Blackbeard’s Brig are prisoners of the infamous pirate. Blackbeard and his crew have left the ship to loot and plunder, but will be back in 60 minutes. The players must take this opportunity to escape. By successfully solving a series of puzzles, cracking number, color and letter codes, they will find their way out of the brig.
Clues are built into the sets. “Everything means something,” says Jalazo’s daughter Ashley, who is a Game Master. What may appear to be merely a decoration will have significance, an embedded code, a puzzle to solve. Each solved clue leads players to the next clue and closer to escape. Meanwhile, the countdown clock is ticking. Players have 60 minutes to escape.
If stuck, players may ask their Game Master for clues. Evan says the success rate, with minimal use of clues, is about 60 – 65 percent, but all their customers, successful or not, he says, come out of the rooms smiling.
Players may book rooms online to reserve a game in their room of choice. While teams of six to eight are suggested, teams may be smaller or larger. Escape LG is on Beach Road across the street from the public docks. They are open 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., May through October.