Locked up – for the fun of it

Looks can often be deceiving and never has that been truer than when it’s said in relation to The Great Escape Rooms on Upper Abbeygate Street.

From the outside, there’s nothing remarkable about the seemingly small building that houses the rooms. However, inside, a world of excitement and intrigue awaits you.

The adrenaline-fuelled experience requires you, and a group of colleagues or friends, to work together in order to crack codes and solve puzzles to free yourself from the pressure-filled rooms.

If that’s not enough pressure, the 60-minute timer, placed strategically above your head, is ticking down from the moment you enter.

“We have different rooms, we take your group, your gang of friends or colleagues, we lock you in the room, and you have to use what’s in the room in order to work through the game, to break out in under an hour – it gets the adrenaline going.”

That’s according to Steve Bellissimo, who, with his business partner Rory Burke, set up the escape rooms in October last.

Inside, there are three rooms to test the inquisitive minds of amateur code-crackers. The prison break room is a particularly intriguing puzzle where you and your pals could be locked behind bars surrounded by graffiti-laden walls in the cramped surroundings of bunk beds, a toilet bowl and a hand basin. All very innocent, but all holding the clues and means for your escape.

Then there’s the quarantine room, complete with a hospital bed, a one-way mirror and a motionless body to boot.

And if you’re more of a pub person, there’s always the traditional Irish pub setting to satisfy your liking. There’ll be no time to indulge in a drop of the pure, though, if you want to make it out in time and join the exclusive group of only 15 per cent who managed to make their escape within the hour.

The task of creating a realistic experience was a big one for Steve and Rory, who went to great lengths to ensure that everything was perfectly executed, going as far as lugging a bar up two flights of stairs.

“We really travelled the whole country, my partner and I, with a big rental van and we picked up bits and bobs from everywhere, literally, to make it realistic. Like, the bar in our pub room came from Waterford,” said Steve.

The music, the wiring, the electrics and the fingerprint-controlled doors all add to the suspense and ensure that you will feel totally removed from reality.

Steve explained that they appeal to no particular customer base with men and women aged nine to 90 all giving it a shot and enjoying it greatly.

“We’ve had families come and, I’ll never forget, it was the nine-year-old son who figured out the last clue to get out.

“We had a family in with 86-year-old grandparents and the grandparents had a ball; it still shocks me to this day how many different customers we are hitting,” Steve exclaimed.

The couples who take part provide great entertainment for Steve as he watches the tension unfold on CCTV, waiting for a domestic to break out.

The CCTV shows up the psychology of group dynamics, and also allows Steve to see if a group are at a total loss.

However, their willingness to accept help is often greatly reduced when competitiveness kicks in.

Corporate groups are important for Steve and Rory with large numbers of work colleagues coming in to put their teamwork skills to the test.

“Surprisingly, our biggest customer at the moment is more team building and companies. We’re getting great feedback from them,” Steve explained.

Indeed the feedback in general for the business, which only started up in October, has been outstanding. It is currently ranked number one in its category on Trip Advisor and with over 60 reviews on Facebook, it has a five star rating.

“Galway was missing something that didn’t involve going out drinking on a night out and something you could do with a group of friends and just have a laugh,” said Steve, adding “To lose yourself for an hour and be someone else, and forget your everyday worries, it’s great for that.”