Escape Hour Gig Harbor brings new entertainment option to town

Locked in the forest cabin of a madman you have one hour to escape using the clues inside the room to guide you and your friends to freedom, but the clues are difficult and you find yourself stumped as time runs out and the doors remain locked.

As the hour draws to a close, every clue solved leads your group one step closer to freedom and every misstep leaves you stuck inside the room as the return of the madman draws closer, signaling the end of your adventure.

Luckily, watching from behind a camera in the corner is not the madman but an employee of Escape Hour Gig Harbor, ready to offer hints on clues as they monitor your escape progress.

Escape Hour Gig Harbor is the only escape room venue in Gig Harbor, offering guests an hour to escape real life adventure scenarios by solving puzzles and clues.

The family-owned business opens Friday (Oct. 7) featuring the first of three rooms — The Cabin, described above — with two more rooms opening later this year.

Matt and Kelsy Matteson, along with their children, are the owners of Escape Hour Gig Harbor, which evolved from a brainstorming session during a family vacation earlier this summer.

“We wanted to give another option for entertainment,” Kelsy said. “There’s not a lot of entertainment opportunities for families in Gig Harbor.”

Transforming their space into the three different escape rooms was a family effort, using family mementos and thrift store finds to add character to the new construction. Cameras tucked in the corners of all the rooms will monitor guests for safety and to offer clues in case anyone really gets stumped.

But the rooms are supposed to be hard so that success in escaping is not guaranteed.

“Part of the fun is coming back again to solve the puzzle,” Matt said.

The Cabin was the first room finished and has already been booking appointments through October, with the Baker Street Mystery room and The Purge room coming next. The story, design and puzzles behind each room are original, with some inspiration taken from popular culture.

“We kind of like to be in charge of our own scare level and intensity level,” Kelsy explained.

Each room is designed for those age 14 and older and for two to eight participants at a time, but with advanced notice the rooms can be modified for both younger participants and bigger groups.

While some rooms — such as The Cabin and Baker Street Mystery — will remain as staples for the business, the family is planning on expanding to the space next door to include three more rooms that will rotate depending on their inspiration and interests.

This is not the first family business opened by the Mattesons, who also own The Original Mr. Fix It handyman company and the Washington Grizzlies Wrestling Club.

A true family operation, Kelsy and Matt’s son, Drew, has been handling the marketing and promotion for Escape Hour Gig Harbor, giving the new business a strong social media presence.

“This place is always going to be changing and evolving,” Drew said. “It’ll never go stale.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Escape Hour Gig Harbor brings new entertainment option to town."