A new attraction has taken inspiration from 1940s action and adventure films to bring a unique escape room experience to Stone.
Chase the Adventure escape rooms launched last weekend as a place for friends, families and colleagues to test their wits, solve puzzles and unravel mysteries against the clock.
Owner Kim King has spent three months and between £15,000 and £17,000 setting the attraction up after previously running a similar attraction in Wolverhampton before the Covid pandemic.
She has told Daily Focus that she always wanted the base for this business to be in Staffordshire and that Stone has proved to be the perfect location.
Kim said: “I feel really lucky that this unit came up after searching for somewhere for six months.
“I live in Rugeley and Stafford is my leisure destination, so I wanted somewhere close to there. Stone is a lovely place. Everyone is so caring and welcoming, and it has good transport links too.”
The first escape room at Chase the Adventure is titled The Human Wolf and tasks players with investigating the disappearance of a professor who had been investigating something ‘grand’ and was about to unveil his discovery.
A Christmas-themed room linked to the story of the mythical creature Krampus will open later in the year.
Kim, who enjoys playing escape rooms with her partner, has designed, built and will run all the games.
She said: “I aim to have a new room every four to five months. That’s quite unique in the escape room world as most places tend to keep their rooms for a while.
“I have tried to be a bit different to other escape rooms. The place is themed from the moment you step inside the door; I’m in character as a professor to help guide players, we have free car parking, and I have tried to make it cheaper than other escape rooms for smaller groups.
“I’ve had a lot of positive response to the business so far. I didn’t want anything too corporate so I took inspiration from 1940s films such as Indiana Jones and The Mummy to go back to the time when the world was a place with a lot to discover.”
When it comes to success in escaping the rooms, Kim says communication and observation skills are key.
She added: “Everyone needs to be talking to each other. Sometimes someone will pick something up which will help someone else with another puzzle.”
Each room will have around 14 puzzles – such as language, maths and dexterity – to solve.
They have a slight horror theme, so the recommended age is 12+, and no children are allowed to play without an adult participant in the room with them.
Chase the Adventure, on the Whitebridge Estate, is open every day except for Tuesdays with five time slots spread throughout each day.
Bookings for the Christmas-themed room will become available soon.
