Get the F Out: The Virus Escape Room

The Premise

A deadly virus is spreading and only my team of doctors can stop it. Our team plummets deep underground to our top-secret military lab. There, our mentor left us the clues to create the antidote and save the world, providing we don’t contaminate the lab, and set off the self-destructing quarantine procedure giving us only an hour to save our lives, and the world…

The Puzzles

The Virus has roughly 22 puzzles, all packed into one laboratory set with many bells and whistles, including the virtual reality descent to our lab, which was such a great way to set up our scenario and begin the immersion. My 6-person team of scientists (plus Bob, our guard), fit nicely in the space and everyone always had something to do to move our progress along. The space was used brilliantly; almost every surface was utilized. And I loved that the puzzles kept with the laboratory theme – no puzzle seemed random.

Other escape rooms I’ve done tend to be very linear. One puzzle will open one lock and can then be disregarded. The Virus was not that simple. Pieces of the larger picture were found within smaller puzzles, which then combined into another puzzle, while we had to keep yet another puzzle in mind. Certain off-the-cuff remarks from Bob (I’ll talk more about him shortly) were called back later in the experience, dovetailing nicely into the conclusion, which was very much a team effort.

Bob is one of the creators of The Virus and acted as our guard for the duration of the room, giving hints when asked, and suggestions when we were close to being on the right track. Bob is able to answer any and all questions thrown his way, however if you’re playing to stay “alive,” the limit is 4. When we first arrived, “Creator Bob” gave us the rundown of the room and rules, got our waivers signed, and locked up our belongings. A few seconds later, “Guard Bob” hurried over, addressing us all as doctors, and led us to our task. His enthusiasm and commitment to character were incredibly fun and infectious (see what I did there?), and elevated the experience that much more. He was magic!

The Point

Our Virus Team

I won’t beat around the bush: This is a difficult room. The maximum number of people is 8 and we had 6, all of which were needed. We definitely needed Bob’s help for several things, but we kept it to under 4 questions so we could potentially stay “alive.” There was a slight blip in the game when a folder was misplaced, but Bob hurried over to rectify the situation. We ran out of time on the last puzzle, but when I asked Bob if we could finish, he let us – we finished just a minute over our 60-minute time limit. Considering there was a mistake within the room, Bob considered us “winners” and handed out a tasty antidote to celebrate.

In Get the F Out’s new space downtown, they plan to build two more rooms and the themes sound amazing. I had such a fun overall experience that I can’t wait until the other two rooms are built and I can go try them out. If you’ve done several escape rooms and are ready for the next level, please check this place out! And if you’re not used to escape rooms, get the maximum number of people together and check this place out!

The Virus is open Thursday-Sunday. Tickets are $36/person and very much worth it.

Book Here: http://www.getthefoutroom.com/