The Pinion staff visited a new business in Oahu known as Breakout Waikiki. On the door were questions such as, “Can you solve the puzzle?” “Can you crack the code?” and “Can you breakout?” It reminds you that you’re entering a place that can only be left successfully if you solve all the clues.

Breakout Waikiki is the first and only action escape game in Hawaii. The place is profoundly clean, but it’s the type of cleanliness that makes you wonder what you got yourself into. The inside of the place is plain with baby blue paint and puzzle-piece decor. On the wall a TV displays pictures of previous players, successful and not. The overall build up to the game is exhilarating.

The game requires two to eight players and every room has a time limit of 60 minutes. There are four rooms to choose from and The Pinion staff endured Room 13, which has a 28 percent success rate. The room looks like an old hotel room that came from another era.

In the game, all team members had to step out of their comfort zone and find clues that would help us escape, including scrambling random objects, using familiar tools in different ways, and paying close attention to certain instructions.

The only negative about Room 13 is the narrative. More elaboration would have been more engaging.

Breakout Waikiki is an ideal location for people looking for a game that requires teamwork, patience and determination. A team building activity is satisfactory when every participant is included and not working independently. The Pinion staff experienced this sense of teamwork and, even though we were not able to complete the task in less than an hour, our efforts and the amusing time made the game a worthwhile experience.

You’re trapped in a room and you have an hour to escape using only riddles and your senses. Can you make it? Why not test your skills at Breakout Waikiki.

It was an exciting experience for me. It is conveniently located in King’s Village, Waikiki. When I first walked in the business, I got a warm greeting from one of the workers at the front desk. All of the workers were nice and easy going. They always had a smile on their faces and answered any questions I had.  My class and I did “Room 13,” which was supposedly the easiest because on the website it shows the success rates of each room. The room looked like a normal hotel room, but we found out it was much more complex than that. The tricks, clues and steps were well- thought-out. At first I thought one hour was plenty of time to crack the code needed to unlock the door. As the minutes ticked away on the large digital clock, I realized we needed to move faster. There was something thrilling about that. I felt like I was in a movie trying to escape a room, and I really needed to think to escape. The workers gave us free hints when we were lost at times. It was delightful for me to find the hidden answers and locks. I felt like a detective. The experience was exactly how I wanted it to be. It was thrilling and I had a great time overall. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Breakout Waikiki is like a candy store for gamers.

The Pinion staff tickets were comped by Breakout Waikiki.