The door is still locked, time on the clock is running out and the pirate’s treasure is nowhere to be found.

Escape rooms are a trendy group activity in which participants solve puzzles and codes to escape a series of rooms before time runs out. There are many escape room companies across the Washington, D.C. area, each with uniquely-themed rooms. I chose to escape from a room called “A Pirate’s Quest” at Rockville Escape Room.

When I was planning my visit to the escape room, I found their website very easy to navigate, which helped me more pleasantly plan my visit. The hardest part was picking an available time because the spots for each room are limited.

When I walked into the building, the receptionist greeted my group, reflecting the company’s friendly customer service. The waiting room was decorated with spooky skeletons, which added to the ambiance. A guide briefed us on the hour-long game, and then showed us a short, helpful video that explained the rules and our task. Afterwards, she took us to the treasure-themed escape room. The lights dimmed and adventure music began to play. The room from which we were tasked to escape was very small. The room can fit up to eight people, which might feel crowded; however, there was enough space for my group of three.

The game did not fall short of its challenging reputation. Our quest, to find the treasure and escape the room before “the pirates” came back, had my group working down to the last minute to solve various riddles. Each solution unlocked assorted items that led to our next clue. The clues were crafted in a fairly ambiguous way, forcing us to use our creativity.

An issue we ran into with the game was that since there were a lot of moving parts, sometimes items were unintentionally misplaced or mistakenly added, which slowed down the process and stressed out my group.

The challenges that involved math were harder to crack, and it was frustrating when nothing we tried was successful. We did, however, have a walkie-talkie to communicate with our guide and get more clues when the challenges were too difficult. Additionally, our guide watched us go through the course via cameras in the room, which enabled her to see when we were struggling so that she could offer help and keep us going. This was a great way to ease the difficulty without taking away from the fun of the activity. The buzzer went off as we were scrambling to find one of the final codes, so we were not successful in escaping the room. This failure, however, did not negatively alter my opinion on the experience.

Looking back on my day at Rockville Escape Room, I actually think that my failure to escape the room was a good example of how I may not always succeed, and that’s okay. Despite its difficult and stressful nature, my experience at Rockville Escape Room was very fun. I recommend it for families and friends as an engaging activity that builds teamwork skills.

Rockville Escape Room is located at 120 Derwood Circle, in Rockville, Md. Reservations are required and can be made online.