By Anne Barnhill
Imagine you are locked in a room with only your wits to help you escape. Time is running out. It sounds like the plot to a video game. There are several games that use this strategy: figure out the puzzle, move up to the next level — or escape from a room.
Now, imagine such a game in the real, three-dimensional world, not the virtual world. Sound like fun? Steven and Kim Wilt of Wrightsville Beach hope so.
The Wilts first discovered the escape room phenomenon in 2014. People are locked in a room, and given a mystery to solve. They have one hour to decipher the clues and get out.
They fell in love with the concept, so much so that they started an escape room in Wilmington.
“Last summer, we were in Toronto to visit family. I Googled to see what was available for the kids to do and escape room popped up. I’d never heard of one before, but it sounded intriguing, so we decided to give it a try. We loved it,” said Kim Wilt, owner/operator of Cape Fear Escape Room.
Wilt said the escape room craze began about 10 years in Tokyo and then moved to Eastern Europe, where it is immensely popular. The phenomenon is slowly making its way to the United States.
“There are two escape rooms in Charlotte and one in Raleigh,” Wilt said. “I’m sure they’ll start popping up everywhere — they are just so much fun.”
Cape Fear Escape Room opened in October 2015, and Wilt said she is already getting return customers.
“Only 35 percent make it out of one of our rooms and only 23 percent succeed in escaping the other. Those who don’t get out the first time, want to try again. And they also are interested in the other room as well,” Wilt said.
Currently, the two puzzles available are “Time Traveler” and “Man Hunt.” Wilt said the plan is to change the puzzles about every six months.
While great fun, the escape room is also a good tool to use for team building.
“We have a lot of corporations and organizations who send groups in to develop their ability to work together for a common goal. It really does take everyone’s ideas to figure things out,” Wilt said. “It’s great for inter-generational fun, too. We often have entire families play.”
Wilt suggests children be at least 8 years old to comprehend the challenge.
“What’s really fun is to see the kids come up with out-of-the-box thinking,” she said. “Most of the time, the children are able to help the grownups out. And seeing the grandparents, parents and kids all working together to solve the puzzle is quite rewarding.”
So far, Cape Fear Escape Room has drawn people from many surrounding areas — Jacksonville (Marines seem to be the best at escaping quickly), Southport, New Bern — and, when the tourist season begins, Wilt expects people from all over the country to check out the new game in town.
Prior to starting Cape Fear Escape Room, Wilt owned Harbor Island Oyster, an online business selling accessories for oyster roasts. Her husband, Steve, works from home, too, for a marketing company in New York. Both are invested in the Wrightsville Beach community.
“We moved down here seven years ago,” Wilt said. “My parents had moved to Landfall, so we visited them often. We fell in love with the area. I especially loved the idea of my kids being able to walk to school at Wrightsville Beach.”
The Wilts became immediately active in the community as founding members of the WBS Foundation, which exists to support education at Wrightsville Beach School. This year, their house won Best Overall Residence in the Wrightsville Beach Holiday Home Decorating Contest.
“We love Wrightsville Beach,” Wilt said. She has no desire to escape.
