In Ottawa there is no shortage of companies offering escape rooms, but what makes Hideaway escape room stand out from the competition from the type of rooms they provide and their lounge space. Compared to the other escape room companies, Hideaway offers a more technology and gaming-focused space.
Currently, they have two rooms, the heist and the abandoned spaceship with the ancient temple soon to launch. Without giving away any spoilers these rooms incorporate much more technology within the room that allows for unique challenges and puzzles. In the rooms motion sensors, tablets built into the wall, and other technology are used to craft new puzzle types you will not have encountered before.
As someone who has done most of the escape rooms in Ottawa, while the step-by-step format of escaping a room varies dramatically, often the mechanics of solving a puzzle vary for a handful of types. The most basic of puzzles being discovering 3 or 4 numbers in a space and then using them as the code for a padlock, which would then lead you to the next puzzle.
After the success of escape rooms in the city, there is a need to reinvent the puzzles to keep them feeling fresh and exciting for more veteran escape room participants, while easy enough for a novice to understand too. After defeating heist at Hideaway escape room my team returned for the abandoned spaceship. Without question, this room requires a bit of a learning curve to understand the puzzles and simply how to utilize the technology in the space. To allow for the time you’ll need to understand how to use the technology, you are given an hour instead of the standard 45 minutes.
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For anyone who hasn’t visited Hideaway I would strongly recommend starting with Heist, as it is an easier introduction to how their puzzles work. The abandoned spaceship was an intriguing room, but our room did suffer from technical problems, that did take away from the overall experience. I was told that technical problems aren’t common, and it is one risks when allowing for unique puzzles.
One of Hideaway major strengths has to be their lounge. Here you can play board games, play videos games or even order food and drinks from the bar. It essentially adds a coffee shop, bar, video game lounge, and board game lounge all in one space (in addition to the escape rooms). So instead of just doing an escape room and trying to figure out what to do next, you can hang out in the lounge and challenge your group to a multiplayer video game or perhaps a board game.
Moving forward Hideaway is looking to feature live game streaming. Within the lounge, they hope to promote Ottawa’s own competitive video game players.
Interested in trying Hideaway escape rooms and fantastic gaming lounge? Book now.