Escape room rises from the ashes to offer unique fun

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoans can experience a new escape room - "Twisted Time Escape Rooms." The veteran-owned westside business offers two different experiences - a Dracula room, a Christmas mystery - and another yet-to-be revealed experience still under construction. Owner John Anderson says he and his wife love going to escape rooms when they travel, and they often sit around the dinner table coming up with ideas.

"I love the puzzles, I love going into the room, especially if it's themed just right...it's an exciting adventure," Anderson says. By day, he's an electrical engineer. After work, he heads to the escape room to run the business and build props. Even though he's usually tired at the end of the day, he says he gets a surge of adrenaline as soon as he pulls up to the building.

This isn't Anderson's first escape room. He also owned "Monkey Mayhem," which caught fire in 2018 and was forced to close. It was a devastating blow.

"I felt like I lost a loved one," Anderson says, looking back on that dark time. "I was hurt.  Almost like I lost a loved one because you put so much time and energy into something, and people were loving it!" Several years of planning and building later, "Twisted Time Escape Rooms" opened to the public, with rave reviews.

Escape rooms in general are a growing type of entertainment. Puzzle-solving teams made of 2-8 players work together to solve clues in each unique theme-based room, and usually have 60 minutes to solve the clues to "escape." Anderson says participants are never actually locked in - they can leave at any time. Within each room are puzzles, codes and clues that must be deciphered. Sometimes a clue will lead to another clue, a way out, or even a hidden room.

For more information on Twisted Time Escape Rooms, and to plan a visit yourself, click here: www.twistedtimeescaperooms.com