TRAPPED: We got our Sherlock on!

Our jaw dropped to the floor when Sherlock Holmes figured out John Watson’s background just by sneaking a glance at him (episode 1, season 1), then our jaw stayed down there during the whole 3 seasons haha! Sherlock made us believe that all it takes for one to solve a riddle is to notice the teeniest-tiniest details…..sounds easy? I did not think so either. Now all we needed was a riddle to solve (and sherlock’s hat and coat) to get our Sherlock mode on! An escape room game was the closest thing to unleashing our inner Sherlock!

Trapped is UK’s highest rated escape rooms and it is now located in Cairo as well. They have 4 rooms of 4 different themes of different difficulty levels: Bunker 38, The Dungeon of Doom, The Vault and Quarantined. The Vault and Quarantined are said to be the most difficult rooms, The Dungeon of Doom is an intermediate level room while Bunker 38 is a slightly easier room. Once you pick an escape room, you have 60 minutes to unleash your brainpower and break free!

My friends and I decided to break the routine of the usual outings and go try out Trapped’s escape room, last Monday. We picked The Dungeon of Doom which is a horror-themed room (I’m still shocked I agreed to this as I am normally afraid of my own shadow). A staff member blindfolded us and each was guided into the room individually where spooky music was playing in the background. When we were asked to take our blindfold off, we found few of our friends missing (WHAT!). The countdown on the screen had started so we began looking for something, anything, to help us unlock the many locks in the room. We looked for clues that would lead us to either a combination to a lock or a location to a key. 15 minutes in, we and our missing friends were reunited. We spent the remaining 45 minutes collecting items, finding clues, solving puzzles and deciphering codes. I mean at one point, I did not trust that the framed picture was just a regular framed picture, I kept feeling it hoping for a clue to fall off (I bet the staff thought I was crazy, my friends certainly did haha). One riddle led to another till we finally escaped The Dungeon of Doom room!

Since we picked a horrifying room; the lights went out a couple of times where a spooky thing happened (I am not going to spoil it for you). It may sound silly to you but that is only because you were not in there, in the heat of the moment, with the spooky music on, the screams and the complete darkness. At one point, the group hug (the shield from danger) turned into a leg hug! My friend got so scared she fell to her knees hugging my leg while the other friend got into the center of the group hug (where the shield is supposedly stronger haha!). I find it ironic that one minute we were like a ball of fire and the next minute we were quaking in our boots! We made some great memories, though. We have all enjoyed the scares (I think?)

The staff is very helpful, very friendly and very nice. In each room, there is a screen where hints will be given out when time is right (and compliments too) so should you ever try it, keep an eye on it! The good thing is, you do not need to be a brainiac to solve the riddles (I know I am not). You just need to observe, think out of the box and work as a team. You will be surprised of what your team is capable of doing, in union you find strength! There are some great boards there to take photos with in the end; we spent a whole 30 minutes there just taking photos with the endless collection.

The whole experience was new, entertaining, challenging and enlightening! You will learn a lot about your mental ability and your inner detective. I am definitely going there again to try out the other three rooms, and again when they add new rooms (yes, I planned ahead too). As I am typing this, it has been 48 hours since I went there and I still cannot get over the amount of fun I had then! It is, hands down, the best entertainment facility in town. I would certainly suggest Trapped to all of my friends and family.