What is needed to create a room for Escape Helena

HELENA — Escape Helena has been in production for 7 years and offers indoor and outdoor games. The majority of these missions are not so much focused on escape as on the mission: solving puzzles to reach the end of a scenario.

“It’s a game where you and a group of people work together to solve a series of puzzles and challenges in a themed room within a set amount of time,” says Andrew Elford, owner of Escape Helena.

After concocting a story, working backwards from the end goal, and creating puzzles, Andrew Elford and his wife spend countless hours bringing their garage sets to life.

When MTN met him, Elford was working on his new steampunk-themed piece called The Traveller’s Study. They started creating the piece around November, and Elford says they hope to have it finished by August.

“Building an escape room is a lot like flying a plane while you’re building it,” Elford says.

Tom Buchanan

He uses his tools, his 3D printer, and his imagination to bring a setting to life. Before opening Escape Helena, Elford created an escape room for his family in his home. Elford also visited an escape room in Belgrade that has since closed. They talked with the owner for hours and decided to bring the concept back to their home in Helena.

“It was so inspiring that we decided Helena really needed a place like this because there wasn’t enough to do here, especially not involving alcohol. We wanted to create a family-friendly place where people could bring their kids. We kind of built them for adults, but the kids could play because there’s not a lot of entertainment for sober adults. That’s why we opened our doors,” Elford says.

If you want to experience these interactive games for yourself, you can head over to the Escape Helena website.