Under Pressure

Amazing room. The owner and GM were fantastic. This is one of the better rooms I’ve ever done. From the ownership, to the creativity and overall flow of the puzzles, I cannot recommend this place enough

Under Pressure was nicely themed, with a tie to the town's local history, but the time travel framing device seemed completely unnecessary-- we've been in plenty of rooms where BAM, you're in an Egyptian tomb or a submarine. Why muddy the water here? Just set the scene in the opening narrative, put us in the speakeasy, and we're good to go. There are a couple of items that are well-hidden, so your search skills had best be on point. I enjoyed the creative use of their very limited space (the room is in an old church). We had a few minor issues with the room, but overall we enjoyed it and would recommend it.

One of our favorite experiences! Really fun environment with unique clues, details, and puzzles. We will be back for their other rooms!

This room is spectacular. It’s a must play. Thoughtful design, great atmosphere!

Roger. Roger. Roger. The owner Roger, is a treasure of a man. We had a great time chatting with him about his room and the history of Statesville. Beyond being one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever played an escape room in (and old church, what?!) the room is so well thought out and ties in the history of the town. Every element of the room is intentional to bring you into the world of that room, including how you get your hints. We had the best time here and did not want to leave. If you are triggered by heat, you may struggle with one of the rooms. If you get overwhelmed by music or a soundtrack playing, you may also struggle. If you love a good dance break, we found ourselves dancing multiple times in the room. You need to be able to climb stairs to enter the room. Once in the room, at least one player will need to be able to climb narrow stairs.

Incredible experience! Beautiful and unique venue, engaging game master, and thoughtful game play. One of our favorites we’ve ever done!

Key to Escape is located in the most unique building we have visited. All of their games are built inside an old Catholic church. They have maintained the building very well. We had the fortunate opportunity to meet the owner, who is extremely kind and passionate about what he does. Our Game Master was also very thoughtful and encouraging. I have no doubt that everyone at this company has a passion for the escape room community. In order to enter the building, you have to solve a very easy puzzle- I’ve never experienced that before and found it novel. Additionally, we found the theming of the room to be very unique, as it was related to local history. There were 2 puzzles that were very unique/ hadn’t seen elsewhere; we enjoyed the concepts of them. The set design had some cool elements, just be aware that there are very very narrow stairs. This was the first room we haven’t been able to finish “in time” over the last couple months. At first, I thought maybe it was an off day for us, given that we usually are able to finish rooms with time to spare. And we needed a LOT of nudging, something we don’t usually need in well designed rooms. The owner did warn us that this room is extremely difficult for two players, which was a slight red flag for me. He did seem very proud of that fact though, so I assumed more than anything it was the quantity of puzzles. While there were a lot of puzzles, I quickly realized that this room was difficult not because there were so many well designed puzzles, but because there are many logic leaps that must be made. I personally do not enjoy an experience where things do not flow well. My husband and I like to evaluate our gameplay after we experience a room. The more we dived into the puzzles, the more we realized how illogical some of the leaps are. This room definitely needs more signposting in terms of linking something that needs solving with its solution. Example: some puzzles simply rely on proximity to connect them, nothing between the two objects is remotely related, yet others do not, so the pattern is inconsistent. I found this room very difficult to identify their “style,” it felt a lot like a combination of random high potential puzzles squished into one. It felt like we kept discovering puzzles that just didn’t fit in well with the story line or make sense. Example: Adorable and fun hint system designed not to break immersion that you are in 1925, yet there is a huge screen in another room that doesn’t tie into 1925 theming at all. A few things to be aware of: this room is VERY search heavy. Not my personal favorite because that’s a time sucker that could’ve been puzzle time. Additionally, we had to be nudged a lot that we had missed something in searching, but we kept thinking we had everything because there was no set quantity on endless searching. Final suggestion: there is a puzzle they refer to as the “marriage tester” puzzle. This was a major red flag for us in terms of how well a puzzle is thought out. If it’s creating tension in a group instead of communication and teamwork, it’s not a well designed puzzle. While it didn’t get my husband and I to a point of contention, it did feel incredibly tedious and frustrating. If you are going to have people rely on verbal direction, you need to make the communication device be very very clear. My husband could not hear me well over the rest of the loud music and sounds even while shouting. The puzzle itself has a lot of potential, but it needs to be reworked. Lastly, a lot of things need to be repainted. There was one particular puzzle that was dependent on colors and the paint was so worn. Additionally, there was a puzzle that when our GM came in said it was nearly impossible to see because it was so faded and that he’d touch it up. I would appreciate if those maintenance things were more regularly upkept. We plan to come back to do Oz and let it make up for Under Pressure. We hope it has a better flow. This room remains a like because it is still so much better than any chain’s room. If you find yourself with a limited option of rooms nearby in this area, I see how it could beat out the others. We did have a good experience overall, we just realized this is not our type of game. I wouldn’t recommend traveling far to come play, but I would say that if you live in the area, come give it a play!

This is such a fantastic room. Housed in a National Historic former Catholic church, the fun starts right at the front door where you must solve a puzzle to enter. The game theming, story and room are original, immersive and tie into the history of the both the building and town. The game is non-linear and our team of four worked both individually and collaboratively to solve the challenges and escape. Every aspect of this game is top notch including our GM Addison. We had such a good time. HIGHLY recommend.

Great fun, and very well-paced. We tackled the room as a group of two and managed to complete it with just a few minutes remaining. It blended theme with creative puzzles and made excellent use of its historic building.

First, let me start with my review of the company overall, location and owners first. The location is a historic first Catholic site, the first Catholic church in North Carolina, now renovated with maximal use of every available space for three escape rooms. In addition, the owner clearly has a love and passion for history, escape rooms, and the themes behind each room. From even the way you enter the building, it’s an escape room delight! Ok, now to Under Pressure itself. It’s a solid room and a bit difficult. Not all puzzles seemed intuitive and we needed a fair amount of nudging. A great story & goal. Like all of their rooms, the music is hand-selected with modern-day hits covered in a roaring 20’s style plus some funny song choices when certain puzzles are cracked. The hint system is novel in keeping with 1925.