Sunday, February 9, 2025

The Game Masters: Behind the Scenes With Toledo’s Room Escape Creators

In a pop culture landscape where audiences become more and more isolated—with cell phones, home streaming, video games and more competing for, and often winning, each individual’s attention—it is interesting that a breakout entertainment concept of the past decade relies on working with other people, communicating in close proximity, to solve a problem together.

That collaborative energy may be a big part of the appeal of the “escape room” entertainment genre. A group of players, locked together in a fictional experience, trying to solve puzzles so they can, well, escape and win. The phenomenon first began to take shape with games organized in Asia roughly ten years ago, and according to exitgames.co.uk, there are now over 8,000 dedicated escape rooms worldwide—roughly 6,000 in the United States alone.

The individuals who operate the game experiences in the Toledo area relate that the people who come to get locked in for an hour or so are not only looking for an escape from the “real world”—they’re hoping to find a connection with other people in the process.

“What we want to see is people walking out of our space, talking about going to get drinks, because they’ve made new friends in our room. And that’s a huge win,” said Kimmer Callahan, a founder of Trapped Toledo, one of the Glass City’s longest running escape rooms.

“I’ve had many, many parents tell me after they’ve played with their teenagers, ‘This is the most my kids have talked to us in months,'” said Myron St. John, owner of Escape Game Experiences, located in the Shops at Fallen Timbers.

The experience of guiding players through such tasks can be just as fun and rewarding for the individuals working behind the scenes.

Trapped Toledo

Founded in the summer of 2014, Trapped was one of the first true escape room companies in the Toledo area. Located on Key Street, slightly secluded next to Burger Bar 419, Trapped has steadily grown by word-of-mouth while constantly introducing new games for players.

Kimmer Callahan started Trapped with a group of his friends after they became fascinated by the idea of escape rooms, tried one themselves, and decided they could improve on what they had just played. Among their personal touches: The placement of actors in the room playing full characters as part of the narrative (and readily available to provide hints).

“Only six to eight percent of the world’s escape rooms utilize actors,” Callahan said. “None in the Toledo area, none within about 130 miles of Toledo, have actors. And all of our rooms do.”

Trapped also works to make sure its games all have multiple paths of puzzles, arranged in a non-linear fashion—so no team can get stuck having to do one thing before they can proceed. “There’s something for somebody to work on at all times. There are five paths that intermix with each other.”

Trapped Toledo is located at 2410 Key St., Maumee. Tickets are $20 on weekdays and $27 on the weekends. Games must be booked in advance.

Contact 567-316-7028, [email protected] or visit trappedtoledo.com for more information. Must be at least 15 years of age or accompanied by an adult.

Escape Room Experience

Founded in December of 2016, Escape Room Experience offers more than simply an escape “room,” in fact, each of the company’s games spans several different sets

“What makes ours unique is the fact that all our games are multiple-room games,” said Myron St. John. “They’re over-the-top detailed, they’re solution-based, non-linear, and you won’t find any of these games anywhere else in the world, and I can absolutely say that, because I actually wrote the games.”

Escape Room includes a “game master” in each room—an on-site observer there to offer immediate help if requested. St. John says it is observing players of his games forming a group dynamic in a short period of time that is one of the most interesting aspects of the business.

“Usually, in the older games that I’ve been to, you always find someone who wants to take the lead. In these games, everyone really works together beautifully as a team. Because there’s just so much to do in the multiple rooms, and there’s something for everyone to do.”

Escape Game Experience is located at 3100 Main St., Maumee in The Shops at Fallen Timbers and is open from 6-10pm on Wednesday-Thursday, 3-11pm Friday-Saturday, and 3-9pm Sunday.

Prices range from about $25-$28 per person, based on the game. Games must be booked in advance. Call 419-360-5689 or visit escapegameexperiences.com for more

In a pop culture landscape where audiences become more and more isolated—with cell phones, home streaming, video games and more competing for, and often winning, each individual’s attention—it is interesting that a breakout entertainment concept of the past decade relies on working with other people, communicating in close proximity, to solve a problem together.

That collaborative energy may be a big part of the appeal of the “escape room” entertainment genre. A group of players, locked together in a fictional experience, trying to solve puzzles so they can, well, escape and win. The phenomenon first began to take shape with games organized in Asia roughly ten years ago, and according to exitgames.co.uk, there are now over 8,000 dedicated escape rooms worldwide—roughly 6,000 in the United States alone.

The individuals who operate the game experiences in the Toledo area relate that the people who come to get locked in for an hour or so are not only looking for an escape from the “real world”—they’re hoping to find a connection with other people in the process.

“What we want to see is people walking out of our space, talking about going to get drinks, because they’ve made new friends in our room. And that’s a huge win,” said Kimmer Callahan, a founder of Trapped Toledo, one of the Glass City’s longest running escape rooms.

- Advertisement -

“I’ve had many, many parents tell me after they’ve played with their teenagers, ‘This is the most my kids have talked to us in months,'” said Myron St. John, owner of Escape Game Experiences, located in the Shops at Fallen Timbers.

The experience of guiding players through such tasks can be just as fun and rewarding for the individuals working behind the scenes.

Trapped Toledo

Founded in the summer of 2014, Trapped was one of the first true escape room companies in the Toledo area. Located on Key Street, slightly secluded next to Burger Bar 419, Trapped has steadily grown by word-of-mouth while constantly introducing new games for players.

Kimmer Callahan started Trapped with a group of his friends after they became fascinated by the idea of escape rooms, tried one themselves, and decided they could improve on what they had just played. Among their personal touches: The placement of actors in the room playing full characters as part of the narrative (and readily available to provide hints).

“Only six to eight percent of the world’s escape rooms utilize actors,” Callahan said. “None in the Toledo area, none within about 130 miles of Toledo, have actors. And all of our rooms do.”

Trapped also works to make sure its games all have multiple paths of puzzles, arranged in a non-linear fashion—so no team can get stuck having to do one thing before they can proceed. “There’s something for somebody to work on at all times. There are five paths that intermix with each other.”

Trapped Toledo is located at 2410 Key St., Maumee. Tickets are $20 on weekdays and $27 on the weekends. Games must be booked in advance.

Contact 567-316-7028, [email protected] or visit trappedtoledo.com for more information. Must be at least 15 years of age or accompanied by an adult.

Escape Room Experience

Founded in December of 2016, Escape Room Experience offers more than simply an escape “room,” in fact, each of the company’s games spans several different sets

“What makes ours unique is the fact that all our games are multiple-room games,” said Myron St. John. “They’re over-the-top detailed, they’re solution-based, non-linear, and you won’t find any of these games anywhere else in the world, and I can absolutely say that, because I actually wrote the games.”

Escape Room includes a “game master” in each room—an on-site observer there to offer immediate help if requested. St. John says it is observing players of his games forming a group dynamic in a short period of time that is one of the most interesting aspects of the business.

“Usually, in the older games that I’ve been to, you always find someone who wants to take the lead. In these games, everyone really works together beautifully as a team. Because there’s just so much to do in the multiple rooms, and there’s something for everyone to do.”

Escape Game Experience is located at 3100 Main St., Maumee in The Shops at Fallen Timbers and is open from 6-10pm on Wednesday-Thursday, 3-11pm Friday-Saturday, and 3-9pm Sunday.

Prices range from about $25-$28 per person, based on the game. Games must be booked in advance. Call 419-360-5689 or visit escapegameexperiences.com for more

Recent Articles