Escape room opening in Castle Pines
The Walters family posing with props at an escape room with Joanna’s parents, Diana and Tony Guardian (also known as Gramma and Papa). Left to right: Tony Guardian, Rocky, Joanna, Wyatt and Chris Walters, and Diana Guardian.
Chris and Joanna Walters are taking their passion for escape rooms to a whole new game level. The couple is getting ready to open their own business, Clue Clock Escape, in the former Ascent Eyes location on Village Square Drive in Castle Pines.
Chris said they never dreamed of opening an escape room business. “We have a home inspection business that does well. We never thought of anything like this,” he said.
Chris was in a bad car accident last year that left him with a traumatic brain injury and concussion. The doctor recommended board games and computer games to exercise his brain. After getting bored with those, Chris and Joanna revisited escape rooms that they had first experienced about five years ago.
“It was always a fun thing to do with our family,” shared Joanna.
Chris estimates they have done 60-70 escape rooms this year alone in Colorado with their two sons, Rocky (12) and Wyatt (8).
“We started noticing things that we would do differently if we owned one,” added Chris. “We were nitpicking and thought, ‘why not try to open our own and do something we love to do.’”
The Walters researched the industry and decided to open an independent business rather than buy a franchise. “We found an escape room builder that we liked and trusted. They are building out our rooms,” said Chris.
Clue Clock Escape will have a mid-modern-century theme with three different game rooms and a party room. Players will be given a story line and locked in a themed room. They will have one hour to work together as a team to find clues to solve puzzles, riddles and crack codes in order to escape before time runs out.
“These games are board games that come to life mixed in with some theater,” Chris said.
All rooms require a minimum of two players and a maximum of six. Pricing ranges from $33 to $39 per person for one hour of play, based on how many players are in a group. Kids who are 6 and younger are admitted free with two adults.
“We both love to do escape rooms with our family,” concluded Joanna. “We just want to share the fun with the world.”
Clue Clock Escape expects to open this month. It is located at 7437 Village Square Drive, across from Duke’s. To learn more, visit www.clueclock.com.
By Mindy Stone; photo courtesy of Chris and Joanna Walters
