JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
As an antique clock ticks away in the center of a mirrored room at the Arnold Hall Community Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, a group of 369th Training Group Airmen frenetically attempt to escape the cell just minutes away from certain doom. Figuratively speaking, at least.
The team was working through a chain of clues as part of a Mystery Escape room: a customized teambuilding experience that forces participants to solve clues, puzzles and riddles within 60 minutes to complete the challenge and “escape” the room.
Agatha Christie’s mystery novels initially inspired the Escape Rooms, which became popular in the United States in the mid-2000s. The rooms – being part-game, part-theater and part teambuilding exercise - are outfitted with specific unique themes ranging from the magic of Houdini to the perils of Cold War espionage.
For example, the 369th TRG team of nine took on the enigmatic mind of famed inventor-artist Leonardo Da Vinci. They weaved through piles of Fibonacci sequences, mirror writing, engineering feats, locked containers, coded messages and a series of riddles before time expired.
The group didn’t manage to solve the puzzle in time, but the purpose of the Mystery Escape room is about reacting to adversity and team building rather than winning or losing, noted Mikayla Trevino, Arnold Hall recreation aid who oversees the sessions.
“It isn’t about the end result,” Trevino elaborated. “It is about a bunch of small victories and about working together to solve clues. You get a group of people in a room – whether they’ve worked together (before) or they’ve just met – and you see a bit of their psychology when they start working on the clues.”
Looking for small victories is essential in the Da Vinci room, which is no easy feat, Trevino cautioned. That puzzle has an 85 percent fail rate, but 369th TRG team made it just short of the final clue within the allotted hour timeframe – further than any previous group on base.
“This was the closest I’ve seen a group come so far,” Trevino added. “They were just one clue short of finishing.”
For Master Sgt. Richard Shoemaker, 369th TRG trainer who floated around the room as his group split into three smaller segments to tackle individual puzzles more efficiently, the experience revealed how well his team works as a unit, regardless of the challenge.
“This is more than team-building,” Shoemaker said. “We’re learning to work together; how to use each other in a good way to get through the puzzle. It’s about camaraderie.”
The timed element of the challenge forces leaders to step up, he added. That pressure is also an incentive for people to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses quickly. Where some people might be better at mathematics while others might be better with word and logic problems.
“The time comes on you quick,” Shoemaker said. “It makes us work under pressure. You have to learn how not to get aggressive with each other and help everybody.”
Captain Jacob Heitzman, 369th TRG support staff, spent most of the challenge working alongside Tech. Sgt. Natalie Caballero, 369th TRG group personnel NCO. Da Vinci was left handed and developed a system of mirror writing as a result. So, the pair used the mirrors on the wall to read and solve the clues more effectively.
“Just trying to put the pieces together was tough,” Heitzman said about the riddles and mathematical problems. “It definitely stretched our brains.”
As if the puzzles aren’t enough, Heitzman and company had to think over ear-piercing music and special effects drifting in from nearby speakers. Tracks from thriller movies alternated with ominous pre-recorded warnings, stating at 15-minute intervals how much time was left.
Members of the group stated they enjoyed the facing the challenge together.
It was a unique opportunity for several of his coworkers to interact outside of the office for the first time, Heitzman said. The 369th TRG is split into recruiters and support staff, which meant the escape room also helped bridge the divide between the two factions.
“Bringing us together for a common cause, that’s what this is about,” he added.
After coming so agonizingly close to finishing the challenge, Shoemaker brought a second team from his unit back to Arnold Hall later that day to take a crack at the test.
And Heitzman, who both returned to supervise the second team, had two words of advice for their would-be escapees.
“Focus,” Shoemaker said. “Our first team would have gotten past the final clue if we would have paid attention to all the details.”
“And coffee,” laughed Heitzman. “Focus and coffee.”
Groups or individuals interested in taking on the Mystery Escape Room can call 671-2619 to reserve a space. Sessions are available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.