Escape Room Live Coming to M Street

How’s this sound? We lock you in a room and you have 45 minutes to find clues to get the heck out of there. Whether this is your idea of fun or not, Escape Room Live is coming to 3345 M St. NW. Formerly occupied by West Elm, the space is next to the shuttered Capriotti’s sandwich shop, where the legendary Cellar Door once held musical court.

“A challenging, interactive entertainment experience, Escape Room Live incorporates brainteasers and puzzle challenges with the adrenaline rush of a race against the clock,” the company says. “Participants are locked inside a themed room with 45 minutes to find and decipher clues that will help them figure their way out. With only a few hints, the group must use their wits, ingenuity and teamwork to complete the challenge and escape the room.”

“The two-floor, 6,573 square-foot Georgetown space will serve as Escape Room Live’s largest location with six, individually themed game rooms with CGI special effects, a reception space, lounge, bar and catering space designed to entertain up to 150 guests that is set to open this summer,” according to the company.

Escape Room Live on M Street has obtained licensing to set up rooms with themes from such films as “Friday the 13th,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Mummy,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Titanic.” Edgar Allan Poe rooms are also planned.

“We are taking the level of immersion up several notches by incorporating Hollywood-style set design, CGI effects, lighting and sound into our new rooms,” says Ginger Flesher-Sonnier, owner and CEO of Escape Room Live. “With these upgraded effects, we are able to bring a greater sense of reality to the game. For example, the “Titanic” room will have a porthole timer where the water level viewed through the porthole gradually gets higher as time passes and, at 45 minutes, will appear to crack the window and water will look like it’s pouring in.”

Nicholas Papadopoulos of Papadopoulos Properties represented Escape Room Live in the deal with EastBanc, Inc. and Jamestown LP.

Escape Room Live has other locations up Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park, in Alexandria and elsewhere. One of its competitors, the Great Escape Room, is on Connecticut Avenue.

And — not to worry — a game master observing the room will let the group escape the room if it fails to meet the deadline.