Live Room Escape will let you pay to escape from scary, tricky situations

You’re trapped in a chilly garage, chained to a wall. A dirty ceiling light flickers on and off allowing just enough light to see your fellow prisoners.

A growling chainsaw and a ticking clock echo throughout the brick room. Your heart rate increases, and your ability to focus fades.

Now, you must work as a team to find a way out.

Sound like fun?

One valley entrepreneur thinks so, and for $35 he’ll let you live your own adventure.

At Live Room Escape, 2959 Westwood Drive, just east of Interstate 15 near Sahara Avenue, people have been paying money to be trapped in themed rooms with friends, spouses or strangers since May.

Owner and creator Nick Durst said he’s got what it takes to stand out in Las Vegas.

Customers are forced to work together to solve a variety of puzzles that eventually lead them to the exit in 60 minutes or less. Durst claims his business is only the fourth of its kind in the country.

The “Saw Experience Room,” centered on a crashed Audi A6 splotched with fake blood and surrounded by replica corpses, is reminiscent of the movie series of the same name. It is the second-most popular of the three room escapes offered.

It is not for the faint-of-heart, Durst said. He suggests the “Sherlock” and “Trap” rooms for people who don’t like to be scared.

In the Sherlock experience, Durst said players must use their investigative skills to find a way out. The room has random household items, like carpet cleaner and exercise equipment.

At first glance, nothing in the room seems handy. But, Durst said, “you have to rip this room apart.”

“We want you to have fun,” Durst added, so if a group appears to be struggling, employees offer hints — but they’re not free.

Several groups, for example, were asked to perform the “Nay Nay,” a hand-waving, squatting gyration that went viral on YouTube, and they obliged. In return, they were given a clue to help them become part of the 30 percent who succeed.

“Women are more logical,” said 19-year-old employee, Marco Flores, which is why he said they do better at the game than men.

Durst said the concept’s popularity has grown immensely as a corporate team-building exercise, and he plans to open several more valley locations to accommodate larger groups by the end of 2015.

Until then, the rooms inside the original location are switched out semi-annually so that locals can look forward to new experiences, Durst said.

It takes him anywhere from two weeks to a month to come up with a room design in is head, but designing it and executing it are two very different things.

“One of my rooms was a disaster,” Durst said.

All-new designs require testing for at least a month with various groups before they can be revealed.

Durst, who is originally from Budapest, Hungary, said the room escape idea is already wildly popular there. He called it “the capital of escape rooms.”

Internationally, similar live action games have gained steam in China, where Durst said it began in Beijing, and grew simultaneously in Europe.

After studying psychology and human behavior in Hungary, Durst said he became interested in the idea of escape rooms.

“I like to watch the players,” he said.

Some customers have said the room designs could be better, Durst said, and that he is “focusing on the challenge.”

Durst is offering free room escape experiences to poor families from the valley Thursday. The event will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will include free pizza, Segway rides and local celebrities, according to a release.

Reservations are required. RSVP at 702-901-4205.

Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV