Escape Rooms Jamestown is back open following the COVID-19 pandemic at its new location, 100 E. Second St., Jamestown. Catherine Johnner, Escape Rooms Jamestown owner, said they opened their new location Sept. 2. She said they moved to the new location after being located at 20 W. Third St., Jamestown, for three years. She added the move was necessary after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We weren’t able to sign another lease not knowing the (future),” she said. “So we found a new place looking for a renter. We knew it would take several months to build out our space. We decided to take that risk instead of a new lease.”

Johnner said the new location has four escape rooms — Our Lady Atocha, King Tut’s Gilded Box, The Board Room and Arthur Crystal’s Last Will and Testament. She said there is also an escape room experience in partnership with the Audubon Community Nature Center, located at 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown. The experience is known as The Screech Owl Escape and is the only escape room designed for children ages 8 to 12 years old.

“Parents can do that one too,” she said. “It takes advantage of all three levels of (Audubon Community Nature Center) exhibits.”

A classic bowling game that can be found with several new arcade games like Mortal Kombat, Donkey Kong and Pac-Man at Escape Rooms Jamestown. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Johnner said the escape rooms at their downtown Jamestown location have been vetted and beta tested for the best experience possible. She said there is an eight person maximum and everyone needs to be above the age of 12. She added that the success rate of escape is 65%.

“We have the most awesome escape rooms. Everyone who does them loves them,” she said. “We haven’t had any bad experiences.”

Johnner said right now there is a promotion for The Board Room escape, which involves family board games. She said any customer bringing in a board game box top, up to five, can reduce the cost of admission, which is $25 a person, by $1 a game. She added that the customer can then add the board game box top to the wall of the room.

“We have about 50 (board game box tops) now. We want 250 of them,” she said.

In addition to the escape rooms, the new location now has classic arcade and vintage games. She said people can rent the space for parties or can pay a $10 fee to play them for 45 minutes. The games include Mortal Kombat, MVP Baseball and Birdie King 3. Also there is a machine that has several classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. There is also a vintage bowling game that is similar to shuffleboard.

Also at the new location, people can participate in a box escape, which can have a certain themes like Halloween or a birthday. Also, there is a lock maze where people can compete to see who can unlock the locks in the quickest time.

“It’s a great place for a party,” she said. “People can rent the whole facility.”

Johnner said people need to follow the COVID-19 guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing. She said each room and arcade machine is sanitized after use. She is also working with local business neighbors like Studio D Catering and Venue for businesses that would like to rent the space for a team building exercise. She said food will be provided by the catering service while company employees can work together to escape from one of the rooms.

“We’re trying to work with our neighbors to do some cross-promotion,” she said.

Escape Rooms Jamestown is open from 3-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, contact 217-9039 or visit escaperoomsjamestown.com.