Cracking codes, translating riddles and finding a way out of hard-to-navigate spaces in just 60 minutes are what draw customers to Johnston’s Ocean State Escape LLC.
Owner Leonard Albanese opened the escape room last summer, after he was laid off. He and his family decided to open a business that mirrored their family vacations. According to his daughter, Rachel Albanese, they go to a different escape room every month. They’ve completed more than 70 so far.
“I was thinking, why am I searching for someone to employ me when I could just employ myself,” said Leonard Albanese.
His business has three difficult rooms with 16-20 puzzles in each. There’s Nonna’s House, where guests have to decode their grandmother’s love for gambling at the local casino and get her out of trouble.
Mischievous Elves’ guests have to unlock the Naughty and Nice List by following a breadcrumb trail of clues. The last room, Mummy’s Curse, involves an ancient mummy that traps guests in a museum.
Business has gone well enough that Leonard Albanese expects a fourth room to open by the end of the year and a fifth to open by March.
Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com.
