Mississippi Mind Trap escapes to the '80s

Mississippi Mind Trap celebrated its fifth anniversary this month and were recently named 2nd in the top ten list of best escape rooms in Missouri by Trip Advisor.

From Connect Four, Battleship and much more, their newest room is filled with the colorful fun the decade is known for.

The room is a Mississippi Mind Trap original with the concept and the props inside the room created by owners, Eddie and Tracy Lennox.

A retro wall was painted by Hannibal High School art teacher James Zimmerman, and the furniture was built or refurbished by Eddie Lennox. Several of the games and other elements in the room were also created by Eddie with a wood router and 3-D printer.

Other rooms at Mississippi Mind Trap use escape room kits, such as the “Scrooge!” room, which is also now open and guides players through the traditional ghosts of Christmas to attempt to warm Scrooge’s heart within the allotted 60 minutes.

But even those rooms have original elements within the room, with items hand-painted by Tracy or built by Eddie.

Just as the escape room is a family business for them, they want others to know that it’s a family activity. While the rooms are meant to challenge players, they are also designed with the answers right in the room.

There is no prior knowledge or preparation required to play and win the escape room.

Tracy pointed out a poster on the wall of ‘80s bands and said players were trying to figure out who the singers were, but she said they could have found the answer right there in the room.

“Anytime there is something like that in the room, there is something here that will tell you the answer,” she said, adding that some answers to clues are much simpler than people think.

In fact, Tracy said sometimes the youngest in the room are the ones who get the answers first. She said kids 7-years-old and up enjoy participating in the fun.

“It’s funny sometimes because the kids will have the answer but the parents aren’t hearing them,” she said. “And we are like, ‘Yes! That’s it! Listen to your kid!’”

Tracy, Eddie and other employees at Mississippi Mind Trap get an inside look at people doing the escape room through a camera as they interact with players as gamemasters.

The gamemasters can provide helpful hints to players along the way over a microphone that connects to the room. They said the job is a lot of fun but also intense.

“We tell our gamemasters that we basically want them to be another person in the room. They do the puzzles along with the players,” Eddie said. “Because they are going to ask for clues — it’s going to happen. So you have to be on top of where they are at and what they are doing.”

Gamemasters also must focus on the timing. When players ask for clues they are meant to provide a nudge but not change the challenge level of the game.

“The whole point is to challenge yourself so getting too many clues early on could result in flying through the rest of the room sometimes,” he said.

Tracy added that the ideal time for players to escape is with less than minutes left on the clock.

“You can really see them sweating bullets in there whenever it gets close to time,” Eddie agreed.

Perhaps some of the success of Mississippi Mind Trap comes from Eddie and Tracy’s love of the game themselves. The couple has been through 65 escape rooms all around the country, including one in Canada.

“Every time we travel, we have to go to an escape room,” Tracy said.

Not only has this helped their creativity with rooms, but also with knowledge as avid players themselves on what is a fair level of play.

“We know what’s fair and what’s just foul play,” Eddie said.

He also mentioned a little problem you might have if you come out to try the ‘80s game night room.

“If you can’t win all of the games then you are stuck in the ‘80s,” he said. “Which doesn’t really sound that bad at all.”

For more information on Mississippi Mind Trap or to purchase tickets visit mississippimindtrap.com or follow them on Facebook at Mississippi Mind Trap escape room.