Tacoma, WA: Freighthouse Station Escape – HH Holmes

June 8, 2018 – The Celebrity Millennium dumped my family and me off in Vancouver, and after a hike across Vancouver and an eventful Greyhound bus ride (a story for another time, titled “Poodunit”), I arrived in Seattle.  My plan was to grab a rental car in Seattle and catch an escape room south of the city, and Tacoma seemed like a great candidate.

Traffic out of the city was possibly the worst I’ve ever been in, even compared to Chicago traffic after a major sports event.  It took hours to get out of Seattle, and I was thrilled when I finally got to Tacoma.

Freighthouse Station escape room is a neat place.  The room’s owner dedicates the profits toward supporting a local food bank, and many of the room’s game masters are volunteers involved in the charity one way or another.  It was a great way for the owner to contribute to a worthwhile cause.

The people at Freighthouse were very nice, and there were very nice prizes included for victorious teams.  Winners had the option between a specified prize or a luck of the draw with opening a locker.  I chose a locker and got a T-shirt from Freighthouse to remember my trip by.  It’s clear the customer experience means a lot to the people at Freighthouse.  They also did a good job telling the story of the charity and what it means to the community.

The room’s design was ambitious with plenty of space dedicated to the puzzles.  I have to admit the puzzle designs weren’t my favorite…  At one point I was able to skip a serious chunk of the room by virtue of having some outside knowledge, and the flow of puzzles was commonly confusing, with my dad and I regularly having confusing moments where we’d find clues with obscure hints for puzzles we already solved.

Still, the level of customer service involved made for an overall positive experience, and I walked away satisfied with my time at Freighthouse.  It’s neat to see that escape rooms have come far enough that they’re being woven into even educational and charitable activities, and Freighthouse is the first place I know that created a venture like this.