COVID-19 Mask Update

The health and well-being of our Guests and our staff remains our #1 priority.

In alignment with all recommendations from the CDC and the orders of the Governor of the State of NC, and the lifting of indoor mask mandate in Durham/Orange county on March 7th 2022, we have modified our policies to minimize the spread of Covid-19 as follows:

1. All games continue to be private bookings. We will not combine groups of strangers together in a single game.
2. Masks are NO LONGER REQUIRED for Customers, neither in the lobby nor the game rooms, regardless of vaccination status.
3. Staff will continue to wear masks while in the lobby and while Customer-facing. Staff are NOT required to wear mask in the control room, or performing non Customer-facing tasks.
4. We will NOT require nor ask for proof of vaccination under any circumstance.
5. We will continue to provide masks for people who request them.
6. We will continue to disinfect props in between games, and provide and encourage use of hand sanitizers.
7. We will continue to practice social distancing in the lobby and waiting areas, as best possible, to minimize interactions between different groups.

8. We will continue to provide Continuous air purification with HEPA H13 level filtration (removes 99.97% of particles above 0.1 micron) is in place.

Guests can help in the following ways:

1. If any player in your party is feeling sick, or has been exposed to someone who is sick, stay at home and feel better. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone exhibiting symptoms of an illness, for the health and safety of everyone. We will be happy to help you reschedule, and we are waiving our normal requirement of 24-hours advanced notice for rescheduling.

2. Arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to your scheduled start time, TOGETHER WITH ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR PARTY, to expedite check in and reduce exposure to others who may be entering or exiting our lobby.

3. Wash thoroughly with soap, and use hand sanitizer regularly throughout your game. Overall, use your best possible hygiene habits to prevent the spread of germs.

We appreciate your help in ensuring the health and safety of all our guests and staff!

NEW GAMES at our sister location - Tar Heel Escapes - Chapel Hill NC

Game of Crowns NOW OPEN at Tar Heel Escapes, the Triangle’s hottest new entertainment destination!

Claim your rightful seat on the throne, or you may lose more than your titles!!

60 minutes to find clues, solve puzzles, and escape! Only at Tar Heel Escapes, Chapel Hill NC

OPEN for Safe, PRIVATE Fun!

The health and well-being of our Guests and our staff remains our #1 priority.

In alignment with all recommendations from the CDC and the orders of the Governor of the State of NC, we have modified our policies to minimize the spread of Covid-19 as follows:

1. All games continue to be private bookings. We will not combine groups of strangers together in a single game.
2. Masks are still required for people who are NOT vaccinated, both in the lobby as well as in the game rooms.
3. People who ARE vaccinated are NOT required to wear masks, neither in the lobby nor in the game rooms.
4. We will NOT require nor ask for proof of vaccination. It will be the honor system.
5. We will continue to provide masks for people who request them.
6. Staff who are vaccinated are NOT required to wear masks. Staff who are NOT vaccinated ARE required to wear masks at all times.
7. We will continue to disinfect props in between games, and provide and encourage use of hand sanitizers.
8. We will continue to practice social distancing in the lobby and waiting areas, to minimize interactions between different groups.

9. We will continue to provide Continuous air purification with HEPA H13 level filtration (removes 99.97% of particles above 0.1 micron) is in place.

Guests can help in the following ways:

1. If any player in your party is feeling sick, or has been exposed to someone who is sick, stay at home and feel better. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone exhibiting symptoms of an illness, for the health and safety of everyone. We will be happy to help you reschedule, and we are waiving our normal requirement of 24-hours advanced notice for rescheduling.

2. Arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to your scheduled start time, TOGETHER WITH ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR PARTY, to expedite check in and reduce exposure to others who may be entering or exiting our lobby.

3. Wash thoroughly with soap, and use hand sanitizer regularly throughout your game. Overall, use your best possible hygiene habits to prevent the spread of germs.

4. Masks are encouraged in the lobby and public areas.

We appreciate your help in ensuring the health and safety of all our guests and staff!

OPEN for Safe, PRIVATE Fun!

The health and well-being of our Guests and our staff remains our #1 priority, even as we all begin to venture outside our homes according to government guidelines, and society begins to open back up to a new “normal.”

First, rest assured that all of our games are PRIVATE, so you will never play or interact with strangers!

Also, on top of our normal cleaning procedures, Bull City Escape has implemented additional precautions recommended by the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services & Centers for Disease Control to help protect against the spread of COVID-19:

1. We’ve modified our game schedule to practice “social distancing” to minimize interaction between separate groups. Rules may be covered inside individual escape rooms to minimize lobby traffic. Team photos will be taken outside, weather permitting, again to practice social distancing. See game availability at: https://www.bullcityescape.com/book-now, or call 919-627-8386.

2. Props and surfaces are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between every game.

3. Additional hand sanitizer is provided in each escape room and the lobby for all Guests and staff.

4. Staff will practice social distancing, and will wear masks.

5. Extra hand-washing for all Guests and staff is encouraged.

6. Continuous air purification with HEPA H13 level filtration (removes 99.97% of particles above 0.1 micron) is in place.

Guests can help in the following ways:

1. If any player in your party is feeling sick, or has been exposed to someone who is sick, stay at home and feel better. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone exhibiting symptoms of an illness, for the health and safety of everyone. We will be happy to help you reschedule, and we are waiving our normal requirement of 24-hours advanced notice for rescheduling.

2. Arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to your scheduled start time, TOGETHER WITH ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR PARTY, to expedite check in and reduce exposure to others who may be entering or exiting our lobby. Please remain outside the building until all members of your party are present, and your game operator directs you into the building.

3. Wash thoroughly with soap, and use hand sanitizer regularly throughout your game. Overall, use your best possible hygiene habits to prevent the spread of germs.

4. Masks are encouraged in the lobby and public areas.

We appreciate your help in ensuring the health and safety of all our guests and staff!

Extra Precautions for COVID-19

The health and wellness of our Guests and our staff is our #1 priority.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), COVID-19 is disseminated through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).  There are no known cases of transmission from surfaces (clothing, doorknobs, tabletops, etc) at this time.

Bull City Escape is following the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control recommendations on proper sanitization and other preventative efforts. On top of our normal procedures, we have implemented addition precautions to help protect against the spread of COVID-19:

1. We’ve modified our game schedule temporarily to allow only a SINGLE group/team in the entire building at a time, with additional time in between games to sanitize. See availability at: https://www.bullcityescape.com/book-now.

2. Props and surfaces are regularly cleaned and disinfected, but will be thoroughly wiped down with additional chemical disinfectant wipes between every game.

3. Additional hand sanitizer is provided in each escape room and the lobby for all Guests and staff.

4. “Social distancing” will be practiced, including rules being covered inside the rooms to minimize crowding in the lobby, when overlapping games are expected.

5. Team photos will be taken outside, weather permitting, again to practice social distancing.

6. Extra hand-washing for all guests and staff is encouraged.

Guests can help in the following ways:

1. If any player in your party is feeling sick, or has been exposed to someone who is sick, stay at home and feel better. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone exhibiting symptoms of an illness, for the health and safety of everyone. We will be happy to help you reschedule, and we are waiving our normal requirement of 24-hours advanced notice for rescheduling.

2. Wash thoroughly with soap, and use hand sanitizer regularly throughout your game. Overall, use your best possible hygiene habits to prevent the spread of germs.

3. Arrive promptly ~15 minutes prior to your scheduled start time, TOGETHER WITH ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR PARTY, to expedite check in and reduce exposure to others who may be entering or exiting our lobby.

We appreciate your help in ensuring the health and safety of all our guests and staff!

Bull City Escape - Best of the Triangle Finalist for 3rd Straight Year

Bull City Escape was named a finalist in Indy Week’s annual Best of the Triangle survey for the third straight year!

You read that right…for THREE STRAIGHT YEARS Triangle residents have selected Bull City Escape as one of the best places for indoor fun and entertainment in the Triangle!

“More than 57,000 people voted in the two rounds of this year’s Best of the Triangle contest, totaling more than 365,000 votes in 343 categories. That’s crazy.” - Jeffrey C. Billman, IndyWeek

We love providing Customers outstanding experiences, and we love consistency!

Thank you, Triangle!!!

Bull City Escape Renews Certification in Durham Living Wage Project

Bull City Escape has renewed its certification in the Durham Living Wage Project, an organization whose purpose is to promote a just economy where workers are paid fairly, employers are successful, and our community thrives as a result.

“We’re excited to continue our certification in the Durham Living Wage Project. In particular, this is a recognition of our great employees for all they do to serve our Customers, our business, our community, and one another.“ - Dan

To read more about the Durham Living Wage Project, click here.

Continuing the Tradition!

Earlier this year, Bull City Escape officially changed hands to new owners, Dan and Chrissi Harmon.

“We first visited Bull City Escape as Customers, and were blown away by the quality of the games and the passion of the staff. They were creating amazing Customer experiences. We just had to be a part of it!”

That commitment to Customer experience has built a huge, loyal fan base.

“Our Customers know we’re rooting for them. We want them to escape the room, but whether they escape or not, we do everything we can to make sure they have a great time.”

These (almost) North Carolina natives have lived in North Carolina for over 20 years, and raise 4 amazing children!

“This is an exciting new adventure for all of us! We’re so grateful to Alice and her staff for building such a successful business. We can’t wait to continue building these amazing experiences!”

We’d love to hear from you! Drop us a note at info@bullcityescape.com and let us know how we’re doing!

How Many Neuroscientists Does it Take to Unlock a Door?

By Vanessa Moss

Duke’s Summer Neuroscience Program kicked off their first week of research on June 4 with a standard morning meeting: schedules outlined, expectations reiterated, students introduced. But that afternoon, psychology and neuroscience professor Thomas Newpher and undergraduate student services coordinator Tyler Lee made the students play a very unconventional get-to-know-you game — locking them in a room with only one hour to escape.

Not the usual team building activity: Students in Duke’s 8-week Summer Neuroscience Program got to know each other while locked in a room.

Bull City Escape is one of a few escape rooms in the Triangle, but the only one to let private groups from schools or companies or families to come and rent out the space exclusively. Like a live-in video game, you’re given a dramatic plot with an inevitably disastrous end: The crown jewels have been stolen! The space ship is set to self-destruct! Someone has murdered Mr. Montgomery, the eccentric millionaire! With minutes to go, your rag-tag bunch scrambles to uncover clues to unlock locks that yield more clues to yet more locks and so on, until finally you discover the key code that releases you back to the real world.

16 scientists in total, this summer’s program dips into many subfields, in hopes of pushing the students (most of them seniors) toward an honors thesis. According to Newpher, in 2018 76% of the neuroscience students who graduated with distinction had done the SNP program at some point during their tenure as a student.

From “cognitive neuro” that addresses how behavior and psychology interacts with your neural network, to “translational neuro” which puts neurology in a medical context, to “molecular and cellular neuro” that looks at neurons’ complex functions, these students are handling subjects that are not for the faint of heart or dim of mind.

But do lab smarts carry over when you’re locked in a room with people you hardly know, a monitor bearing a big, red timer, blinking its way steadily toward zero?

Apparently so. The “intrepid team of astronauts” that voyaged into space were faced with codes and locks and hidden messages, all deciphered with seven minutes left on the clock, while the “crack-team of detectives” facing the death of Mr. Montgomery narrowly escaped, with less than a minute to spare. At one point, exasperated and staring at a muddled bunch of seemingly meaningless files, a student looked at Dr. Newpher and asked, “Is this a lesson in writing a methods section?”

The Bull City Escape website lists creative problem-solving, focus, attention to detail, and performance under pressure as a few of the skills a group hones by playing their game — all of which are relevant to this group of students, many of whom are pre-med. But hidden morals about clarity and strength-building aside, Newpher picked the activity because it allows different sides of people’s personalities to come out: “When you’re put in that stressful environment and the clock is ticking, it’s a great way to really get to know each other fast.”

Bull City Escape Earns 2019 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence

For the 3rd year in a row, Bull City Escape has been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. With over 150 reviews averaging 5-stars, Bull City Escape is ranked #1 for Fun & Games in Durham, North Carolina.

Now in its 9th year, the Certificate of Excellence designation recognizes establishments that consistently earn great TripAdvisor reviews from travelers.

The Certificate of Excellence accounts for the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travelers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.

Squad Goals! Durham Group Activities

By Ashley Strahm

Dive in to find your way out at Bull City Escape

This interactive experience will test your group's wits. You'll be locked in a room for 60 minutes; to escape, you'll have to find clues, solve puzzles, and crack codes. This escape game is sure to test your team members' communication, collaboration,and brain power.

Pros: You'll get to show off your super sleuthing skills. All of that Matlock has finally paid off.

Cons: Well, this is obvious - you're locked in a room with your coworkers for an hour. Team bonding, indeed.

Details: A maximum of eight people can play at the same time and the cost is $25 per person. To book a private event during the week, contact Bull City Escape directly.

The 3 best escape game spots in Durham

In search of a new favorite escape game spot?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top escape game spots around Durham, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're in the market for escape games.

1. Bull City Escape
Topping the list is Bull City Escape. Located at 711 Iredell St., the escape game spot is the highest rated escape game spot in Durham, boasting five stars out of 59 reviews on Yelp.

Bull City Escape. | Photo: Andrea J./Yelp

Durham Tech, Women’s Business Center help pave the way for Cheung’s great escape

There’s 60 minutes on the clock.

Friends, families, and colleagues are locked in a room and must work together to find clues, solve puzzles, and crack codes to find the key to the outside.

They’re called escape rooms and they’re on an upward trend in entertainment.

“Your entire group is working toward a common goal, but it requires so many different types of thinking,” said Alice Cheung, 30, owner of Bull City Escape. “When you’re under the time pressure it really highlights people’s individual strengths within a collaborative group effort.”

Cheung brought this interactive experience to Durham in 2015 after attending a joint seminar by the Durham Tech Small Business Center and the Women’s Business Center of North Carolina.

“The seminar gave me the confidence I needed to open the business,” said Cheung. “I wouldn’t consider myself a natural entrepreneur so that was a big mental hurdle to overcome. But being in that space and being aware of all of these free resources made me realize that there’s a community here that’s going to be supportive.”

The idea stemmed from a leisure scroll on TripAdvisor during a vacation Cheung took to Nashville.

“I was just looking for things to do when I found an escape room. I decided to try it and loved it, then I looked more purposefully at escape rooms when I traveled,” said Cheung. “The more I played, the more I kept thinking about what I would do differently. There was nothing like it in Durham or the Triangle at the time so I thought this would be the perfect place for this sort of thing.”

When the idea hit, Cheung was working full-time at Duke University. She opened the business in summer 2015 by additionally working nights and weekends, but just a few months in, she decided to leave Duke and operate Bull City Escape full-time.

“When I started in 2015, it was such a new idea. It was hard to explain what escape rooms were to get business insurance. It felt pretty isolating at first, but the small business seminar was so supportive and excited to hear what plans I had. It made me feel more confident about talking to other people about it and it opened up a whole network community within Durham that I’m extremely grateful for and rely on every day.”

Bull City Escape features three game rooms, all designed in-house and unique to their facility.

“It was just a lot of notes jotted down at first, but the seminar helped make it concrete,” Cheung said. “It really gave me the confidence to be able to do this, otherwise I think they’d just be vague ideas that I keep dreaming of, but wouldn’t necessarily know how to implement.”

Cheung also supports the Durham Living Wage Project, which urges employers to pay living wages so that all workers can prosper.

“I’ve been able to hire and build a team that I trust 100 percent and are amazing,” Cheung said. “I feel more deeply connected to people who live and work in Durham and it’s an honor to be able to contribute to the health of this community and help build the kind of city that I want to live in.”

Cheung says she’s grateful for the Durham Tech Small Business Center and Women’s Business Center of North Carolina for resources they offer small business owners.

“It was great to see how supportive Durham is of small businesses,” Cheung said. “Seeing so many people who are passionate about small businesses and contributing to the growth of Durham was really inspiring and motivational.”

Bull City Escape is open Thursday through Sunday and located at 711 Iredell Street in Durham.

To learn more about small business seminars offered by Durham Tech, please visit: https://www.durhamtech.edu/sbc/

Bull City Escape Earns 2018 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence

Bull City Escape has been awarded the 2018 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. Bull City Escape is ranked #1 for Fun & Games in Durham, North Carolina.

Now in its 8th year, the Certificate of Excellence designation recognizes establishments that consistently earn great TripAdvisor reviews from travelers.

The Certificate of Excellence accounts for the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travelers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.