Locked In offers entertainment seekers an unusual ‘escape’ from typical challenges

In the middle of Lakeview, with its bars and restaurants, fun-seekers can find another, more unusual diversion: Locked In, a facility that’s part of a growing entertainment genre called escape games.

Locked In is described as a fun, challenging game for groups of two to eight friends, family members or co-workers who work together to find clues and solve puzzles in order to escape from a locked room in 60 minutes or less.

“It’s something unique and different to do,” said Phoenix Mann, one of the facility’s co-founders.

And Locked In has another selling point in the electronic age. 

“It gets people away from their phones and back to face-to-face interaction,” Mann said. “It’s a great way for humans to have fun with humans again.”

Located on Seventh Avenue South, the facility opened in 2015 and was named the fourth-best escape room in America in 2016 by USA Today.

Mann and co-founder Bill Kervaski are Birmingham-area natives who bring an interesting skill set to game creation. Mann is a forensic scientist, and Kervaski is a veteran and entrepreneur with a strong technology background.

They have a second location in Louisville, Kentucky, with more planned.

For more information, go to birmingham.lockedin.com.