Sealed by Fate offers mysteries and thrills in 60 minutes

Solve the mystery of a missing actress, escape from a burning building or discover pirate treasure at Sealed By Fate, Poway’s new escape room business.

Sealed By Fate, at 12544 Kirkham Court, Suite 5, in the Poway Business Park, opened for business the past weekend. It has six different escape room experiences for a group to try and solve. Groups (at least two people per room, ranging up to six or eight, depending on the room and its size) have one hour to solve a variety of puzzles and unlock the door to escape.

Danielle Spartz, the owner, said she wanted to start an escape room because she loved the idea of getting people out of the house and interacting away from computers and screens. “It gets people talking and working together,” Spartz said.

Spartz said she was initially an engineer who retired from her job to raise her four children. She was heavily involved in volunteering for her children’s schools and now that her youngest is a junior in high school, was looking to open her own business. She is a 17-year Poway resident.

She discovered her love for escape rooms while participating in one with her nephew in New York. “We did a one-hour escape room and I was addicted,” she said. After doing some research into escape rooms and talking to other owners, she said she decided it was feasible to open her own.

The business is a family affair, she said, as her two eldest children have been helping her with the marketing and business financials, while her younger children have been helping her prepare and set up the escape rooms.

The rooms are The Cabin, Exit Protocol, Tarot Card Mystery, Blackbeard’s Treasure, The Loft and Stage Call.

In The Cabin, which is the only escape room that contains content not suitable for children, puts the players in what is supposed to be a relaxing getaway in the woods in a cabin. When the players arrive, however, they discover someone had been there and the players are trapped, thanks to an incoming storm, and only have one hour to call emergency services before the visitors return. It is for two to eight players.

Exit Protocol places the players in the role of CIA agents, who must retrieve classified information and neutralize the compromised office before enemy assets arrive. This room is also for two to eight players.

In Tarot Card Mystery, the players visit a store to speak to a mysterious gypsy fortuneteller about their missing daughter, when the woman disappears. The players must then solve the mystery before it is too late to find their daughter. This room is for two to six players.

Players can search for pirate treasure in Blackbeard’s Treasure, a room for two to eight players. In this room, players must find the treasure and escape with it before the pirates track you down.

In The Loft, players are trapped in an on-fire luxury high-rise apartment after the electronic door locks fail. They have one hour to escape the apartment before the building is engulfed in flames. This room is for two to six players.

The final room, Stage Call, players discover the starlet of the show is missing and have one hour to find her before it is too late. This room is for two to five players.

Spartz said her future plans for the rooms include changing up the décor and puzzles for holidays and adapting puzzles to make them more child-friendly for daytime visits, such as “mommy and me” escape room times or field trips for elementary school students. This could include adapting the puzzle clues to incorporate what the students are studying at the time, she added.

The cost to participate in an escape room experience is $27 per person for a public session (small groups, must be 18 or older and open to others joining them) or $30 per person for a private session (all ages). Private groups meeting the maximum player count receive a 10 percent discount. Spartz also offers a 15 percent discount for military, fire and law enforcement.

For more information or to book a session, call or text 858-413-7865 or visit sealedbyfate.com.

Email: news@pomeradonews.com