By Seojin Ha

Kimberly Abel never planned to own an escape room business. For years she worked as an industrial engineer and, as a kid, built mini haunted houses in her room just for fun. The idea for Escapism Portland didn’t arrive until a vacation to Europe. In 2014, she tried her first escape room and was hooked. At the time there were hardly any in the U.S., and none in Portland. “It was this really cool, weird concept,” she says. She came home, rented a tiny “hole in the wall” space, and opened one room part-time, just to see what would happen.

It took off. What started out as a side project has grown into three physical locations around the Portland area, with a total of six rooms, including a Cedar Mill location at 910 NW Joy Ave. Kimberly designed the first several rooms herself, drawing on the same mindset she used as an engineer. Before any wall gets painted or a prop is built, the experience lives on a flowchart: branching puzzle paths that eventually weave back together. Some clues use RFID chips and custom electronics her husband helps build. Others are simple, like mixing lemon juice, water, and baking soda to make pH strips that reveal a color code. 

At the Cedar Mill location, groups can test themselves in “The Magician’s Menagerie” (challenging) or “The Wizard’s Lair” (very challenging). Each room hosts private groups of two to twelve people for one-hour sessions – you will not be paired with strangers. Anyone can book through the website at escapismportland.com, and while everyone is welcome, players under eighteen should be supervised by an adult. 

The heart of an escape room, for Kimberly, is all about fairness. She tracks how often players ask for hints and tweaks puzzles that feel confusing. One of her favorite rooms succeeded because it relied on logic instead of fancy technology or intricate designs. “Even if you weren’t able to figure it out, you walked out thinking, ‘Oh, of course! That makes so much sense,’” she says. “I’m not trying to trick people. I want people to escape.”

Even years after Kimberly first sketched her ideas on paper, her rooms continue to challenge both newcomers and escape room veterans. On the night she hosts, she still stands just outside the door, listening to the screams, laughter, and cheers as the final lock clicks open.