Bragging Rights Earned! Meet the Blue Line team, who solved the Escape Room puzzle in the quickest time at the New Year’s Eve Escape Room hosted by the City of Kemmerer in Old Town Hall. Team participants Mike, Diane and Kayla Kahre, Nicole and John Stezenbach, Jessica Kahre, Noah Johnson and Michael Kahre. (COURTESY PHOTO / Andrew Nelson)

Another year is behind us, and many Kemmerer residents rang in the new year pretending to be trapped in an old Kemmerer mine shaft.

Kemmerer City Administrator Andrew Nelson designed and hosted “Trapped,” an escape room game.

The second annual escape room event was held over the New Year’s weekend in the Old Town Hall building. More than 70 participants played the game over the two-day schedule.

Nelson explained that an escape room is an immersive game where the players are “locked” in a room or series of rooms with only one hour to complete various puzzles, combinations, and tasks in order to “break out.”

“Players are faced with puzzles that seemingly make no sense,” Nelson said. “But with teamwork, logic, and luck they are able to crack the codes to win.”

This year’s theme was based on Kemmerer’s mining history. Participants became “trapped” in an old mine shaft. 

Last year’s theme was based on the tales of Kemmerer’s moonshine history.

“It was so much fun, even if our team came in last,” said participant Noel Jernigan. “I hope (they) do it again next year, so I can bring my family from Utah to join me.”

The Kemmerer Fire Department provided air tanks as props and Lois Hicks lent her crafting skills to create a life-like coal mining cart that made the whole game more intense.

If you missed last weekend’s game and would like to partipate in the escape room, contact Kemmerer City Hall to make an advance reservation. 

“I will be leaving this game set up in that office suite of Old Town Hall until we have a tenant interested in renting the space,” Nelson said.