Built on a foundation of mystery

A shared quest to spread genuine fun

The concept of an escape room is growing and quickly becoming a unique form of entertainment for many people in Fort Collins. Sitting down with Mark Durrant, the owner of Somewhere Secret, he explained the wholesome nature of the escape room and shared his passion for the game.

Q: What is your name and how long have you been working at Somewhere Secret?

A: My name is Mark Durrant and we started planning the business back in June of 2015 and we have been open since December- a little bit less than a year.

Q: What sparked the idea of wanting to open Somewhere Secret?

A: Well, my friend Cory, who is now my business partner, took me to a room in Boulder — the Enigma location in Boulder-and it was the first one I had done and it was fantastically fun and she said, “why don’t we start one,” and I said, “that sounds like a good idea.” It is funny because it sounded easy at first, we thought it would take just a couple months and then we would be in business and it took us about eight months, really.

Q: What was the hardest part about starting the business?

A: It took us a long time to design the puzzles and then finding a location that had the right feel took a very long time. It is easy to find an office complex or a warehouse complex that has vacant space but it doesn’t have any character- all fluorescent lights, ceiling tiles and cheap carpet. Those were the two things that took the longest time.

Q: Are you from Fort Collins? Is that how you found this location?

A: No, I live in Boulder. We started looking in Boulder originally but real estate is really tight there and it is really expensive. Boulder’s character didn’t really fit the game that we had designed. Boulder is slick and expensive and the art community there is not quite as vibrant as it is in Fort Collins. We ended up finding this place up here and it was a natural fit.

Q: What is your favorite part about running Somewhere Secret?

A: Watching the game, actually. It is like watching your own game show in a sense- the structure of the game is always the same but the people that are in it really bring the character. Every game is different. People get excited about some of the same things, but the overall flow and the feel is different every time.

Q: Do you think the popularity of escape rooms in Fort Collins is growing?

A: Yeah, you know a lot of people still haven’t heard of them and if they have heard of them they might not really even know what they are or haven’t done one yet. The first one in Colorado opened about a year and a half ago and there are now 15 or 20 in the front range that I know of. I think people like it because it is a different way to have fun. It is not passive entertainment- it is not like going to a movie. It is also not a big activity like going hiking or driving somewhere. I think the popularity is going to continue to grow, a lot of it by word of mouth. It is a funny business because until you close your room and remodel it and open again with a new design, there is no such thing as a repeat customer, in a sense. I look at the other escape games in town as friends. In a very superficial sense they are competitors, but really we are friends and we are trying to get the word out and get people to enjoy. Presumably we are in the business because we like it; we like escape games and we want to share it.

Q: You mentioned remodeling the room. How often does that need to be done?

A: Hopefully not too often. It will depend on a number of factors- how many people are coming through and if we start getting the feeling that everyone in town who wants to do our room has already done it then we will remodel it. Or if we just get bored of it. We are working on new puzzles already and as we do that we see things that we would have done differently with this room, so eventually it makes sense to just switch it over to a new design that will be better and enjoyable.

Q: What do you think is drawing people into wanting to try an escape room?

A: You know, part of it must be novelty. It is something that there is a certain buzz about it now and I think people are curious about it. I like that it is an immersive entertainment; it is not passive and you are apart of your own adventure. Generally speaking, the people in the room don’t check out. It’s like if you go to a bar with friends and the conversation gets boring and everybody pulls out their phones or they start watching the game- that doesn’t happen. It is funny because it has turned out to be a pretty good family activity. You get full age range from grandkids to grandparents. It is a way everyone can come together and have this experience together. It is almost like a holiday meal that brings everybody together.

Q: Aside from the fun that is had, what else do you think people take away from this experience?

A: You know, the reason that we have this treasure map and treasure hunt is that we wanted people to come away with a feeling that there is a little more going on out in the real world- there’s a little bit more magic out in the real world as well. Part of it is we hope people will come away with a feeling of being apart of something larger. It is a little like Lord of the Rings. The hobbits are sitting around in this great little town for awhile and then all of the sudden you realize they’re in this huge, epic journey. I hope people are taking that away. The team building aspect- I used to teach outdoor education and a lot of those team building activities have really shaped who I am today, like learning how to work with people, learning different communication styles and learning how to pull together and get a job done. I think we can all benefit from a little of that.

Q: What would you say to someone who is hesitant about trying Somewhere Secret?

A: That actually ties into another thing that makes us unique, since it is not technically an escape room, the door is not locked so you can leave at any time. We run on donations and you do not have to pay until after the game, there is really very little to lose. If you don’t like it, you can leave and you stay until the end and you didn’t like it, you don’t have to pay. There is not much to lose. Cory and I are trying to run a business where the primary goal is not actually to make money necessarily, it is to feel right to us and so that really ties into that. We don’t want people to give any more than they feel good about, we want every part of this experience to feel good to people.

Q: If you describe the experience of Somewhere Secret in one word, what would that word be?

A: One word, let’s see. Mystery is not quite right, but it’s in the right ball park. It ties in in a couple different ways. It is escape games in general are kind of a new thing, so they are a little mysterious. A lot of people don’t really know what they are getting in for when they show up, but they hear that it is fun and they want to try it. One of the goals of the room is really to rekindle that feeling of mystery and that feeling that there is more going on in life than just the daily grind. The little company that Cory and I formed to run this is actually called “Real Life Mysteries” and it doesn’t really come up very often because it is just paperwork, but that is what our original statement of purpose was- real life mysteries.