FAQ
WHAT IS PURSUE THE CLUES?
Pursue the Clues offers immersive, on-site, interactive experience for teams of 4 or more. After purchasing a ticket for one of our experiences, you'll be brought into it with a task ahead of you. You'll have 60 minutes to solve a mystery, find a stolen artifact, prove someone's guilt (or innocence), or any other number of challenges. You'll interact with other group members and the environment itself to complete your goal. Basically, you'll be doing your best to think like Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, or 007, with a mission or mystery provided by us.
DO YOU HAVE MULTIPLE LOCATIONS?
Not yet! Currently, our Torrington, Connecticut location is our only one. We do travel for off-site experiences if you are interested in setting something up closer to you. That said, if you are interested in opening up a franchise, send us a line!
WHAT ARE YOUR HOURS?
We are available for bookings every day of the week. We generally reserve weekdays for private parties and corporate events, while we reserve the weekends for the general public, who can buy tickets on our booking page. If we do not have bookings, our doors are generally closed. If you make a booking, we will be fully operational for the time you have reserved. You can always contact us via email if you have a time that works best for your group that is not available on our site, or if you have any other questions regarding our open hours.
WHAT IS THE COST?
Standard bookings (bookings purchased through our website’s booking page) cost $32 per person. The base fee for private bookings (any booking request not completed through our booking software) cost $225, $430, and $650 plus tax for groups of up to 6, 12, and 18, respectively. There are additional costs such as catering and special requests. Other bookings such as corporate events, off-site team-building workshops, off-site pop-up games, and other special bookings are quoted individually, as we cater to specific goals and requirements specific to the event.
DO YOU TAKE WALK-INS?
Our entire staff works on-demand. If there are no bookings in the calendar, it is likely that our gamemasters are not on-site. You must book by going to our bookings page and making a reservation or by contacting us if you want to request a time that is not available on our calendar.
ARE YOU OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?
Yes! Any available start time you find on our bookings page is open for you to make a reservation. We are open to the public Thursday through Sunday, while we are open throughout the week only for private parties and corporate groups. If there is a start time you want but it is not available on our calendar, contact us and we will try to accommodate you (even if the start time you want is on a weekday).
IS THERE ANY WAY TO PREPARE? I AM VERY COMPETITIVE AND WANT TO WIN!
There is nothing you can do prior to arriving to prepare for one of our experiences. There is nothing you can Google, nothing your smartphone will help you with, and nothing we have revealed on this website to clue you in. When you enter a room, you'll need to rely on your wits, observation skills, and ability to work together in order to accomplish a common goal. You do get better each time you play, so if you are terrible on your first visit, you will at least know what kind of experience to expect next time!
IS IT SCARY?
No. Each of our experiences was created to excite and challenge you, but not to frighten you. There might be some darker themes, but you are never trapped, in danger, or in an unsafe environment.
IS THIS AN ESCAPE ROOM?
Yes and no. "Escape Room" is the industry term for what Pursue the Clues is, but it is not very inclusive of what we do. You're never trapped or locked in an experience as we have not themed them that way. You'll be proving someones innocence, finding a lost artifact, solving a mystery, or any other number of challenges, but you'll never be trying to escape anything. Once you enter a room, the doors moving forward may be locked, but you can always exit through the door you entered if you need to use the restroom or leave for any reason. For movie buffs out there, it's more like something you'd see in a James Bond or Indiana Jones film than something out of Saw.
WILL WE BE LOCKED IN?
No. You can literally walk out the door at anytime if you need to use the phone, restroom, or if you just don't like having fun. The term "Escape Room" was created when the first real-life businesses of this type designed their games with storylines centered on escaping a room. To beat those games, you would have to literally get out of a room to win. Our storylines will have you solving crime, saving lives, and working undercover, but you are never locked up and you will never need to escape a room to win.
IS THERE AN AGE REQUIREMENT?
At least 1 adult is required for each team although we recommend a minimum of at least 2. Parents regularly bring their infants, toddlers, and teens in to play with them. While our experiences were designed for adults, kids love to play. Kids and teens are not capable of playing without adults (we know you’re kid is much smarter and more mature than other kids, but even so, adults must be present). The more diverse your team is, the more fun everyone will have while working through the challenges and attempting to win.
If you are an adult coming to play with younger players, do not think of yourself as a chaperone. You’ll need to get involved in your team hopes to win.
I JUST WANT MY KIDS TO PLAY, DO I REALLY HAVE TO CHAPERONE THEM?
To be clear, when you are the adult in the room, you are not a chaperone. You are a player. If you walk in with the mindset that you are a chaperone, and that you are there to let the kids play, you will all lose. We pride ourselves on creating challenging, engaging, and fun experiences. That said, if anyone takes a backseat during the 60 minutes, your team will not get very far.
I JUST WANT TO PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS, DO I REALLY NEED A CHAPERONE?
If you are under the age of 18, you need at least one adult to play. They will not be chaperoning you, they will be trying their hardest, as will you and your friends, to win within the 60-minute time limit. These experiences were designed for adults, and you will be thankful they are playing once the timer starts. Some of the most common lines we hear after a game is “we would’ve gotten nowhere without dad” or “how did mom know how to do that?” - this rule is put in place to ensure you have a great experience.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM LATE?
This is hugely important. Please do not be late. When booking a ticket you will see on the booking page, on the checkout page, and in the confirmation email that we ask you to arrive at least 15 minutes before your start time because our entire business runs on a very tight schedule. If you arrive after your start time, much like if you arrive after the gate closes at an airport, we cannot continue with the reservation. There are two reasons for this:
We have a small window of time between bookings to prepare for the next group. If we allow your party to start late, it would offset the schedule for the rest of the day.
A late start time would require us to stop a group early in order to accommodate for an upcoming booking. Ending your session early would surely lead to you having a bad experience. Our business runs on positive reviews, so the last thing we want is for you to have a bad time.
The good news is if you come early, there are plenty of games and activities for you in our waiting areas. Come have some fun and relax before you get started!
CAN I COME BY MYSELF?
Each experience requires a group of 4 to 6 to be played. If you would like to come but you cannot find a group to join you, give us a call and we will try to find a group for you to join. Be aware, however, that playing with strangers can be hard, as team chemistry is a must in order to succeed.
WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF PLAYERS?
Each of our experiences can handle 6 people at a time. If you have a group of more than 6, you'll be split into multiple teams. You might also want to consider booking a private party, which will give you much more freedom in using our space and come with discounts on any of our merchandise!
WHERE DO I PARK?
We are located at 733 East Main Street in Torrington. It is a business condominium with an upper and lower level. We are on the lower level but there is much more room for parking on the upper level. If you park on the upper level, take the stairs on the side of the building down to the lower level to find us in the unit closest to East Main Street.
If you are driving North on Route 8, take exit 44, then a right off the exit, drive a half mile to pass Nathaniel Street on the left (where you will see our smaller parking lot). Continue driving about 150 feet to Arlene Street, where you will find our larger parking lot.
CAN WE WIN ANYTHING?
Every now and then, a restaurant or other sponsor will give us items to hide in the games (such as gift card, restaurant vouchers, stickers, or other gifts). If you find something that you think might be a prize, be sure to ask the gamemaster before taking it home! There is no guarantee that you will find a prize or that there will be one, it is fully dependent on partnerships and sponsors we have at any given time.
If you are interested in providing gifts for players, reach out to us and let us know what you have in mind!
DO YOU HOST CORPORATE EVENTS?
Yes! We operate throughout the week solely for private groups, especially corporate outings and those looking for team-building activities. We have packages and add-ons to create anything from a full-day event, completely focused on boosting productivity, to a 2-hour event for a fun, stress-free outing away from the everyday office setting. See our Private Events Page for more information.
DO YOU HOST BIRTHDAYS OR PRIVATE PARTIES?
Yes! We operate throughout the week solely for private groups and events. We have a party planner on staff to create your ideal event whether you're celebrating a birthday, retirement, anniversary, or if you're just looking to take your wedding party out for some fun. Our packages and add-ons allow for anything from a 2-hour event to play our interactive games and use our party room, to a full-day event with free reign of our green screen for pictures, delicious food, and more games than you can play in a day. Take a look at our Private Events Page for more information.
ARE YOU ONLY OPEN ON THE WEEKENDS?
We are open throughout the week for private parties and corporate events, and open to the public on weekends. That said, we can try to accommodate you if you would like to play during a time not listed on our calendar. Just send us an email and we'll try our best to work something out.
DO I NEED TO BOOK ONLINE BEFORE COMING?
There is no guarantee that we can accommodate walk-in groups. Bookings must be made through our “Book Now” page or by booking a private event. Each experience is planned in advance for the group that we are expecting, at the start time they have paid for. If you arrive on-site and there happens to be an open reservation, we will try to accommodate your group accordingly, but there is no guarantee. Go to our Bookings Page to make a reservation or contact our team to schedule a private event.
I'VE PLAYED ONCE, CAN I COME A SECOND TIME?
We have more than one experience on-site and hope you come back to complete them all! We do not recommend playing the same experience after playing it once because having already played it, it won't be fun for you and you might take away from the experience for people that have not yet played it through. If you want to come again (and we hope you do!) try one of our other experiences!
CAN I ADD A PERSON TO OUR GAME?
Each of our experiences can handle 6 people at a time. If you book an experience for your group and come with additional people, we can only accommodate for 6 people per experience. If you come with enough people to play multiple games, we will attempt to set it up so that everyone can begin at the same time, but we can only do this if the other experiences have open spots.
DO YOU SERVE ALCOHOL? CAN I BRING ANY?
Please do not bring food or beverages of any kind. The only time we allow for alcohol to be on our premises is when a private event is booked and the group decides to make use of our BYOB/BYOW policy. Even then, all drinks are kept cold in our refrigerator until after the games are played.