For years many residents have asked for more entertainment options in Bellevue. A new business in Olde Towne is now open for those looking for something fun to do with family, groups of friends, or on a date night.Â
Bellevue Breakout Escape Room and Smash (Bellevue Breakout for short) opened its doors relatively recently in Olde Towne. Located at 2237 Franklin, just east of Luigi’s Italian Restaurant, Bellevue Breakout offers two different escape rooms and also provides two rooms on the lower level for smashing items.
Co-owner and creator Austin Compton said when it came to location, they chose Bellevue for a few reasons. Austin is a property manager around the Omaha metro and he manages the Bellevue Breakout building for owner Mike Schlickbernd. “The property was vacant for awhile when we decided to open Bellevue Breakout”, Austin said. “My wife, Shea, and I are very into escapes rooms and so I pitched the idea to Mike that we could start our own business in the building. It took around 8 months to get everything constructed and all of the puzzles built and tested.”
The original idea was to offer a couple escape rooms. However as they had a whole lower level that was unused, they decided to add smash rooms. The Smash Rooms (they call them ‘Break Boxes’) offer customers the opportunity to throw, hit, shatter… and otherwise destroy a selection of items. When customers purchase time in a Break Box they receive a number of credits. The credits can be used to ‘purchase’ various items from a storage room. Items range in price from a few credits (mug or small picture frame) up to 100 credits (for large 70 inch TVs). Their inventory changes as some items are smashed and new items are brought in. They also accept donations of ‘smashable’ items.Â
They found that a few of their customers didn’t want to smash their items because they really liked them. It led the owners to create a new policy, “If you come here to smash and you like what you see, you don’t have to smash those items – you can take them home. Once you pay for them, those items are yours to keep or smash.”
Austin added, “We also offer a BYOB tier – ‘Bring Your Own Breakable’ where you can spend around half the price and bring your own stuff to smash.”
They currently offer two escape rooms and might add more in the future. Both ‘The Collector’ and ‘The Little Black Book’ offer a unique social, game-playing experience. In ‘The Collector’ your team of up to four people have been kidnapped. You start the game handcuffed to a pole in a cabin. You have to solve various puzzles to escape before the kidnapper returns. The first puzzle to solve is how to unlock the handcuffs.
‘The Little Black Book’ offers a different experience. The setting is a corrupt politician’s office and your team (of up to six people) has to find the politician’s Book of Secrets first and then escape the room.
Bellevue Breakout Escape Room and Smash is open 7 days a week: Monday-Saturday from 10am-10pm and Sundays from Noon-10pm. Walk ins are welcome but you can also schedule a time in advance. They can be reached by email at emma@bellevuebreakout.com
More information about Bellevue Breakout, including pricing and online booking, can be found at: https://www.bellevuebreakout.com/
