Escapology, a popular national escape room venue with 73 locations around the world, announced it will be opening its second franchised Arizona location on Friday, Oct. 6 at Tempe Marketplace (2000 E. Rio Salado Pkwy, Ste 1029). This will be the third Escapology location that franchise owners and siblings Anna and Cody Stovall have opened. The first Escapology was opened in Farmington, New Mexico in 2019, followed by a location in SanTan Village in 2021.

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To celebrate the grand opening, the new location is giving away one free game ($180 value) of the exclusive escape room,

“Who Stole Mona?”, for up to four players. Participants interested must enter by following the instructions in this link. The giveaway will end on Oct. 4.

“We’re thrilled to open our second Arizona location at such a fun place like Tempe Marketplace,” said Anna Stovall. “Bringing these exciting escape room adventures to the Valley and giving the community a fun way to spend time with friends and family is our passion. We can’t wait to welcome our East Valley friends to this new space.”

The 4,500-square-foot space will feature five live interactive experiences played in private groups of up to eight people. Participants in the 60-minute adventures will solve puzzles, open locks and discover secret rooms while trying to escape. Each room is controlled by gamemasters tasked with supplying clues and offering support to players throughout the experience. New to this location and SanTan Village is KIDS MODE, where children command the space, learning and growing together through teamwork, problem-solving, and communication. Young detectives immerse themselves in engaging narratives, turning puzzles into learning adventures and using critical thinking to crack the mysteries.

The rooms include:

  • “Who Stole Mona?”: The world is in shock when news breaks that arguably the most famous painting in the world has been stolen, the Mona Lisa! The Louvre in Paris is offering a massive reward of $50 million for the missing Da Vinci piece’s safe return. As an underground art dealer with intel on the situation, you, the player, have it on good authority that the flamboyant and extremely dangerous Russian billionaire and art gallery owner, Vladimir Stepanov, is responsible for the theft. Only you have what it takes to retrieve the piece and collect your prize, but beware. Stepanov has a reputation as a ruthless and dangerous businessman – get caught, and there’s no telling what he will do.
  • “Narco”: An old school friend, Lewis Salinger, has tracked you all down through Facebook and invites you on a holiday of a lifetime. The invite promises a week you will never forget, including picking you up on his private jet and flying you to meet him at his mansion in the Caribbean. Unbeknown to you, the plane is not traveling to the Caribbean at all, but a private landing strip somewhere in South America. Promising enormous wealth, Salinger wants you to return to the US with some suitcases he has packed for you. If you don’t escape, you know you run the risk of becoming part of a dangerous drug cartel, and if caught, could face life behind bars. You soon realize there’s enough evidence to capture the drug lord once and for all. Will you choose to turn the drug lord in? Or will you become an important member of his operation?
  • “Mansion Murder”: You are Robert Montgomerie, the only remaining direct heir to the Kildermorie Estate and the Montgomerie family fortune. You’re attending a family gathering hosted by your grandfather, Hugh ‘Monty’ Montgomerie, the  Ninth Earl of Kildermorie, to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium. As the guests raise a toast, a scream fills the air…Your grandfather is found dead in the library – and it looks like MURDER!
  • “Seven Deadly Sins”: In the late 19th century, during an ill-fated Halloween service, the deranged minister of Crickley Church decided to kill his entire congregation after their confessions had convinced his twisted mind that they had, among themselves, committed the Seven Deadly Sins. As the congregation choked on their last breaths, the minister incited a curse on the children playing in the rooms beneath the church, and then buried himself alive in the church’s hidden crypt, determined to haunt the church forevermore. Your great grandfather was one of those innocent children. You began to think back on the mysterious deaths of family members and close friends ever since that fateful night.
  • “Lost City”: Archibald Tucker was one of the greatest explorers of the 1930s. His tales of adventure were renown worldwide, and his prized journal documented every adventure. While exploring an abandoned temple in The Lost City, he uncovered a treasure so rare, no man alive had seen it! A sudden gust of wind slams the temple door shut – sealing Tucker and his journal inside! Both were never seen again.

In November, three new games will be installed including “Batman,” “The Pirates Curse” and “Antidote 2.0.” The venue will be open on Monday through Thursday from 12 to 10 p.m., Fridays from 12 to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information about the new location, follow the venue on https://www.facebook.com/escapologytempe/ and https://www.instagram.com/escapologytempe/.