Escape the Box: A Time Travel-themed Outdoor Escape Game

Escape the Box is running daily across downtown Austin, a time-travel-themed outdoor escape game that turns a city neighborhood into a game board. It's put on by Wishing Horse Productions, an immersive experience design agency based here in Austin. The agency was co-founded in the spring of 2020 by the married couple Aris Roberts-Kelly, CEO, and Mark W. Downs, Creative Director, and they hosted their first event in March 2021. The two draw on decades of experience in team building, user experience, film studies, and puzzle design, and you can feel that background in how the game is put together.

The experience blends a scavenger hunt, an escape game, and a time-travel mystery. Your team cracks codes, solves puzzles, and completes photo challenges to get back to the present—or risk being lost in time forever. Along the way, you'll explore the city, interact with public art, and uncover local history, guided by clues and artifacts like vintage maps, cipher wheels, mixtapes, and telegrams. Every adventure starts with a live hosted introduction.

It's built for groups of four to ten players aged 10 and up, and advance reservations are required. There are two locations to choose from: the Texas State Capitol (1100 Congress) and the Second Street District. At the Capitol, games run at 11 AM and 2 PM; in the Second Street District, they're at 1 PM and 4 PM. Tickets are $41.34 including taxes and fees.