The Bemidji Pioneer
ANNUAL REPORT 2020
www.bemidjipioneer.com
HAVE
Saturday, August 1, 2020
E1
HEARD?
Robinson brings mystery to town with Minute59 By Annalise Braught abraught@bemidjipioneer.com BEMIDJI — From eyeglasses to escape rooms, Tricia Robinson’s experience, creativity and abilities run the gamut. Born and raised in Bemidji, Robinson worked primarily as an optician with Sanford Eye Center until about three years ago when she got the wild idea to open an escape room business. “Starting out, I was doing Sanford during the day and the escape room on nights and weekends,” she explained. “I did that for two years until last year in February when I left Sanford and became a full-time entrepreneur.” Robinson said the business idea came to her about four years ago after playing an escape room for the first time while on vacation with her teenage son, Joe, in Omaha, Neb. “I was like, what are you supposed to do with a 14-year-old when he’s stuck on vacation with his mom,” she said with a laugh. “So in looking for things to do, we played an escape room. It was so much fun I started thinking ‘Man, Bemidji needs one of these.’” She explained it was the same summer that PuttN-Go closed in Bemidji and she felt that local residents needed more options for recreational activities close by. After spending that fall researching and brain-
Annalise Braught / Bemidji Pioneer
Owner Tricia Robinson stands outside Minute59 Mystery and Escape Rooms in Bemidji. storming, in January Robinson signed a lease on the building that would become the home of Minute59 Mystery and Escape Rooms, located at 802 Paul Bunyan Drive SE, Suite 17, and opened to the public June 30, 2017. “It’s been really awesome to see people come in and sometimes at first be a little uncertain, but once they get in the room just have an absolute blast,” Robinson said. “A lot of times, by the time
they come out, they go ‘How many other rooms do you have? And are they open?’ because they have so much fun.” Each escape room has a theme and a goal to accomplish. When a group goes in, they have to use the clues, puzzles and riddles that are hidden in the room to reach their set goal within the 60-minute time frame. When asked how she comes up with the rooms and clues to complete
them, Robinson said it mostly involves a lot of trial and error. “I keep a book where I put all my ideas,” she said. “I have a list of all my room theme ideas that I think are cool, and I try to do things that are different or people might not see other places. Every time a puzzle or clue idea comes to me I add it, so I don’t forget.” She explained that most rooms have 12-15 puzzles, but she said it depends a
lot on how hard they are to figure out, so that number can vary. Many of the props and furniture in the rooms are created by Robinson herself, or they are already made things she has creatively repurposed. Robinson said she also enlists her father’s help to build specific things here and there. “When I’m ready to build a room, I look at the other rooms I have available and I pick a theme
that’s a little different,” she said. “I’ll have a historical room and one fantasy room, or whatever it might be, so that there is something for everybody.” So far, Robinson has been changing her rooms about once a year, though some have stuck around a little bit longer. A new room she has in the works has a garden theme, though, with the pandemic restrictions and increased sanitizing precautions, she isn’t sure when she will be able to open it to the public. Though she does find ideas and inspiration from other sources, because Robinson designs and creates the rooms herself, she said no one will ever play a room like hers anywhere else. “I love building the rooms, this,” Robinson said as she gestured to one of the rooms, “this, is my dream job.” Cost to book a room is $20 per person. Rooms currently available are “The Rescue of Professor Dawkins” and “Banshee!” which are open to four people to play at a time. She also has “Framed Fakes,” a large portable room made for groups of 12-30 players. Full descriptions of each room and booking information can be found on the Minute59 website. Annalise Braught is the managing editor at the Pioneer. She can be reached at (218) 333-9796.
Annalise Braught / Bemidji Pioneer
Banshee! is one of the escape rooms currently available to Minute59 Mystery and Escape Rooms is located at 802 The Rescue of Professor Dawkins is one of the escape play at Minute59 Mystery and Escape Rooms in Bemidji. Paul Bunyan Drive SE, Suite 17, in Bemidji. rooms currently available to play at Minute59 Mystery and Escape Rooms in Bemidji.
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