NORFOLK, Neb. -- Encrypt Escape Rooms, which opened in October 2022, has captivated visitors with its challenging puzzles and family-friendly experiences.

“100% success rate so far," said Kiley. “Everybody gets out eventually.”

The business, run by Austin and Kiley Truex, took their first crack at escape rooms just a few years ago. 

“We ran an escape room before ever being a business,” said Austin. “So I was interning at the Elkhorn Valley Museum here in town at the time, we booked out two weeks. It was packed, and we said, okay, maybe Norfolk is ready for an actual escape room business."

Since then, they’ve surpassed just local fundraisers, successfully operating as their own business.

“We do everything in house,” said Austin. “We design and build, test and then run our rooms all ourselves.” 

The three separate escape rooms provide participants the opportunity to work together as a team. 

“Norfolk is such a great community, like people love to come in and do things, you know, with their families, with their friends,” said Austin. “You know, we have team building from companies come through.”

“We're just really passionate about the community of Norfolk, said Kiley. "And so when we had people reach out to us after the museum fundraiser and say, ‘Hey, this is something that Norfolk could use. This is something that would be beneficial to the community.’ That was something that really resonated with us.”