AmyPLG

For my daughter's 10th birthday, she wanted to go to an escape room. She's a real mystery buff and Nancy Drew fan. I called around to escape rooms in the area, but they all had either scary themes (she didn't want that) or were too difficult for a group of kids her age to pull off without help.

So, I checked the Internet and found a downloadable kit for exactly this purpose. I paid $20 to download it and another $40 to print (there was a lot to print)! Then, two days before the party (ha!), I read through the game and realized that it wasn't at all what I had in mind! It was more like a scavenger hunt with a story, whereas I knew my daughter expected puzzles and riddles.

I spent the next two days creating my own escape room for her party. Surprisingly, given how rushed I was in making it, it was a giant success! I've created many birthday parties for my three kids over the years, but this one was the best (yet)!

Coincidentally, I had just assigned a project to my psychology students in which they have to spend 12 to 15 hours working toward a goal of their choice. I assign it every year and try to commit myself to completing the project as well. In past years, I've learned to knit, play new songs on guitar, draw cartoon faces, and I even did a live performance of Rapper's Delight (just a couple of verses).

In 2017, I decided to start an Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/PartyLockerGames?) to sell the kit. I figured there had to be other parents out there who found birthday party ideas online, only to realize that gathering the supplies and putting together the parts ends up being expensive and time-consuming. Essentially, I made this kit for them.

In 2026, I began selling on Bonanza.