The Lake House
A locked porch, a dark boathouse, one way off the dock.
The room
It is night at the lake. The house is locked, the boathouse is dark, and the clock is already running. Somewhere between the porch, the dock, the yard and the rooms inside are the keys and the codes that get you out.
The Lake House is the first room in Group Chat Escape, an escape room you play in a group chat. A game master tells the story in cards. You and your friends talk in bubbles underneath, and you act by typing what you do in the same box. The game master is an AI, and every card it writes carries an AI label. It narrates. Code decides if you're right.
The Lake House is more than one room. Each has its own story, its own locks and its own answers, and you never get one you have already played.
Three difficulties
- Easy. The short room. It runs up to 15 minutes. Wrong codes cost 30 seconds. A good first room.
- Medium. The full room. It runs up to 45 minutes. Wrong codes cost 30 seconds, and hint 3 gives the answer any time.
- Hard. The full room, stricter. It runs up to 45 minutes. Wrong codes cost 60 seconds, and hint 3 waits until ten minutes are left.
What each phone holds
When the room starts, every player gets a private card that nobody else can see: a role, a clue, a piece of a code. The keypad on one door might need a year from one card and a count from another, and no single phone holds the whole thing. A group that reads its cards out and listens gets out. A group where one person tries to solve everything stalls.
When a lock opens, the game master says whose cards held the pieces, so the quiet friend with the key fact gets the credit.
How a night goes
- One person starts a room. Pick a difficulty, put in a first name, and pay once for the whole group.
- Text the link. Up to 6 friends open it in their phone's browser. No app, no sign-up, no video call.
- Start when everyone is in. The game master sets the scene and every phone gets its card.
- Get out. Open the last door before the clock runs out. You get your time, your awards, and an escape card with the team's names on it to post.
On your phone
What it costs
One payment covers the room for everyone. With friends, up to 6 phones: Easy is $3.99, Medium $5.99, Hard $7.99. Solo with AI teammates: Easy is $1.99, Medium $3.99, Hard $5.99. Six friends in a room pay about a dollar each. Haven't started your room? Full refund within 14 days.
Good to know
- Up to 6 players from one link, or 1 with AI teammates. They're AI, not people, and they say so.
- Group Chat Escape is for players 18 and up.
- It runs in the phone's browser. You text your friends the link, and the game has its own chat.
- More rooms are on the way. The Lake House is the one you can play today.
Group rooms from $3.99. Up to 6 from one link, or solo with AI teammates. No app. 18 and up.