Family Escape Challenges

I know that lockdown has eased significantly, but I am amazed to find there is still a booming business for the likes of me to provide family challenges which utilise the skills I have from my other line of work. I also have to admit it can be more – fun, if I can use that word…

Let me give some examples. One family which answered my advertisement was one of five – mother, father, two teenage daughters and a ten-year-old boy. I first talked to the parents, both to get some idea of what they wanted and also to make sure they were all happy with what may happen, and got their agreement to call on the next Saturday morning.

When I arrived, I found that the father and son had gone out – as arranged, because the game scenario they had was that I had broken in and secured them before they got back. The mother was wearing a printed tunic, black leggings and knee length tan leather boots, while one daughter was wearing a long-sleeved grey top and black pants with the legs tucked into mid-calf grey boots. Her other daughter was wearing a long-sleeved top with striped sleeves and a cartoon owl on the front, dark jeans and cream coloured Ugg boots.

So I asked them to arrange three chairs from the dining table in a row, and then to make themselves comfortable while I gave them each a length of the rope I was going to use to hold. As they talked to each other, I started by using more of the rope to secure their ankles to the front legs of the chair, and then tied more rope round their waists to make sure they were secured against the chair backs.

I then, one by one, took the rope and guided their arms round the chair backs, then secured their wrists together and tied the ends round the central spar of the chair back. A simple tie, true, but an effective one.

Part of the game is always that they cannot talk to each other easily, so I used some pale blue tape to cover their mouths – before we waited for the return of the rest of the family.

So when the father and son came in, all three of the women started to struggle and try to raise the alarm – but I stepped in, and said I had to make sure they could not free them as well. While the son was wearing a red and blue lumberjack shirt, jeans and blue sandshoes, his father was wearing a dark blue polo shirt, beige jeans and brown shoes.

Well, they played along as well, as I took their hands behind their backs and used more of the rope to secure them together as well, before making them sit on the floor and making sure their ankles were secured together as well.

I then covered their mouths with more of the tape, and slipped out of the room, watching as they sat still for a few minutes and then both of the males of the family got onto their knees and shuffled over to go behind the two girls. They placed their mouths in reach of their fingers, waiting until the tape gags were slowly peeled away so that they could use their teeth to untie the wrists of the girls.

It took them about an hour to get free, and then we shared a drink before I left them to enjoy the rest of their day.

I can use a number of techniques to get the families ready to ply these escape games, depending on what they wanted and the age of the family. Take this example – a young couple in their late twenties, who had two sons of five and three years old. I sat down with them and agreed something simple, which all the family could do – using the same pale blue tape I had used for the previous family.

I started with the father, who was wearing a white top, blue jeans and brown shoes with white socks. He sat on the floor and allowed me to tape his wrists together behind his back, and his ankles together, his boys watching as I did so.

I then taped their mother’s wrists behind her back – she was wearing a pale blue t-shirt and jeans, but was barefoot. She then sat down behind their father, crossing her legs before I taped her ankles together, and then wrapped the tape round their upper arms and bodies to hold them together.

The boys walked over and looked at them, and then when their mother said it was their turn, I taped the wrists of each of them together in front of them, before they sat down and I taped their ankles together. The five-year-old was wearing a white t-shirt and grey cargo shorts, his brother a dark t-shirt and jeans rolled up to his knees.

I then told them I was going to out some tape over their parents’ mouths – but not theirs, because they had to encourage their mum and dad to get free and then free them. They nodded at this, as I taped over the mouths of the two adults – and then watched as they did just what they had to do, while their mum and dad tested round to get free…

Another family I arranged to play a game with wanted a bedtime scenario, which I was more than happy to help them with. Their son was eleven years old, with short fair hair, and when I came round was wearing a grey top with long sleeves and various moustaches printed in black on the front, candy striped pyjama bottoms, and red and blue socks.

His parents both had darker brown hair – his father was a large man, who was wearing a dark blue polo shirt, red and blue tartan bottoms, and red and blue socks, while his mother was wearing a long-sleeved grey top, dark grey leggings with coloured stripes, and red and white striped socks.

I explained the scenario would be an intruder had made sure they were tied together and silenced, but it would be possible to get out if they worked together. That seemed to be fine by them, so I opened the bag I had brought and took out some brown ropes.

The first thing I did was to make sure each of them had their wrists tied together in front of them, the rope going around and between their arms, and then I asked his mum and dad to sit back-to-back on the floor. Their son watched as I used more of the rope to secure their ankles together, as well as their legs below their knees, and then I got him to sit by their sides and cross his legs, before I secured his ankles together with another length of rope.

I then took out a much longer length of rope and wrapped it round all three of them, under the chest and round the arms of his mother, round his father’s arms and chest, and the bands sitting under his chin as the three of them were held together.

The final thing I did was to cover their mouths with strips of silver duct tape, before I set up (at their request) a camera and filmed them before I left it so they could see all three of them.

The way for them to free themselves was obvious, but it needed them to wriggle round for a bit in order to loosen up the bands of rope so that their son could slip out underneath – and then he managed to peel the tape from his mouth as the rope fell to the waist of his mother and father. He got onto his knees and removed the tape that was keeping his parents quiet, before all three started to work with their teeth on the knot holding the rope round their wrists in place.

I imagine all three of them slept well after I left them that night…

I can be a little stricter, make it a little more difficult if the family want it that way. One family I did this for had a father who was a bank manager, a mother who was a teacher, and two daughters aged twelve and nine. When I came to answer their call, the older girl was wearing a lime green top, a pink skirt, pink leggings with white polka dots and green socks. Her sister was wearing a red jumper, and blue leggings with white socks.

They sat having a drink as I talked to their parents. Their mother was wearing a grey top and blue jeans, the legs tucked into tan coloured riding boots, and their father a light blue shirt, jeans and brown shoes.

It was the twelve-year old’s birthday treat to play this game, and she was a big Nancy Drew fan – so they were going to be a family held hostage by the spy. It was also a day for red tape – liberal use of red tape.

All four of them sat on the floor, in front of a couch, and put their hands together palm to palm before I used a roll of red tape to secure their wrists together. I then made sure their ankles were securely taped together as well, the girls giggling as they heard the way their mother’s boots squeaked as she rubbed her legs together.

I then wrapped tape round the arms and upper body of each of them, making sure their arms stayed by their sides. The next stage was to get each of them to bend their knees, the soles of their feet, boots and shoes flat on the floor, and taped their wrists down to their upper legs above their knees.

The final stage was the obvious one – red tape over their mouths to keep them from making too much noise, before I sat back to keep an eye on them and make sure they came to no harm.

It was the mother who led the way this time – leaning forward and managing to free the tape from her mouth, before she slowly loosed the tape holding her wrists to her legs as the others twisted round. It took a couple of hours, but they all seemed to enjoy themselves…

So do I ever go as far as I would if I was there for another reason? Sometimes – take the three generations I visited a few weeks ago.

It was the grandmother who arranged this game – when I met them, she was wearing a yellow jumper, dark jeans and knee length black leather boots, a red wool scarf loosely tied round her neck. She had long greying brown hair – her daughter had the same shade of brown hair, and was wearing a black cardigan over a grey top, faded blue jeans and knee length tan leather boots.

There were also her grandson and granddaughter there. Her grandson was ten years old, and was smiling as he stood there in his grey shirt and jeans. His sister was thirteen, wearing a grey fleece with long dark blue sleeves, faded jeans and short black boots.

They wanted to experience a full home invasion escape event, as I advertise it – so I started by saying a robber would take care of the kids first, to make sure the adults did not try to raise the alarm. They seemed excited at that idea, so they stood in front of their mother and grandmother as I took their hands behind their backs, and secured their wrists together with rope. I then used longer ropes to secure their arms to their sides – even taking the ropes under one arm, up and around the back of their necks, and then under the other arm to make it tighter.

As they twisted round, I asked them both to sit on the floor, and they watched as more ropes were used to secure their ankles together, and then their legs below their knees. I kept talking to them through all of this, making sure they were happy and not scared, so they knew they were safe in my hands.

Once they were secured, I walked round to behind where their mother and grandmother were sitting, and took their mother’s hands behind her back before using another length of rope to secure her wrists – and then did the same for their grandmother. Both the children then watched as I used longer ropes to secure the upper bodies of the adults – which did mean their chests were forced up and out, but thankfully they did not ask any potentially awkward questions.

I then knelt down in front of them as they kept talking, using the ropes to secure their ankles as well as their legs below their knees – and the grandson did laugh at the sound of leather coming from all three of the others as their legs rubbed together.

The gagging came next – and at their grandmother’s request, I started with her, using her own scarf and pulling it between her lips as a cleave gag. Their mother was then gagged with a second long scarf – before I used rolled up bandanas as cleave gags for the children.

Looking at them, I then asked the grandmother if she really wanted me to do the last part – and when she nodded, I put four cushions on the floor, and helped them one by one to lie on their stomachs with their heads on the cushions. I used the last lengths of rope then to put all four of them in a hogtie, their ankles secured to the ropes round their chests.

I then left the means of escape within the grasp of the grandmother - a sharp knife where she could reach it with her fingers. They actually did not start to employ that for a while – they were quite content to twist round and try to talk to each other – before she rolled over and held the knife so their mother could use it to cut the ropes holding her in a hogtie, and then her wrists binding…

One more tale – and this was a slightly unusual one, because of the family involved. My instructions were to call when the parents were out – so I met the three children. Their son was fourteen, and was wearing a red checked shirt, black jeans and black shoes. The youngest daughter was eight, wearing a red tunic, leggings and short black boots.

Then there was the middle daughter – twelve years old, and also wearing a long red checked shirt, leggings and slipper s- as well as a black hijab round her head and neck. They invited me in, and said they were excited to be starting the game before their parents got back.

So I made sur they had all gone to the toilet, and then asked the son if he would like to help me secure his sisters. I showed him what to do – doubling the rope over to secure their wrists together behind their backs, then passing rope round their arms and stomachs to make it more difficult for them to move.

They then sat back-to-back on the couch as we secured their ankles together, as well as their legs below their knees – the son taking care of his older sister, me the younger sister. Finally, a long rope was used to secure them together round their waists.

Then it was time to take care of the man of the house – at least until his father got home. I did the same to him as his sisters – wrists tied together behind his back, then rope round his arms and stomach to lock them in place before he sat on an armchair. More ropes or secure his ankles together, and his legs below their knees, before I helped him to sit with his legs up – and tied his ankles to the rope round his stomach.

I had one last thing to do – make sure they were all kept nice and quiet with strips of silver tape over their mouths. It was as I was smoothing the tape over the son’s mouth that their parents came back in.

Their father was dressed in the same way as their son – a red checked shirt, dark jeans, but in his case red shoes. Their mother, however, was more traditional in her garb. She was wearing a long red dress with long sleeves, the bottoms of a pair of black leggings visible under the hem, and red heels – and her head was covered in a white hijab with a tartan print.

They checked all the children were all right, before allowing me to secure their wrists behind their back as well, and sitting back-to-back on a low footstool between the armchair and the couch. I then used more rope to bind them together round their arms and bodies, before making sure their ankles were tied together as well. I secured the father’s legs together below his knees, but for the mother I tied rope round her legs above her knees, gathering the skirt of her dress under it as I did so.

Finally, as with the kids, I gagged them with silver tape, as they all struggled and tried to move. I sat back as always to watch – wondering how long it would take the older girl to realise I had not secured her wrists as tightly as the others…

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