You can do the time without doing the crime at “Casemates”, the new escape game opening today at Locked on the Rock in Royal Naval Dockyard.The game is the third offered by “Locked” owners Nathan Swan and Ian Redford. The business launched in March 2018 with The Tucker Cross, and added Cup Match Hangover later that year.“Escape rooms generally have a prison break themed game, and as we try to focus on Bermuda history and culture as much as possible, Casemates made the most sense for us,” says Mr Redford, a bartender at Harry’s Bar in Pembroke.Named after the grim former West End prison, three jail cells await at Casemates. Teams of three to six people are put behind bars and have an hour to solve a puzzle so that they can make a prison break.Adjustable lighting and an audio track that includes howling winds and dripping pipes add to the experience. The game is operated from a control centre that includes CCTV so that operators can see and hear what is going on in the rooms.Mr Swan says: “With the set design, and moody lighting, it’s a theatre experience that you’re immersed in.”“Casemates” participants are given game guidelines in advance of their “imprisonment” with tips and hints on how to solve the puzzle. A “game master” is in touch during the game to provide clues.“The game master is your team-mate behind the scenes,” Mr Redford said.Mr Swan added: “They help if you are behind the pace, or if you are struggling with the puzzle. People can ask for help as well.”Solving the puzzle, Mr Redford says, is a matter of teamwork. “You have to work together with your team-mates to make sure you properly explore the rooms. From there, it’s a lot of deduction work.”Mr Swan said: “We want the puzzle to be solved in an hour, but as close to the hour as possible. We want you to get the full experience.”He said “Casemates” has been evolving since the first draft of it was formulated in March last year. “As of ten minutes ago, we were discussing changing a puzzle,” Mr Swan said yesterday morning. “Change is literally constant.”The escape room was built in March, with two test groups of Bermuda High School students visiting in September as part of their Steam studies. One team escaped in 52 minutes. More changes to the game followed.Mr Redford said: “Once you put people in the room, everything changes. How you see the puzzle in your head, and how people attempt to solve it is different.”Mr Swan said: “The flow of the game is the most important thing. You want to make sure the puzzle makes sense, and that people can solve it. During testing, you also learn quickly what is durable. People will try everything to get out.”He added: “People ask us all the time ‘are the rooms scary?’ and we say ‘it depends what scares you’. We don’t think so, but the adrenalin does get pumping, especially if you are on the last puzzle and time is winding down. It can get pretty intense.”Mr Redford said: “Screaming is allowed, we have had a lot of those.”Mr Swan added: “They’re more like excited screams than scared screams.”Locked on the Rock is open Friday through Sunday from 12.30pm until 7pm. Advance bookings are required during winter months. At $45 per person, and $25 for people under 13, they can be made online at www.lockedontherock.com, or by calling 232-5687. Gift vouchers are also available. From April until October, the facility is open seven days a week