While the premise might be simple, the execution can be downright baffling and nail-biting.

But ultimately rewarding for those clever enough to crack the case.

A live, immersive and physical puzzle experience, escape rooms see a team of two to eight people "locked" inside a themed room. Then, using only ingenuity, savvy and persistence -- a la James Bond or Steve McQueen -- the unit must figure out a way to break free in the allotted one-hour time span.

Combining the best of theater, brain games and team-building, escape rooms have exploded in popularity -- and income generation -- worldwide.

And now they've come to Pueblo.

On the North Side, Steel City Escapes, 1112 Eagleridge Blvd., offers visitors two different escape challenges. The expert-level Extraction is centered around the office of a dentist with a penchant for painful and heavy-handed tooth extractions.

The more intermediary-level Conspiracy, a KGB-themed adventure, places "CIA spies" in a storage room, a single light dangling from the ceiling, with some nasty Russians on the scent.

On the other side of town, SoCo Escape Room, located inside Big Daddy Sunset Bowl, 1227 S. Prairie Ave., invites potential escapees into The Vault. There, the "notorious thieves" must break into a double-crossed thug's private vault to retrieve the Enigma Key and secure freedom.

Within each room, clues -- sometimes hidden in plain sight, others less obvious -- must be located, deciphered and pieced together like a puzzle, lest the hour expire without an exit.

Livvy Nallipogu, one of the owners of Steel City Escapes, said the time was right for Puebloans to experience what the break-out hoopla is all about.

"Every time we wanted to do something like this, we had to go to Colorado Springs. And I hate that," Nallipogu said. "We felt that Pueblo, which we believe has a lot of character, should have something like this."

In addition to the bonding aspect and solidifying of a team spirit -- escape rooms are popular among corporate groups, college classmates, bachelor parties and so forth -- the challenge forces participants to think outside the box.

Or in this case, the room.

"If you're going to get out, you're going to have to think beyond what is normal," Nallipogu explained. "And most people can't do it alone. That's why teamwork is so important.

"And in the end, this will either build you or break you."

At the SoCo Escape Room, Tierra Bonser, who owns the business with her sister Tene Greenhood, expressed a similar sentiment about Pueblo's uniqueness, believing an attraction like the escape room to be a welcome addition.

"Tene and I had the feeling that Pueblo is ready for growth in the arts and culture and that all it needs is for people to start offering it," Bonser said.

"So we asked ourselves, 'Why do we often drive two hours north to go out and do fun things?' It was that simple question that inspired us to open SoCo Escape Room."

In a world that revolves around technology, Bonser said a cell phone, GPS unit or the latest app won't do you much good in the confines of an escape room.

Critical thinking and camaraderie, however, will.

Said Bonser, "We love that SoCo Escape Room is a place where all you can do is be present, think critically and communicate with those around you.

"After all, being present is being truly alive."

At both locations, the escape room themes will change over time, giving patrons a fresh challenge, whether or not a previous one has been conquered.

And in the event you're still in the room after 60 minutes has transpired, don't worry.

Not only will you be freed, but the hosts might even be willing to unravel the puzzles that kept you from pulling that Harry Houdini.

Said Bonser, "We've been really humbled and excited by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our guests. We design, craft and construct our rooms from scratch, which is an incredibly fun process, and I think it makes it even more gratifying to see how much our guests love it. "Everyone who goes through has a great time, whether they succeed in escaping or not. And that is a huge deal to us because I think it shows that our guests, in the end, love the experience and the challenge regardless of the end result."

At Steel City Escapes (569-5885), the cost to be a MacGyver is $25 per person or $175 per room. The rates at SoCo Escape Rooms (717-0658) are $29.99 per participant, with an entire room -- a capacity of eight -- available for $200.

jpompia@chieftain.com