High-schooler creates Roman Republic escape room on MI<\/p>\n
Published 8:30 am Friday, August 21, 2026<\/p>\n
Bellevue teen Kaamil Siddiqui will be spending some time on Mercer Island to host a Roman Republic escape room with all the proceeds going toward a worthy cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Consul Conspiracy: A Political Escape from Ancient Rome\u201d room will be available for attendees to tackle at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Aug. 28 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center.<\/p>\n
The cost to participate is $15 a person and the earnings will be forwarded to Youth Eastside Services (YES), which supports local youth mental health services. The YES website notes: \u201cWe provide prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, life stressors and crises, and stress-related physical symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siddiqui, a Bellevue High School student, said he chose YES as the recipient of the funds because \u201ca lot of kids are going under really high academic pressure. And I know that \u2018cause right now I\u2019m feeling a lot of academic pressure in school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The founder of Elite Play LLC and founder and president of the Eastside Junior Classical League has been creating games and escape rooms for friends\u2019 birthday parties and school events since the age of 12.<\/p>\n
His interest in ancient Rome and Greece commenced when he accompanied his dad to a museum and gravitated toward the statues and absorbed the stories of yore. Siddiqui took a job at an escape room company at age 16, and that experience solidified his enthusiasm to design his own live game design rooms.<\/p>\n
In \u201cThe Consul Conspiracy,\u201d each person will be playing a senator role as they attempt to conquer the escape room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to create something meaningful for the community while also showing how history and education can become exciting through creative design,\u201d he said of the immersive event that blends classical history, civic ethics and puzzle-solving.<\/p>\n
He thinks it\u2019s possible for people to escape the four-room journey in 45 minutes, but he\u2019s setting the timer at 60 minutes.<\/p>\n
Siddiqui has worked with his mom and dad to bring the elaborate setup to life and they\u2019ll do a run-through before the event date.<\/p>\n
\u201cI designed pretty much everything. The only thing I\u2019m getting shipped here (are) chests,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a pretty good setup. I personally tried it. I mean, I knew all the answers, so I escaped; and then my brother tried it and he couldn\u2019t escape.\u201d<\/p>\n