New Country Club Plaza-area escape room; Texas Roadhouse opens in Belton

Villain or savior? Those are two of the personas players can choose at a new character-based escape room game just north of the Country Club Plaza.

Escape room games are physical versions of escape room video games. Players are “locked” in a room and then must work together to solve puzzles and escape within a set time.

Husband and wife Hamzah Almleaky and Ronan Ali, along with four silent partners, recently opened Novus at 4142 Main St. with five rooms. Sessions run about an hour or less, after 10 to 15 minutes of instructions.

Players choose one of eight characters — the Lock Master, the Lightbringer, the Healer, the Oracle, the Scholar, the Time Bender, Assassin, or Gemini.

One player can’t dominate the game and the team has to work together to escape.

“This encourages dialogue. Even if you have a shy person they have to talk to the group,” Ali said. “We have a room based on marionettes, another on an abandoned train graveyard circa 1942 and how people would travel back in that era so you will feel like you are in train car, a puzzle based on rotary phones. We want to give people an experience like never before.”

The cost is $29 for adults, $27 for students and seniors, and free for children ages 7-and-under.

Almleaky and Ali emigrated from Saudi Arabia to Tampa, Fla., in 2009 and came to Kansas City four years ago. They wanted to give Kansas City another entertainment option.

“We love the people here and love going out and trying things. But after awhile you run out of things to do,” Ali said.

Belton’s Texas Roadhouse opens

The long-awaited opening of Belton’s Texas Roadhouse — first pushed back by a devastating fire this spring — is finally here.

The location, at 228 Peculiar Drive, opens to the public at 4 p.m. today.

Texas Roadhouse broke ground and began construction nine months ago, but then Easter night, just weeks before the original planned opening date, the restaurant caught fire and was nearly a total loss. The franchisees had to quickly rebuild.

“It has certainly been a long journey and a lot of hard work,” said Chris Plattner, manager partner.

Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 4 to 11 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Texas Roadhouse, founded in 1993, is a casual dining concept with more than 500 restaurants in 49 states and five other countries. The Louisville, Ky.-based company is known for hand-cut steaks, made-from-scratch sides, fresh-baked bread, and a lively atmosphere.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "New Country Club Plaza-area escape room; Texas Roadhouse opens in Belton."