聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 You鈥檙e locked in a room. How do you get out? There鈥檚 been clues left for you to escape, but you have to figure them out within the hour otherwise you lose. But it鈥檚 ok, losing doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e forever locked in, it simply means your game is over and you can try again for another $25. It鈥檚 a new fad sweeping across Canada in the past few years, they鈥檙e called Escape Rooms and are being touted as a great way for to spend time with friends and family, and an even better way to encourage team building in the office.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Years ago whenever we had time in our computer class we would ask to play games on a website. There was a series called 鈥淓scape the [insert version here].鈥� It ranged from a car to a bathroom to a house, and they were quite fun. You had to search for items that you could use to help you get out and figure out just how you were to escape.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What was once a popular video game has turned into reality with escape rooms being built in different cities, most recently that I discovered was one in Regina called Escape Club. Apparently you have one hour to figure out the puzzles, clues, and riddles in the room to escape or win.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It is described as live gaming entertainment and you work together to escape with a group. It requires the use of logic, skill, speed, and teamwork to make it through. In Regina the game is titled, 鈥淭he Curse of the Evil Genie鈥� and your group is locked inside the evil genie鈥檚 magic lamp, where you must identify which 10 of the 鈥淭ales of the Thousand and One Nights鈥� are the genie鈥檚 favourites.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I remember loving the games, but I finished only one of the versions without a helpful hint from Google, they created a sense of urgency and forced you to think through a lot of scenarios. I often got stuck about halfway through and would need to find a hint before being able to move on.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 intrigued by the premise of doing it in real life. It sounds like an interesting adventure for an hour. The first escape room was developed in 2006 and by 2015 the premise grew with over 2,800 escape rooms being developed.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As I was looking into this popular trend I found an article in the Washington Post which summarized why it鈥檚 such a popular feature. We grow up with adventure games and movies: Indiana Jones positioning the Staff of Ra just so in order to reveal a secret or Nathan Drake of the Uncharted Games series to solve puzzles in an effort to find a treasure.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ultimately you鈥檙e in a room and everything you need to escape is in there with you鈥� you just have to figure out how to access and use it all.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I personally think that it sounds like quite a bit of fun. It sounds challenging and exciting, it鈥檚 a giant intricate game that leaves winning up to you and your group figuring out how to escape. Did you get that puzzle right? Did you miss something that you shouldn鈥檛 have? Can you make it through without a hint, or as you鈥檙e racing against time to get out and stuck, do you accept a little help?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It just sounds like an interesting and fun way to spend an hour with friends. It鈥檚 just really quite intriguing to me.
