Even before we thought about company logos, and figured the ins and outs of what we would want from our escape room, I knew what the first experience would be for our customers. The would-be COO of the company and I had the same idea. Being fans of horror and things that go bump bump in the night, it was easy to decide on what our grand entrance into the world of escape rooms would be. It’s all those eerie moments sitting by yourself coupled with the uneasy feeling of feeling you’re not alone, or the noise that you shrug off as the house settling. Or when you think you saw something in your peripheral vision, but keep walking towards the bedroom, because you’re not going to encounter anything that day. Or even, thinking that your blanket over the face will shield you from the serial killer standing right next to you. Oh yes, it’s all those glorious moments that at one time or another we have experienced in our lives. For me, it’s the terrifying moments when everything is seemingly going well, and then for no reason at all, goosebumps, and chills down the spine.
In this week's blog, I wanted to take a small break from “The Story of Us” just to talk about the genesis that is HOSTAGE. Hostage, our first game, contained all the evils and nightmares we stored in a secret compartment in our heads as kids, let loose for the fun of it, and stored nicely in one room, where everyone enjoys the comforts of dealing with that which they most fear. Our Wicked Wednesday version, is a slightly augmented version of that experience, where we take our current version, enhance it with several injections of steroids, then add real live fears, expand the hostel to include a graveyard for our guest, a nice slaughterhouse for the night's menu, and maybe include a closely related relative of Pennywise for the enjoyment of our youngsters. As long as you know to walk away from the red balloon, you’ll be fine, that is unless you want to get out.
Hostage, in all respects, is a game from the heart & mind, bringing you the feelings you might feel if the experience were real. Wicked Wednesday, once a week, for one lucky group, brings you face to face with your fears, forces you to dance with your distress, and makes you embrace your panic. Well, at least the beginning parts start easy like that. Then we introduce all the elements typical of a panic attack, and strongly encourage customers to think out of the box, to leave the box, all the while evading the swipes from the paranormal come to life. Those who will exit the experience can always decide to hit the big red safety button, but with so many big buttons in the dark, which will stop the experience, and which are there to open the passages for more paranormal fun. Yes! Just to make sure we include some fun these Wednesdays, we urge everyone to watch out for booby traps, meant to encourage your stay this night, to last just a little bit longer.
We hope this will help our patrons decide to come for the fun. Our lively escape experience, detailed with our love for the genre, will truly provide everyone with the experience of a lifetime, however long or short that may be. Are you game?