Now tyranny is a fun game!
"‘Escape games’ gain popularity as fun, team-building exercises" by David Fischer | Associated Press October 07, 2014
MIAMI BEACH — I like to think of myself as relatively quick-witted, but I started having serious doubts about my cleverness as I stood handcuffed to my new Russian friend, trying get out of a prison cell.
It wasn’t a real prison cell, which is why I wasn’t having a panic attack. But the handcuffs were real, and being chained to another person while searching a small room for keys and clues as a clock ticked down became frustrating pretty quickly.
Believe it or not, this was all part of a game. Real-life room escape attractions began opening nearly a decade ago in Asia and Eastern Europe, but they’ve been popping up in North America over the past few years. The attractions trace their origins back to escape-the-room video games, where players were trapped and forced to use clues and objects in their surroundings to get out.
Escape the Quest opened in Miami Beach in July. They offer two games — “Apartment 101” and “Prison Escape” — with “Mental Hospital” coming soon.
For some reason I think this is sick. Sorry.
Groups of two to four have an hour to solve the puzzle and win their freedom. I participated in “Prison Escape,” joining a group of expat Russians in their mid-20s — Alex Belousov, Konstantin Elizarov, and Lucy Omelchenko — who moved to South Florida within the past two years. Their English was heavily accented, and my Russian is nonexistent, adding a language barrier to a challenge that only about 20 percent of groups complete successfully, according to Escape the Quest manager Yuliya Pashkevich.
To begin, Pashkevich explained that “Prison Escape” includes two rooms and that my new friends and I would be paired off, one pair locked in each room. We would first have to get all four into one room and then all escape together.
Alex spoke the best English, so he went with me. We were all handcuffed to our partners and locked in our cells.
So when did you get waterboarded (or worse)?
I promised Pashkevich I wouldn’t give away any secrets, but I will say Alex and I did eventually find a handcuff key, probably much later than we should have. By working with Konstantin and Lucy through a wall, we even managed to get them into our room. And by speaking in their native tongue, Alex and Konstantin figured out a math riddle that set us free with about 5 minutes to spare. I felt useless at that math part, but even the third-string quarterback gets a ring when his team wins the Super Bowl, so I’m counting it as a win.
The escapes, which start at $60 a group, were designed to appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds. Besides friends, Pashkevich said it’s also common to host co-workers using it for team-building.
I knew there was an ulterior agenda being pu$hed here $omewhere.
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