Escape The Room NYC

Interactivity is the hot trend these days when it comes to our digital world. Smartphone apps like Uber help us get around, video games are more popular than ever and we tweet our reactions while watching TV, but in a rare instance of life imitating art, Escape The Room NYC brings the interactivity of the digital realm to real life.

Born out of the Japanese phenomenon in 2007, and inspired by games like Myst and Crimson Room, Escape The Room NYC is a real-world puzzle game where a team up to 12 is locked in a room and must solve a series of clues in less than an hour to escape and win. The gamekeeper states that “everything is a clue,” so you are encouraged to go through every detail imaginable to make your way out.

Unlike the emergence of immersive theater like Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, the audience is not there to observe. The rooms are designed to encourage cooperation and interaction while relying heavily on puzzles. A code you find scribbled in a book early in the game might not make sense at first, but its importance is revealed 20 minutes later when you uncover a hidden safe behind a painting. Escape The Room has a 15 percent escape rate, so participants need to stay sharp and not get lost in the details.

There are a total of five rooms hosted at their Downtown and Midtown locations, from their Sherlock Holmes-style home to the spy-thriller agency. This is not a haunted attraction and does not attempt to scare participants. The rooms are completely safe and adhere to fire codes, and a host moderates the game through an interactive camera.

To learn more about Escape The Room NYC, visit the website.