People will need more and more entertainment. Work will be more effective and more time could be spend on pleasant things – fe. on playing games. That is why new games, new formats are emerging. Computer games industry is growing but some people – well, not so small amount of them – look for something else, something more real. City games are offering real, immersive experience, but they are events, organised from time to time and requests some effort from participants. There was space for gaming, immersive entertainment available for everyone, with clear bussiness model based on easy multiple use of same scenario.

That is where escape rooms found their place.
It is becoming more and more popular in different places of the world – creating such spaces in Russia was only a matter of time. As for now only in Petersburg there are few companies organising escape rooms and possibly tens of different scenarios that You can play.

I chose “Live” (Жить) scenario by Claustrophobia company for my first try. Room is located in interesting alternative – commercial area placed somewhere behind most byzantine mall in Piter – Galeria.

Scenario is placed in a room of serial killer. You need to get out of there in 60 minutes, otherwise killer would …. yes he will kill You with gas sprayed into room. First nice trick from organizers is locking You in handcuffs. Together with strange voices and flashing lights it gives a bit of shivers down Your spine. When You manage to unlock handcuffs there are several more tiny challenges for You – all of them phisical, all not obvious – but when You look at them later – quite easy to prepare. Some of them need teamwork (2-4 persons can be locked) some need breaking schemes. None of them need phisical strengh but mose of them need phisical action.

We managed to get out of the room in 55 minutes, with the feeling of victory. As for me this was not enough adrenaline, not enough effort but as for avaerege player it is surely fun. And it is fun You can experience just in the meantime – between shopping and saturday coffee. There are also many ways this format can be developed – like more complex rooms, using actors and introducing more and more stimulators – and Claustrophobia is doing this with new format: Performance.

Well, future is interesting in this field!

phobia.ru

“Live” (Жить)

Ligovsky prospekt d.50 k.5

price: 1800-3200 rub/team

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathewstreet/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0