EscapeRoom is fun to write. So what of an actual Escape Room?
Escape: Prince Albert offers two 45-minute, themed Escape Rooms: The Cabin - a slasher-inspired, claustrophobic series of puzzles that will challenge even the most experienced players - and The Expedition. Our host, Jerica, ran us through a quick tutorial.
“You and your friends are hiking through the woods. You stumble across an old cabin. Sensing adventure, you forge ahead. As you enter the cabin, the door locks behind you…”
With our party of six, the first chamber was more than a little crowded. The ideal party size for The Cabin is four, for reference. The first chamber’s a warmup; solving the puzzle necessary to activate the next room requires first solving smaller puzzles involving re-arranging objects to unlock a trunk.
Each team gets 3 clue tokens they can spend at any time to summon a Game Master for advice. Save them for the second chamber; the first chamber is solvable if you just take the time to think things through.
The next chamber was a bit unexpected.
The team pressed ahead, into the dim and flickering lights. Then there were screams, and suddenly I was pinned to the wall by a stampede.
So yeah, jump scare warning, folks.
The puzzles in the second room aren’t as obvious to solve; they require wits, experimentation, reading, and feeling. As time ran down, we managed to solve most of the puzzles, including ones that involved re-arranging objects with hidden magnets to unlock drawers. But the final puzzle was check and mate. With three minutes left on the clock, panic set in. We came oh-so-close to solving it.
At the cost of $25 a player, it’s definitely worth experiencing.
Escape: Prince Albert is opening three themed rooms this summer in the resort town of Waskesiu. If you ever have the misfortune of visiting Prince Albert, hit it up.
EscapeRoom is a sporadic column written on the run from bears and cannibals. You can find more of the columns in our handy meta-thread here. This window will close behind you. A clock on the wall ticks closer to midnight. You see you have 45 minutes to solve the mystery of the columns…