Escape Manor, the interactive entertainment provider that locks up guests in themed rooms and challenges them to solve clues to find a way out, has created a new space at its Queen Street location to accommodate the public’s growing interest: the Apocalypse.
Since opening in fall of 2014, the leisure business has been challenging Ottawa residents to free themselves from a locked room using their wit, problem-solving skills and teamwork.
Participants are given 45 minutes to escape one of four original themed spaces: Prison Break, Darkness, Wine Cellar and Asylum.
Steve Wilson, one of four owners of Escape Manor, says they decided to create a fifth room, the Apocalypse, in response to public demand,
“People just want more,” he says, “we have a very devout crowd…they hungered for something new and exciting and so we are constantly trying to feed that hunger for them.”
After three months of conceptualizing and five weeks of construction, the Apocalypse opened on Sept. 3.
Wilson says there have been approximately 50 groups locked up since the opening, prior to which there were at least 15 trial groups for testing.
He says guests have been “blown away by it.”
The room was built in the basement of the building on Queen and Bank streets, whereas the four other rooms are on the fourth floor.
“We always try and one up ourselves and the feedback has been tremendously positive. People come out raving,” Wilson says. “We understand it is a very competitive space we are in…we want to always be the pioneers and leaders of what we do.”
In order to accomplish this, Wilson says the Apocalypse offers a different escape experience to guests.
At 1,800 square feet, the new room accommodates larger groups – 12 people instead of the usual eight – and participants have 60 minutes to escape instead of 45 minutes.
The primary objective is to get the antidote to a virus that has overtaken the world.
However, during the administration of the antidote, a crisis occurs and guests are required to piece together the solution.
Wilson says the escape rate has been 26.58 per cent in the opening few weeks, meaning roughly one in four teams are successful.
“Every single room has completely different elements,” he says,
“This one we really wanted to think outside of the box, so we brought in the use of many of your senses.”
Liz Gomes, a trial participant and successful escapee, says the Apocalypse is elaborate and complex.
She says it incorporated realistic visuals and audio effects to make the experience as authentic as possible.
Even though the room is larger and requires more people, she says participants are still connected to their teammates.