There's been a craze of escape rooms hitting Melbourne recently that is getting bigger and bigger. To the uninitiated, an escape room is a themed room (prison, vampire lair, science lab, etc, etc) where must solve puzzles and find clues to get to freedom before your time is up. Having completed 24 rooms, it's fair to say that I am a bit of a fan. However just to keep things even more interesting, the creative folks at Pop Up Playground have created an experience in which you want to remain inside the room and away from the danger that is lurking outside.
Room Service takes place in Halloween 1976 at the fancy Winterview Manor. They are holding their annual party for a secret society of wealthy people...who also happen to be cannibals, and you're on the menu. Players have thirty minutes to find codes, solve puzzles and work as a team (2-4 players) to ensure that they stay off the menu and the guests do not make their way into their kitchen.
Ever wanted to rob a bank? Well now you can, and it's absolutely legal! The fun and creative minds at Pop Up Playground are about to unleash "Small Time Criminals" to the people of Melbourne. This real world simulation game requires teams of up to six players to infiltrate a bank, steal as much as they can and escape by completing various games, puzzles and challenges. Furthermore, actors will be playing staff who could potentially be secretly trying to help you or staff that are more sinister than meets the eye. And if that wasn't enough, the whole experience takes places inside an actual bank!
"We've
been working towards this kind of experience with Pop Up Playground
since the beginning," explains Artistic Director Robert Reid. "We were inspired by alternate reality games and the way they blur the line between real and play, and also by
the work of the Agency of Coney. The bank heist idea itself though, came from
watching Sayraphim (Pop Up Playground's Constructive Communities Director) play video games and thinking about how thorough she was
at clearing out loot, pick-pocketing her victims and so on."
Earlier in the year, I wrote about my experiences at the Melbourne International Festival of Games, which you can read about here. For the Melbourne Fringe festival, Pop Up Playground is returning with one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played, the immensely fun and exciting Citydash. Created by Fire Hazard, Citydash is a high-energy game of speed, stealth, and strategy, played in throughout the city streets.
"We've been friends with the Fire Hazard crew in the UK for a couple of years and we invited them out for festival this year because they offer a kind of game that Melbourne hasn't seen much of really," explains the company's Constructive Communities Director, Sayraphim Lothian. "Digitally supported street gaming is popular in places like London and New York but its only just starting to emerge here. When the opportunity arose to keep running it here for them, we jumped at the chance."
I love playing games, especially those that require you to have a strong interaction with other players and where it is not so transactional (looking at you Monopoly). This year's Melbourne International Games Festival, Fresh Air 2015 (and hosted by Pop Up Playground), is held over the long weekend in March where immersive, creative and FUN games are played.
I've been going to Pop Up Playgrounds events for a few years now - and even went when I was recovering from a collapsed lung - and the variety of games and experiences they create and present are always unique and enjoyable. Sadly I was only able to only attend two of the events - Escape Room (Van) by Escape Room Melbourne and City Dash by Fire Hazard.
In Escape Room: Surveillance, we are spies who have 45 minutes to find puzzles and solve clues to prove our innocence of being double agents. Whilst I have complete a number of these rooms throughout Melbourne (ten to be specific), Escape Room Melbourne have been far superior in their set up, design and puzzle challenges. The only difference with this one is we are in the back of a van. We have knocked out the driver (who will conveniently awaken in 45 minutes) to search the van for evidence.
There's been a craze of escape rooms hitting Melbourne recently that is getting bigger and bigger. To the uninitiated, an escape room is a themed room (prison, vampire lair, science lab, etc, etc) where must solve puzzles and find clues to get to freedom before your time is up. Having completed 24 rooms, it's fair to say that I am a bit of a fan. However just to keep things even more interesting, the creative folks at Pop Up Playground have created an experience in which you want to remain inside the room and away from the danger that is lurking outside.
