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."
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.
