Solve the riddle. Find the clue. Try this combination. Fast fast! The Escape Room they are a unique shower of adrenaline, which stimulates the mind to find the way out of a room in which we are, voluntarily, imprisoned. The only problem is that although there are more than 500 screens in Italy now, it is not always possible to go there easily. Thankfully, there are ways to have the Escape Room experience while staying at home too, playing online.
How to escape while staying at home
The Escape Room phenomenon is constantly growing in our country, involving more than a million people every year, as reported by the Corriere della Sera. They are an activity exciting: I happened to be in rooms that recreated the control room in Chernobyl while the reactor is about to explode; or to find myself in a country house haunted by a strange presence. And then they are activities that tease the brain: sometimes you have to find an alphanumeric code, other times you have to use an old mechanism to open the lock of a pirate's basket. But more than anything else, they are activities to do in a group: They entertain friends, bring family together and collaborate with colleagues.
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But to have the full experience, the advice is to turn to professionals of the Escape Rooms, which have also moved online.
The Sofa Army, l’Escape Room Online di Occulto
The first online escape room that has been reported to us is The Sofa Army, the online room organized by Occult of Parma. And as far as we could understand, it was also the first to offer a totally online experience, in response to the quarantine for COVID-19: it has in fact open on March 26th. And the epidemic is at the center of the room's theme, even if reinterpreted in a very light and fun way. In fact, you will find yourself in a fantasy world, where you will need to find the Magic potion capable of curing the disease.
And you will really mix the potion, each in their own home. In fact, the Game Master will lead an experience "three-dimensional". On the one hand, you will be connected in video call on Google Hangouts: the camera will be fixed on puzzles to solve, whether they are padlocks, Chinese boxes or puzzle. On the other hand there will be a digital part: clues to analyze on your smartphone. Finally, you will physically do the potion with the ingredients you have at home.
You can connect up to 3 devices several to play. But there is no limit to the number of people who can keep up with each single smartphone or PC: the experience is also enjoyable 10 players in total. The Game Master will also manage the game in order to involve everyone, so that you can't solve the room yourself, but you need to collaborate.
For information, timetables and reservations, I refer you to the The Sofa Army project website. Once booked, you will receive a link on Whatsapp for the video call in Hangouts. Those of Occulto Parma will be happy to give you any information you want, I take the liberty of adding that the price of € 40 per game, € 10 will go to charity Italian Red Cross.
The Tech Princess Proof
We wanted to test the Occulto escape room, which is a professional way of saying we wanted to play it. So we logged into Hangouts, phone in hand, paper and pencil on the table. But as soon as the game started, we started wandering around the house in search of ingredients, shouting directions into the microphone of the headphones. Almost an hour has passed in four seconds (not to brag, but we finished five minutes early).
The experience was really fun. The game forces us to collaborate, and we teamed up right away. We found ourselves laughing in several places, but the attention was on a thousand all the time. And Danilo, our Game Master, handled the situation really well, immediately dropping us into the escape room, even though everyone was at his home.
Enrico, code name Aquilante, he called it a “beautiful experience, more immersive than one might believe. A very specific passage gave me an emotion that I hadn't felt since elementary school ". Obviously, we cannot tell you what caused the dip in the past, to avoid spoilers. Both for the escape room and for a possible autobiography of Enrico.
Mattia, who has only been able to think about Belt Size as a code name, it says that “making an online escape room is a different experience than usual, but exciting. Despite the distance she managed to fully involve me and in a few seconds I found myself running around the house to solve the puzzles. Absolutely to be redone! "
In short, this experience is absolutely approved by Techprincess.
Escape Room Rome: two online investigative adventures
Those of Escape Room Roma have instead decided to use a different approach. Instead of trying to recreate one of their six rooms digitally, they decided to think of two new ones investigative experiences to play online. You will be in connection Skype with a Game Master, who will guide you in your investigations. You will receive clues such as photos, video or audio, but not puzzles to solve. The goal is to guide the Game Master (who will also give a voice to all the characters) to unravel the plot, analyzing evidence and questioning suspects. And thinking carefully about what you want to do: every action will have consequences, which will differ depending on the order in which you do them, the time or the way.
There are two rooms. Even if more than rooms, they are real experiences openworld. “The girl from the park”Is an adventure set in contemporary Manhattan: a girl has been found dead in a park, and you will be the detectives who have to solve the case. To do so, you will not only use your wits, but even the smartphone with Google Maps and social networks (as a real investigator would do).
"The Witches of Dunwich”Is instead a darkly colored story, set in New England from the 80s. Where technology is scarce, but superstitions and folklore abound. Is it really just superstition? This adventure will be more based on the map, in the reality confined to the time and place of the strange events at the center of the plot.
Both experiences have a duration of around 2 hours. There is no limit of connected devices, although it is recommended to have a group of between 4 and 8 people. Escape Room Roma plans to continue with these online adventures even after the end of the quarantine, perhaps playing with a group of friends tight on the sofa in front of the PC. The connection is via Skype, via videoconference. You can book this investigative experience at this address.
Breakout Escape Room Milano
Also the Breakout Escape Room di Milano has prepared a unique experience to play online. Book a room at The Haunted Hotel, one of their most successful rooms. Yours "avatar”Will be a world-renowned paranormal investigator, who will have to leave the hotel haunted by a dark presence. To prevent this, there will be puzzles that will test you and revelations that will terrify you. To make the setting even more fascinating, the sets of the room are made by one of the best set designers in Italy, and you see.
The peculiarity of this Escape Room Online is that there will also be some other actors, in addition to what you will make move around the room. And if you add to this that the plot revolves around the mysterious disappearances of guests, after a brutal murder / suicide shop assistant at the Logan Hotel, you can expect more than a scare.
The connection is via Zoom, and the English language is also available: the room is in fact attracting several visits from abroad as well. For any additional information, refer to the page of the site dedicated to The Haunted Hotel.
Ready to escape, staying at home?
As you have seen, these experiences are very different from each other. While the elements are always the same, each of these experiences mixes puzzles, clues, environments and compelling storylines to give you a one-of-a-kind experience, even in game modes. The only thing they have in common is theenthusiasm of the creators of the rooms, and the attention in the realization.
So what are you waiting for? They only serve you imagination and ingenuity. Ah, and a webcam.
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Tagsescape room Escape Room Online: Escape the room, but without leaving the house
