Most people wouldn’t consider escaping a dark basement cell to be a fun experience… especially in Austria. Nevertheless, the international live game pros, RoomEscape, are offering this exact pulse-racing experience in Vienna, and take it from us: it’s loads of thrilling, sweaty excitement to be had with a bunch of friends.
For those of you wondering what the hell we’re talking about, the concept of the escape room is simple: a team (from 3 to 5 people) is locked into a room with several puzzles to be solved of a particular selected theme, and a countdown begins. The race against time can only be won by solving a variety of puzzles placed in the room through teamwork, before the allotted time runs out.
To begin our challenge at RoomEscape, our group of five was briefed on the details of our super secret operation by mission commander, Sam B. (codename ‘Eagle One’).
In the scenario we chose (at RoomEscape there are 3 themed rooms to choose from), a Supervillain named Mr. Pig is threatening to detonate an all-powerful nuclear device, which would likely cause World War III. We have 60 minutes to stop the countdown by uncovering the clues hidden around his hideout, and by solving a series of puzzles.
According to the internet, real-life escape room games began in Silicon Valley in 2006 as a nerdy way to pass time for programmers. We at Vienna Würstelstand prefer the origin myth told by Sam B.:
“In Budapest, Europe’s room escape hub, a slacker with too much time on his hands started equipping an unused room in his favourite bar with all kinds of different puzzles and riddles. No need to say, with this concept of destroying one’s brain cells while drinking in one room, and then training the remaining ones in the next, this idea quickly attracted the crowds.”
We enter Mr Pig’s lair completely sober. The clock is ticking while we try to make sense of our surroundings. The love for detail in the dimly lit room’s decor is incredible: the megalomaniac sociopath (wearing an actual pig head) can be seen in photos on the wall, shaking hands with the who’s who of international evil, from Hitler to Kim-Jong-un, and even Sasha Baron Cohen’s dictator.
Our first plan of action is to spread out, collect and analyse suspicious items and try to work out a strategy and prioritise our process. Before you know it, everyone is committed to a certain task. While some are busy solving the already discovered puzzles, others are already hunting for new clues.
If you get completely stuck (which even happened to an all-star line-up like us at one point) you can request a hint from the mission commander by pressing a button on the wall.
While we can’t fill you in too much more regarding how we did it, we can tell you that – with heads spinning and soaked with sweat – the Würstel team did succeed in saving the world (of course, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this).
We’ll leave the rest to mystery. However, we will say if you spent your childhood hours (or your adult hours when nobody was watching) pretending to be an action hero, this puzzle room thrill ride is for you.
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