A room for adventure

Fun activities

Gone are the days when one used to make spontaneous plans after college for a movie, to hang out with friends over a cup of coffee or just window shop! Times have changed. Youngsters now want to experiment with unique activities and not just hang out at a mall or a coffee shop.

The city is seeing a spurt in adventure-based game arenas to cater to the young. ‘Escape hunt’, ‘Escape Room’ and ‘The Amazing Escape’, based on the idea of ‘real life escape the room’ game experiences, are some of these. A group of people (mostly known to each other) are sent inside a room with a number of story-based puzzles and games. They have to solve these games and puzzles to head to the next level, thus escaping from the room.

Sujani Aishwarya, a lawyer by profession, tried ‘The Escape Hunt’ for the first time on her birthday when her friends threw a party for her. The addictive nature of these games led her to visit this place the next two days as well. “The idea is new to the city though it has been quite popular abroad for sometime now. I must say the thrilling puzzles and games brought out the Sherlock in us, she says. “The first time we just tried to figure out the game and understand the clues. There was a lot of confusion and disagreement among us since we did not know what to do. One of our friends decided to dance for the CCTV inside. Ultimately, the escape hunt team helped us come out of the room on time,” she laughs.

These games are becoming popular with youngsters and is giving a new meaning to leisure activities. Sannan Ateeqh Turabi, Senior Manager at Fibernet, says that there are no great places in the city to have a good time with friends and family, and one has to go out of the city for adventurous activities. These places, he says, provides an option within the city. “I have been to ‘The Amazing Escape’ with my friends from the US. There are four puzzles which are mostly around a theme. Some of these give the chills — like the vampire theme. Successfully solving the puzzles give a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Moreover, these arenas allow only a group of people inside and not couples, which is great for team building. There is an inter-personal communication with many minds at work,” he says. 

Since there is a lot of mental and physical work going on while solving a problem, (with only one motive to find a way out), there is no place for any other thought, which makes it a great stressbuster too. Sandeep Mahendra, the owner of ‘The Amazing Escape’, says the concept struck him when he was travelling to Europe (where it is popular). Since people in Bengaluru are open to experimenting with new things, he thought of starting the same here.

“These games are designed for fun and we have seen not just the younger lot but even older people enjoying these games. People these days are seen hooked on to their phones all the time, but we take away the phones at the start of the activity. They are thus forced to work together and without coordination, escaping is a difficult task. At the beginning of the game, we brief the entire group on how it works and how to go about it. There are themes like fantasy, prison and Egyptian that people can choose from. Every game is for about 55 to 65 minutes within which a group has to solve the puzzles and find the hidden things, ultimately escaping the room,” explains Sandeep. He adds that the intriguing factor is that everybody has their unique style to solve and understand a puzzle.

“Though these games are interesting and very engaging, the fact that the pricing is a bit too expensive can be a drawback,” says Naveen Suresh, an IT professional and a food blogger. “People here are always ready to explore different things, be it food or adventure. So there are a lot of international concepts coming in. My experience with these games have been great considering it is a new concept. These arenas are ideal for birthday parties and team outings,” he says.