Can’t Escape Sherlock: Sherlock Holmes’s 5 Best Moments

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed character in movie history—and that’s not even counting his appearances in literature, television, and even popular music. It’s no surprise that he’s one of our favourite characters at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game. He’s more of an inspiration, really.

5. Sherlock’s first appearance

In 1887, the first Sherlock novel was published. Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories would go on to be popular for 130 years (and counting), beginning with A Study in Scarlet, which includes the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes, his trusty sidekick Dr. Watson, and even his archnemesis, Moriarty.

4. Basil Rathbone dons the deerstalker

What does Sherlock Holmes wear? A deerstalker hat and a cape, of course. This image comes courtesy of Basil Rathbone, who, beginning in 1939, played Sherlock Holmes in 14 films and over 200 times on radio. If there’s one man responsible for really searing the image of Sherlock into the pop cultural imagination (and launching 1,000 Halloween costumes in the process), it is definitely Sir Rathbone.

3. Sherlock gets a full-time secretary

Despite the fact that Sherlock’s address of 221B Baker Street, London, is completely fictional—and, more to the point, so is he—it turns out he gets a lot of mail. So much mail, in fact, that in 1932 the Abbey National Building Society, located at 219–229 Baker Street, had to employ a full-time secretary to answer Sherlock’s mail.

2. Sherlock dominates the BBC

There’s one reason why Millennials are obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, and that reason has everything to do with BBC, Benedict Cumberbatch, and really, really long wait times in between seasons. The most recent TV version, Sherlock, premiered in 2010, and in those seven long years, there have been only 12 episodes and one Christmas Special. This tactic of always leaving the fans wanting more really seems to be working.

1. Sherlock gets serialized and hits the big time

“A Scandal in Bohemia,” the very first short story to be serialized in the Strand Magazine, was published in 1891, and it didn’t take long for fans to go gaga over the character of Sherlock and his exciting exploits. It was Sherlock’s presence in the easily available newspaper that really led to his enduring popularity. Conan Doyle continued writing about his beloved character until 1927—just three years before the writer’s death.

Try on your Sherlock hat in one of Krakit Vancouver Escape Game’s four themed escape rooms by booking now. 

Becoming Sherlock: How to Think Like a Detective (and Win Your Escape Game)

Playing an escape game is half immersion in a fantasy world and half logic puzzle marathon. If you want to come out victorious at your next escape room, you need to get your deerstalker-style thinking hat on.

Here’s how.

Observe, observe, observe

The most important step to thinking like a detective is paying attention—very, very close attention. Observing everything that’s around you, whether it seems important or not, is the foundation of detective work.

Be methodical

Except for bona fide geniuses like Sherlock, detectives never ever rely on memory alone to keep track of all the information they’ve gathered. Take notes, make drawings, keep a log of your thoughts. All of this is needed in the quest for a solution to whatever riddle you face, be it escape game or a real-life whodunit.

Give in to intuition

While considered and methodical observation is key, so is listening to your gut. Our brains work in mysterious ways, often making connections that we’re not consciously aware of until we have what’s known as a “eureka moment.” If something is sticking out, there’s probably a reason—even if you have no idea why just yet.

Get logical

Once you’ve got a balance of observation and intuition that even Sherlock himself would approve of, you can apply your cold, hard logical brain to the information you’ve gathered. Thinking through a situation step-by-step and coming up with a conclusion based on all the facts at hand is the name of the detective game.

Get feedback on your ideas

Even the most brilliant mind needs a sounding board, which for Sherlock Holmes comes in the form of Dr. Watson. It’s simple: if there’s no one there to pick holes in your theories, you’ll never be able to find them.

Challenge yourself

Constantly put your detective powers to the test by engaging your brain in riddles and logic puzzles. The more you use your brain, and especially skills you don’t get to use on a daily basis, the stronger the neural pathways you’ve taken the time to set up will become.

Stay curious

Learn as much as you can about everything that you can. The more you know, the more you will see connections between the various clues and puzzle pieces you encounter. Plus, you’ll just be a more interesting person. He may be a weirdo, but no one can call Sherlock boring, right?

Have you turned yourself into a regular deduction powerhouse? Test out your detective skills in one of our four themed Vancouver escape games by booking now.

10 Great Christmas Gifts for Mystery Fans, Escape Game Lovers, and Sleuth Wannabes

Still haven’t gotten around to gift buying this holiday season? Well, neither have we at Krakit Vancouver Escape Room. All we can say is, thank goodness two-day shipping exists!

Below we list ten gifts that we’re sure any of our escape game players—along with any mystery film fan, detective novel buff, or sleuth in training—would love.

1. Lock picking kit

You need to be careful who you give this one to (maybe not your 11-year-old niece), but not only is a lock picking kit very cool looking, but it can legitimately come in handy.

2. Mysterium board game

This unusual mystery board game takes some serious creative thinking and collaborative teamwork to win. Not to mention it’s rather beautifully designed.

3. Escape game passes

Give the gift of experience with an escape game voucher, and get those puzzle-solving brain cogs turning at full speed.

4. Veronica Mars Investigations mug

If there’s one thing all sleuths can agree on, it’s the necessity of coffee. Especially when it comes in a Veronica Mars mug.

5. Hollow book safe

Any private investigator in training needs a good place to hide things from prying eyes, whether that be a candy stash or a secret diary. You can even make this gift yourself!

6. Benedict Cumberbatch’s face

Give the gift of Sherlock this Christmas—quite literally.

7. Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries television series

For the mystery-loving hipster on your list: an obscure 1970s serial mystery show hosted by Orson Welles and created by Roald Dahl. Warning: this hard-to-find gift will require some sleuthing of your own (bootlegs or torrents only!).

8. Spy the Lie book

For the more serious and cerebral mystery fan, we’d choose Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception, a training guide to becoming a human lie detector.

9. Columbo “Just One More Thing” T-shirt

There just won’t be a time when Columbo isn’t super cool, so a T-shirt with his catchphrase is a pretty safe bet.

10. Rebus 20 Highland Park Whisky

The holy grail of mystery-fan gifts—a mystery unto itself, really. Rebus 20: a limited edition single malt created by Highland Park in honour of Ian Rankin’s whisky-loving detective Inspector Rebus. Maybe start looking for it this Christmas, and give it next Christmas. (That way you’ll also have time to save up …)

Make someone’s Christmas merry, mysterious, and bright by giving the gift of an escape game. You can learn more about Krakit’s four themed escape rooms here: http://www.krakit.ca/room-themes.php.

Mystery, Intrigue, and Cryptology: 5 Codebreaking Books/Films for Escape Game Fans

Inferno, the third installment of director Ron Howard’s film version of the wildly successful Da Vinci Code book series, is due to hit theatres in just a few weeks. As most everyone knows—due to the massive phenomenon that was Dan Brown’s first novel back in 2003—the series centres on symbologist and general code nerd Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks in the films.

This got us thinking about what other codes and ciphers have gotten audiences as excited about cryptology as we are here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game on an everyday basis.

While you’re waiting patiently for your codebreaking fix with Inferno (which is out October 28), here are five other book-to-film adaptations to check out in the meantime. Read the book, watch the movie—or do like us and do both. Plus don’t forget to try your own hand at cracking codes by playing an escape game.

1. Sherlock / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Where would cryptology be in popular culture without Sherlock Holmes? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s no-nonsense detective has been cracking cases since 1887, when the first Sherlock novel, A Study in Scarlet, was published. And cryptology abounds in the BBC’s Sherlock series. For example, in the 2010 episode “The Blind Banker,” he and Watson investigate—and make cool—a cipher based on an ancient Chinese numeral system.

2. A Beautiful Mind

Like Inferno, A Beautiful Mind is directed by Ron Howard (the man must have a thing for intrigue). Unlike the Da Vinci Code series, however, this story is based on fact, not fiction: it narrativizes the life of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician and Nobel Laureate in Economics, whose obsession with patterns led him to cracking code for the Pentagon. Sylvia Nasar’s book, also called A Beautiful Mind, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

3. The Imitation Game / Alan Turing: The Enigma

Another true story of impressive mathematical feats, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (aka Sherlock Holmes), is based on the biography of Alan Turing. The logician and his team at Bletchley Park were responsible for cracking one of the hardest codes ever known—the Enigma cipher—which helped to end WWII.

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Like The Da Vinci Code, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has proven as popular in film form as in book form. Though this series isn’t as completely focused on codebreaking as some of the other entries on this list are, a cipher plays an important role in the mystery the main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, must solve. In this case, they come in the form of extremely creepy encrypted Bible verses.

5. Zodiac

The director behind the US version of The Dragon Tattoo film, David Fincher, is also the man who took the story of cipher-loving serial murderer the Zodiac Killer to the big screen. Definitely one of the darkest cryptography-related stories out there, we recommend having a strong stomach when viewing or reading this one.

Book one of Krakit Vancouver Escape Game’s four themed escape rooms here: http://bookeo.com/krakit.

The Fine Art of Staying Calm under Pressure

The clock is tick-ticking away. Everyone is chattering at super speed, each with a different idea, a different plan. The pressure is on in a big way, but you know you’ve got to pull it together: if you don’t, a zombie is going to eat your face.

Unfortunately, we can’t all stay as pathologically calm as Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock in the face of stress (or zombies).

But you’ve only got 45 minutes to escape Krakit’s game rooms—which is definitely not enough time to have a nervous break down before getting on with it. So what are you going to do?

Master the fine art of staying calm under pressure, of course. 

Easier said than done, but here are a few tips to get you started before your next Krakit adventure.

Breathe

“Just breathe.” Obvious, right?

But more than a way to slow down your heart rate and blood pressure, a few minutes of focused breathing provides a steady sound to concentrate on. You can use this sound to pull yourself out of a stress spiral and block out distractions, allowing you to concentrate on solving the task at hand

Create an Anti-stress Trigger for Yourself

When the clock is ticking down the seconds, your thoughts can start racing faster than you can process them. Honestly, who can take time to breathe when you’ve got a mad doctor to escape? Before you find yourself locked up in Krakit’s Asylum, take time to develop an anti-stress trigger for yourself.

This could be a certain song lyric or a specific memory of a place, or even a scent, that you use to force-stop your racing thoughts and gain back control, like placing a finger on a roulette wheel.

Visit Your Mind Palace

When you know ahead of time you’re going to be overwhelmed with too much information, take a page out of Sherlock Holmes’s book and setup a Mind Palace (learn how here). 

By being prepared, you can break down and master information before it even has a chance to stress you out.