Escape Game History: 3 Ciphers Once Considered “Unbreakable”

The Enigma Machine at the National Museum of Scotland (Photo: Nachosan CC-BY 3.0)

If there’s one thing you’ll find in every escape room you play, it’s some sort of code that you’ll have to break. We’re definitely cryptography nerds here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game, and that’s why we’re so fascinated with the ciphers that no one has been able to solve (see here, here, and here for some of our faves).

However, eventually, every code will get cracked—it may just take several hundred years, that’s all.

Below are three ciphers that were once considered unsolvable, but no more. Cryptanalysis wins!

Enigma, created: 1918

The German electrical engineer Arthur Scherbius patented his Enigma Machine, a mechanical cipher machine, in 1918, and it was soon adopted by German military forces. What made it so famously unbreakable is that the Enigma Machine uses electrical signals to concoct a new code every time a key is pressed, so it never uses the same code twice.

You can see why it was considered uncrackable.

Nevertheless, Enigma was broken by the WWII codebreakers of Bletchley Park, headed up by Alan Turing. Though it certainly it wasn’t an easy task, that’s for sure.

Vigenère Autokey, created: 1586

While the Enigma remained unbreakable for over 30 years, it’s nothing compared to the Vigenère Autokey’s 300 years. It was so safe a code, it was even nicknamed le chiffre indéchiffrable, or “the indecipherable cipher” to us English speakers.

The Vigenère uses polyalphabetic substitution (that means it really mixes the alphabet up), which makes it easy to use but really hard to break. This is in fact the same principle Enigma would use many years later.

However, in 1855, the inventor Charles Babbage came along and solved the Vigenère cipher for the English during the Crimean War. Because Babbage didn’t publish his work, the cipher continued to be used until 1863(!), when Friedrich Kasiski published his attack, rendering the Vigenère useless.

The Alberti Cipher, created: 1467

An even older once “unbreakable” code is the Alberti Cipher. This code was created by Leon Battista Alberti, and is the oldest known polyalphabetic cipher. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) Like the Enigma and the Vigenère, the Alberti Cipher uses metal discs that rotate to create a new code with every spin.

Alberti was dead certain his cipher was unbreakable, and although it took several centuries to prove him wrong, we now know that polyalphabetic ciphers can—and will eventually—be broken.

Try your own hand at codebreaking in one of our four escape games: http://bookeo.com/krakit.

No Escaping These Endings: 5 Worst Twists in Horror History

Joaquin Phoenix, trying to figure out why The Village's twist ending seemed like a good idea

At Krakit Vancouver Escape Game, it’s our job to keep you on your toes. This is a quality we share with our favourite genre of movie: the horror film. There’s really only one way to do this, and that is, of course, through the unexpected.

Because what is a horror movie without a fantastic twist? (Or an escape game without a few wrenches thrown into the mix?)

However, if you don’t do these twists right, it can ruin the entire atmosphere, story, and suspense you’ve been building. We’re really careful to strike the right balance in our escape rooms. We only wish we could say the same for these films’ directors.

Spoilers ahead!

5. I Am Legend (2007)

As horror films grow ever more desperate to surprise viewers, they can become victims of their own desire to think outside the box. The film I Am Legend, based on a highly regarded book, goes ahead and twists the book’s twist ending, ultimately ruining the entire story’s message. Plus, the hero dies. Always a cheap trick.

4. The Mist (2007)

The reason The Mist’s twist ending is so horrible is more due to the pure anger it makes many of its viewers feel. It’s not like you’re expecting a happy ending to this Stephen King story, but having the main character mercy kill his son just before safety arrives is just, well, it’s just not cool.

3. High Tension (2003)

Another cheap trick to end any story is “and it turned out it was all a dream!” The ending “and the person was crazy all along” is a version of this, and that’s what makes the ending of this otherwise excellent French flick a big letdown. Plus, the revelation that Marie is the killer all along raise a lot of questions about events that happen throughout the story.

2. The Village (2004)

Of course this psychological horror film is on the list. The Village is the movie that took M. Night Shyamalan from horror golden child to a bit of a laughing stock. The movie starts out really great, but it’s all undone when we find out the whole escapade has taken place in modern times and the monster is nothing but a trick.

1. Shutter Island (2010)

Like High Tension, this leftfield Martin Scorcese film ruins what otherwise would be a thrilling ride by using the “and the person was crazy all along!” trick to conclude the story. However, it’s one worse than High Tension, since it transpires that basically none of the film’s events really happened, and it’s all just part of Teddy Daniels’s delusion.

Book yourself in for a brilliant twist ending in one of Krakit’s four themed escape games, including our Zombie Apocalypse, Asylum, and Saw games. Choose your slot here: http://bookeo.com/krakit.

Literature’s Great Escapes: 6 Tales of Escape to Get Lost In

The Man in the Iron Mask print from 1789

We love a good escape film here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game, but if you really want to get invested in whether or not the hero makes it out in one piece, a book is the way to go.

Below, we list six of the most riveting escapes found in literature.

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844–45)

The oldest and some would argue the best escape tale on our list. Dumas’s enduring swashbuckling adventure sees Edmond Dantès falsely imprisoned and thrown into jail to rot, only to escape and get the best revenge of all: complete and total success.

2. Papillon by Henri Charrière (1970)

It’s hard to believe Papillon is a non-fiction autobiography, but it is. Henri Charrière, another victim of false conviction, was given a life sentence of hard labour in the Devil’s Island penal colony. As nice as that sounds, Charrière plotted an unbelievable escape instead.

3. The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (2015)

This dystopic novel centres on a group of ten young women who have been kidnapped and locked up in dismal conditions in the middle of the Australian Outback. As food supplies dwindle and their captors grow ever more unpredictable, the women must find a way to escape not only their imprisonment but the harsh desert environment.

4. The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas (1847–50)

Better known as the tale of the Man in the Iron Mask, this second entry from Dumas comes from his Three Musketeers series. Though mostly about the Musketeers, the novel revolves around a real, unnamed person who spent his life as a prisoner of Louis XIV—with his face completely covered the entire time. In Dumas’s version, the man escapes (wasn’t so lucky in real life).

5. Room by Emma Donoghue (2010)

Less about the escape and more about what comes after, Donoghue’s book follows the story of a five-year-old boy named Jack, who has been held captive in a small room his entire life, alongside his mother. Until, one day, he learns the there is more to the world than the four walls he lives in.

6. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King (1982)

Yet another book that’s been made into a film and yet another tale of false imprisonment and, Stephen King’s novella about a postwar banker named Andy Dufresne continues to be one of his most popular stories and film adaptations. Plus, it includes one of the most famous escape scenes of all time.

You can book your own escape adventure for you and up to seven friends in one of Krakit’s four-themed escape games here.

What to Expect at Your First Escape Game

Fun!

This one’s pretty obvious, but it is the number one thing you can expect at your first escape room experience. At Krakit, we kick the fun factor up to its highest level with live actors, who take our horror-themed rooms from eerie to downright heart-racing. Or, you can have a more chill time in our non-horror-themed escape room, which rotates regularly.

Puzzles galore

Along with the experience of being immersed in a fantastical world, puzzles are the other main component of what escape games are all about. Logic puzzles, number puzzles, factoids that make you dig old information out of the dark recesses of your brain—all of these can appear somewhere during the course of play.

Each puzzle will lead to a key that together add up to your escape from the room!

Total recall

Much like all those detective shows we’re all totally obsessed with, escape games require you to not only solve puzzles, but to “read the room” in the truest sense.

In order to access the puzzles that will lead to your freedom, you need to first figure out where they’re hiding. This requires you and your teammates to assess the room, figure out what’s “off” (that is, a clue), put together different elements you see, and remember what’s happened earlier in the game.

Stress, but the good kind

With only 45 minutes on the clock, sniffing out all the clues, putting all the pieces together, and solving all the puzzles can make you feel like you’re in a pressure cooker. But trust us, this sort of countdown-to-doomsday scenario is one of the best things about escape rooms. Gets all your adrenaline pumping, that’s for sure!

To find out what your friends—and you—are made of

You and your teammates will need to work together if you have any hope of solving all the puzzles and cracking the room—leading to your freedom. Find out who’s the leader, who’s the numbers guy or gal, and who’s the one who keeps the calm.

Book your escape game experience with Krakit here: bookeo.com/krakit.

Summertime and the Escaping Is Easy: 10 Summeriest Escape Films

Blake Lively trying to escape an overachieving shark in The Shallows

Whether your fancy is horror, adventure, thriller, or kid friendly, there’s a summertime escape film for you. After you’re done picking up tips from these 10 flicks, you can test out your own escape prowess at one of Krakit Vancouver Escape Game’s four themed rooms.

1. Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Though a great watch in any season, summer is the perfect time to revisit Dana and her compadres as they try to outwit and escape the lineup of horror film monsters set upon them by a twisted crew of reality TV show makers.

2. The Great Outdoors (1988)

John Candy, an oversized steak, creepy twin girls, a misunderstood bear, and an epic cave escape scene. What’s not to love about this summer classic?

3. The Descent (2005)

Talk about your summertime outing gone wrong. When a spelunker thinks she can spice up her friends’ day by taking them to an undiscovered cave system, she really just goes ahead and ruins the whole spelunking season.

4. The Beach (2000)

Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his pals think they’re escaping civilization when they set out to find a beach that’s rumoured to be paradise on earth. Cut to poor Rich trying to escape the hellscape it becomes.

5. Homeward Bound (1993)

The Seavers family think they’re going off on vacation, but their two dogs and cat think they’re heading off forever. The three pets escape the ranch they’re meant to be chilling at and embark on a crazy dangerous journey back home to San Fran.

6. Deliverance (1972)

Decidedly not one for the kids, this classic film is set in the backwoods of Georgia, where four city slickers think they’ll have a nice summer getaway. Nope. Just nope. Their main objective soon turns to escaping the woods with their lives intact.

7. The Hills Have Eyes (19777)

Wes Craven’s dusty desert-set slasher flick takes a similar turn to Deliverance, where a nice family vacay turns into a desperate bid to escape a landscape they don’t know and a group of people who are none too friendly.

8. A Perfect Getaway (2009)

This overlooked thriller is set in luscious Hawaii, but unfortunately for the two couples (including Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) who are hiking through the beautiful terrain, some psychopaths are killing people on the trail. And, yep, you guessed it: their perfect holiday getaway turns into the perfect “run for your life”-type getaway.

9. The Shallows (2016)

It’s not an escape game any of us would like to play: outwit and wait out a bloodthirsty shark while standing on a teeny tiny rock in the middle of the open ocean. Blake Lively takes on the challenge with aplomb.

10. Super 8 (2011)

A group of ambitious kids plan on spending their summer making a noir-inspired flick. They end up spending it dodging supernatural events and escaping the clutches of a big ol’ alien. Comme ci comme ça.

Get your own summer escape on by booking an escape room challenge for you and your friends here.

5 Cryptography-centric TV Shows to Bend Your Escape-Game-Loving Mind

The four codebreakers of The Bletchley Circle

If there’s one thing all escape game fans can agree on, it’s their love of ciphers, codes, and the amazing feeling that comes with cracking one. A few television producers out there share that feeling, too.

While only one of these shows is still on the air, luckily we live in the age of streaming! And, who knows, if we all put in the effort and get the numbers just right, they might just bring them back for encore seasons. We have the power, cryptography-loving escape room fans!

1. The Bletchley Circle (2012–14)

Yep, that Bletchley, the same one where Alan Turing and his team cracked the “unbreakable” Enigma Code in WWII. This series is set after the end of the war in the early ’50s, centering on a group of women—former Bletchley codebreakers, of course—who take the solving of complex crimes into their own hands after the police fail to get the job done.

2. Numbers (2005–10)

FBI Special Agent Don Eppes skips the wiretapping and intimidation and goes straight for the numbers to solve a variety of crimes. His secret weapon? His super math genius brother, Charles, who uses equations (yes, equations!) to help find and apprehend the criminals. Yay, math!

3. Gravity Falls (2012–16)

In this animated series, Mabel Pines (Kristin Schaal) and her brother Dipper (Jason Ritter) spend their summer at their uncle’s house running “The Mystery Shack.” (The town of Gravity Falls happens to be full of paranormal creatures, so it’s sort of necessary.) At the end of every episode, there’s a different cipher to crack, introducing kids—and kids at heart!—to the Caesar, Atbash, and Vigenère ciphers, among others.

4. Touch (2012–13)

Former reporter Martin Bohm (played by Kiefer Sutherland) realizes his young son, Jake, who has been diagnosed as autistic, is an ace when it comes to numbers and patterns. So good, in fact, that he can predict the future based on what he sees within them. Jake uses his skills to decipher a number of codes that lead to the pair saving the day, naturally.

5. The Numbers Game (2013–)

Unlike the other shows in this list, The Numbers Game isn’t a drama or cartoon, but shows how numbers work in our everyday lives. Host Jake Porway (who looks like he could be Bill Nye’s long lost son, incidentally) delves into the history of codes and other brain-melting puzzles. Get ready for some codebreaking and silly skits to keep you entertained along the way.

Get your hands on all the ciphers and codes Krakit has to offer by booking a game in one of our four themed escape rooms, steps away from Lougheed SkyTrain in Burnaby. Book here.

History’s Great Escapes: The Catalpa Rescue of 1876

Thomas Darragh, one of six Fenians to escape during the Catalpa rescue

This incredibly impressive escape happened more than a 140 years ago, back when Australia was still considered one big giant jail for the British Empire’s undesireables. As much as we’d like to see an escape game made out of the Catalpa’s story, there are far too many moving parts and unbelievable scheming needed to make this a room anyone could break in 45 minutes or less.

Let us elaborate.

In the 1860s, the British sent dozens of members of the Irish Republic Brotherhood—otherwise known as Fenians, who were fighting for Ireland’s independence—to what was then the penal colony of Western Australia. A few of the Fenians managed to escape from Australia and several others were eventually granted pardons. Yet by 1876, there were still six men imprisoned—but they were not going to let their story end there.

One of the prisoners, James Wilson, managed to smuggle a letter out of Australia and to one of his escaped brothers who now was living exiled in New York. Upon receiving the letter, John Devoy and his fellow Fenians masterminded a rescue plan that would go down in history as one of the greatest prison escapes ever.

Escape of Fenian convicts from Fremantle, Western Australia, engraving

They bought a three-masted whaling vessel called the Catalpa, and, on April 29, 1875, they left New Bedford, Massachusetts, with 22 sailors onboard—who were none the wiser of their true mission. There would be no whaling done on this ship.

Instead, they pointed themselves toward Australia—relying on their own navigational skills to get them there, since they learned too late that their navigational tools were broken.

After dropping anchor in international waters, the rescuers assumed fake identities, managing to: 1) become chums with the Governor of Western Australia; 2) get an official tour of the prison where their friends were; and 3) organize the destruction of all the telegraph lines in the area that would otherwise spread word of their daring escape.

Not bad, right?

Nearly one year after they had left the USA, the day of the escape arrived: April 17, 1876. One rowboat chase and several cannon shots later, the six remaining Fenians were aboard the Catalpa. Though the authorities gave chase, the Fenians informed them that any attack would be considered a hostile action against the entire country of America, since they were in international waters.

Beaten by their own rules, the police backed off and the Catalpa headed for the Indian Ocean.

Don’t worry—our escape rooms don’t take a full year to crack, but less than an hour! Book one of four themed escape games here: bookeo.com/krakit

Escape Rooms As A Way of Life: The Legend of Zelda Method

© Nintendo

We’re living a little in the way that Link from The Legend of Zelda.

We spend our solo time traversing ‘fields’ of personality, looking for ‘rupees’ for physical sustenance, plucking ‘hearts’ for emotional fulfilment, and fighting minor demons abounding sporadically. From the fields, we head into bustling towns (like Burnaby) where we find collective persons in meeting places. We relate to these strangers who inspire within ourselves greater goals, furthering our paths beyond the fields we roam. This is the nature of the business we conduct in our life path and career directives. 

When we have found the proper motivations from the townspeople, i.e. what we can offer vs. what we are lacking, we then head steadfast to seek the inside of a dungeon (Krakit Escape Room) where we are isolated to face down our greater demons: those hidden from the populated fields and towns. We become like the hermit, seeking inner truths in the dark caverns within. Our quest is to escape and the only escape is confronting evil head-on.

First we seek anchor in finding a navigation tool, a compass, to enlighten us as as to our core principles (that way to shed light on our demon’s location), where to find the tools to defeat the demon, and the key required to get some face time with our inner foe. This dungeon is not only our situational escape room, but the liberation of our optimal identity from self-defeating ideologies.

The maxim ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears’ reveals the locking mechanisms unlatched by the riddles of existence in Link’s field-town-dungeon whence the keys to success appear neither amidst nor before completion. This is the definition of the escape room: if I perform Task A then I will be able to unlock Item X in order to move on to Task B. Then, voila, the door is open and you’re free to move forward.

Whether the room is metaphorical or physical, the pursuit of higher goals requires we traverse our internal escape room (or, in Link’s case, dungeon).

Escape the Office: 5 Benefits of Team Building for Small Businesses

Team building at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game!

When someone brings up team building, the first thing that pops up in many people’s minds is of 200 employees who barely know each other doing trust falls in a forest somewhere. But that’s not what team building means in 2017! And it’s not just for large companies where employees might not know each other’s names.

Team building activities are just as important and beneficial for small companies. Maybe you all work in the same room, just inches from one another, but there’s always room to improve communication, teamwork, and comradery.

Escape games are a perfect team building choice, especially for small businesses. Why? Because escape rooms usually fit maximum 7 people, which means you can get your whole team in on one game! Plus, they’re super fun (duh!).

Here are five of the best outcomes we see for small businesses who do their team building at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game:

1. Increased communication

When you have only 45 minutes to solve several puzzles and make your bid for freedom, everyone needs to step up their communication levels. In small teams, it can be easy to assume everyone knows what’s going on at all times when that’s not really the case.

2. A chance to bond

There’s a good chance everyone in a start-up knows everyone else’s name, but does everyone really know everyone? Especially if you have a recent addition to your team, a fun team-building challenge allows everyone to get to know one another on another level—and one that’s email free!

3. Testing relationships and skills

In small companies, relationships between staff members can become rigid out of necessity. A teambuilding activity like an escape game lets you see what skills your staff may not be getting a chance to use.

4. Oiling the teamwork machine

Small businesses don’t work if everyone’s commitment to teamwork isn’t in tip-top shape. A fun tune-up is a great way to make sure all is in working order for all team members.

5. Good vibes for all

The high of outwitting the puzzle master and solving an escape game puts everyone in a good mood for weeks!

Book one of Krakit’s four themed escape rooms for your team building day here.

The 5 Greatest Things about Columbo

The Columbo statue in Budapest, Hungary (CC BY 3.0)

He looks like a bumbling and easy-to-fool man, but Lieutenant Columbo provides a great lesson in why looks can be deceiving. That’s especially true when it comes to solving mysteries—and something we see often at our Vancouver escape games. That is, it’s not always the most confident-seeming person who’s got the solve in the bag. Sometimes, it’s the unsuspecting person hiding in plain sight.

Columbo knows the value of being underestimated by the people you’re trying to win one over on. Those criminals just never seem to see it coming, do they?

It’s hard for us at Krakit Escape Game to choose just five of our favourite things about Columbo, but here we go.

5. The Columbo statue in Hungary

There he is, looking as confused as ever, staring at his beloved basset hound, Dog. He may be looking confused because there’s no rhyme or reason for there to be a life-sized bronze statue of Columbo on Budapest’s Falk Miksa Street. But there it is, and that’s what makes it so great.

4. Columbo’s cat-and-mouse games

The episode “Try and Catch Me” (season 7, episode 1) sees Columbo engaged in a game of cat and mouse with a successful author named Ruth Gordon. He actually forces the murderous writer to deliver her own gotcha moment, by making her read out all the clues left behind by her victim during a speech for her adoring fans. Zing. This is just one example of how Columbo swiftly gains the upper hand.

3. Peter Falk’s gravelly voice

OK, sure, we know this doesn’t actually add to his ability to outsmart all the criminal masterminds, crooked politicians, and arrogant art types he takes down. But for some reason it is so much more satisfying to hear Columbo’s epic “gotcha” speeches in his rough-and-tumble New York accent instead of a crisp British clip.

2. The memorable nemeses of Columbo

Columbo ran for 13 seasons, partially in the ‘70s and partially in the ‘90s. This has made for some varied and memorable recurring characters to pit Columbo against. But the age-old question remains: Who IS the ultimate Columbo nemesis—Jack Cassidy, Robert Culp, or Patrick McGoohan?

1. Columbo’s infuriating catchphrase

Columbo’s most famous move, in which he lets the criminal think they’ve gotten away with it all and then reels them back in with a final zinger, is basically what we’re waiting for at the end of every episode. “Oh, just one more thing …”



Do your best Peter Falk impression in one of Krakit’s four themed escape games. Book a room for you and up to 6 other people here.

Different Folks, Different Strokes: 4 Ways to Conquer Escape Games

One of the most beautiful things about escape rooms is that they’re not just for one kind of person. They’re not just for gamers or mystery fans or puzzle lovers. Everyone can find something they’re good at when it comes to the multifaceted activity that is the escape game.

Whether you’re a visual thinker or a list maker or a get-your-hands-dirty kind of a person, there’s some part of an escape game that you’ll really excel at. Trust us: it takes all sorts to help your team get the final solve in just 45 minutes.

Logical Types

Are numbers your thing? Does your brain work in really linear and strategic ways? Escape games often feature some sort of numerical code or logic game where your mathematical brain will come in very handy. Being able to systematically observe all the elements in a room certainly doesn’t hurt either.

Creative Types

Are you less than excited about numbers but really excel when there’s out-of-the-box thinking to be done? When it comes to solving an escape room, people who think creatively are great when it comes to riddles and trivia, as well as offering up new ideas to spark different trains of thought in their teammates.

Big-Picture-Thinker Types

You might miss the differently coloured flower in the painting you’re observing or totally fail to notice the zombie lurking in the corner, but that doesn’t matter—you’re great at figuring out how all these things go together. Leave it to your teammates to collect and present the evidence, and leave it you to come up with the answers.

Hands-on Types

Believe or not, many people fail to realize that they’re actually *in* an escape game, and treat it more like a mental exercise than a physical one. While there’s definitely some brain work going on, if you don’t move around and touch and examine every surface in the room, you’re not going to win. Simple as that.

Put together your ultimate escape game team and see if you can prevail in one of Krakit’s four themed rooms. Book now.

Top 3 Restaged Jump Scares in Horror History

With the new version of It hitting theatres later this year and its ultra-intense trailer already giving us nightmares, we thought it was high time to revisit one of our favourite topics here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game: the jump scare.

Some horror films and thrillers get away without featuring a jump scare, but where’s the fun in that? Being on the edge of your seat and literally jumping out of it is part of what makes scary movies so addictive.

So, without further ado, here are our top three favourite jump scares that you already know are coming. Yet, whether it's from a remake that restages a jump scare from the original or a sequel that leans heavily on the original, these jump scares still do the trick.

3. The Thing (1982/2011)

Maybe it’s John Carpenter’s original 1982 version starring Kurt Russell or maybe it’s the CGI-heavy 2011 remake that does it for you. In any case, when it comes to The Thing, the alien creature’s habit of popping out of where you least expect—whether an ice block or a human chest—is sure to get your heart racing.

2. The Blair Witch Project (1999) / Blair Witch (2016)

Sure, the new Blair Witch film is basically like a shot-for-shot remake of the original, but that also includes repeating its best jump scare. Fancy staring into a corner in a super creepy house for all eternity, anyone?

1. It (1990/2017)

Right, we know we’ve only seen the trailer for the 2017 film, but Pennywise has already managed to do it again. Whether it’s Tim Curry in the original 1990 TV version or Bill Skarsgård in the forthcoming movie, the anticipation of seeing Pennywise’s horrible painted face appear in that sewer grate is almost too much to bear.



See how many jump scares you can count during your 45 minutes in Krakit’s Zombie Apocalypse escape game. Book now.

Escape from Vancouver: 5 Best Detective Series Filmed in Hollywood North

There are plenty of reasons why Vancouver and the Lower Mainland are a great place to live for escape game fans. Along with some truly great and challenging escape rooms, Vancouver plays to host to many, many film sets—including the type of detective series we puzzle fans can really sink our teeth into.

Here are the top 5 biggest and best detective television series filmed in Vancouver. Happy hunting for all of the filming locations!

5. MacGyver (1985–92)
A classic to be sure, but MacGyver is the lowest on our list because the scientific knowledge this secret agent uses to get out of jams is a little too far-fetched for our logical puzzle-loving brains. Filming locations include the Steam Clock in Gastown and Coal Harbour.

4. Arrow (2012–)
Arrow is also fantastical, but it’s set in the DC Comics superhero universe, so we’ll allow it. This crime series is based on the character Green Arrow, who also appeared in the series Smallville, also filmed in Vancouver. Filming locations include the Vancouver Art Gallery and Gastown.

3. 21 Jump Street (1987–91)
While Johnny Depp played an undercover cop at an American high school, it was actually often New Westminster Secondary School that he and his gun-toting colleagues were hanging around. Other filming locations include, you guessed it: Gastown.

2. Psych (2006–14)
Now here’s a show right up Krakit Vancouver Escape Game’s alley: Psych follows a young sleuth
who uses his amazing powers of logic to solve crimes, while letting the precinct he works with think he has psychic powers. Nearly all eight seasons were filmed in Hollywood North, including locations at the White Rock Museum and Archives and Jericho Beach.

1. Da Vinci’s Inquest (1998–2006)
For once, Vancouver got to play the rarest of all things: itself. This well-loved Canadian detective series follows Dominic Da Vinci, a mountie turned coroner who still has a finger in the justice system. Filming locations include: anywhere, since the producers didn’t have to hide any noticeable landmarks.

Put on your detective hat (a deerstalker, no doubt) in one of our four themed escape games. Book here. 

From Crosswords to Escape Games: 5 Fun Ways to Exercise Your Brain

People regularly hit the gym to keep their bodies in the best possible shape, but it’s just as important to put your grey matter through its paces. Without exercising your mind, you’ll start to lose neuroplasticity, your brain cells will stop talking to each other, and your brain function will be diminished.

Basically: use it or lose it.

Luckily, there’s no need to enroll in a calculus class to keep your noggin in tip-top shape. Here’s five fun ways to keep your brain fit, from crosswords to escape games.

1. Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles have long been held up as being great for keeping your brain active. More than testing your knowledge of obscure facts, it’s learning new words, storing them in your memory, and retrieving them for the next crossword that helps build memory muscle.

2. Knitting

Seems like you’re not doing a lot with your brain when you’re knitting, but that’s exactly the point. Knitting functions similarly to meditation, helping to regulate your moods and protect against brain aging.

3. Escape Games

The best way to exercise your brain is to use all your senses at once in unusual ways. And the best way to do this is to play an escape game: a new environment, visual clues, audio cues, mini challenges, teamwork—it’s all there.

4. Geocaching

Believe it or not, an important way to keep your brain sharp is to do physical activity. Another excellent exercise is to break routine and “do things the hard way.” By putting you into a forest, sending you on a treasure hunt, and taking away Google Maps, Geocaching combines all these things.

5. Virtuosity

Challenge yourself to become the absolute best at something creative, whether that’s a musical instrument, short story writing, boat building, or soccer juggling. Virtuosos are more alert, open-minded, and calm and they can put details together coherently better than other people. Even if you don’t become Yo-Yo Ma, your brain will thank you for trying.

Keeping your brain in fighting condition by booking one of Krakit’s four Vancouver Escape Games.

5 Unassuming and Underestimated Detectives

Nancy Drew, doing some unassuming sleuthing in one her many books

If you’re a criminal and you’ve got a Sherlock Holmes, Stella Gibson, or John Luther on your case, you’ve got no choice but to immediately start quaking in your boots. But it’s not just intimidating and decorated detectives who always get their man. There are some sleuths who the bad guys never see coming, including the seven underestimated crime-solvers on our list.

Don’t forget: you can try your own unassuming detective hat on at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game and catch your friends off guard with your sleuthing brilliance.

1. Miss Marple

The simple fact is: no one suspects the little old lady—of anything, least of all of being a shrewd investigative mind. That’s probably why people are willing to say things in front of Miss Marple they’d never say in front of Sherlock, helping her to catch them out.

2. Nancy Drew

If no one suspects the little old lady, they certainly don’t suspect the teenage girl, precocious though she may be. Hardworking and determined, Nancy Drew never fails to far exceed people’s expectations of her.

3. Poirot

Tiny, fashion forward, and with a slight limp, Poirot cuts a far different figure than the towering dominance of John Luther. However, his unassuming physical appearance lures people into talking to his “benign confessor” character.

4. Jessica Fletcher

Novelist on the outside, brilliant detective on the inside, Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote is able to use her day job as a mystery writer to gain insight into real-life crimes—always to the criminals’ downfall.

5. Dirk Gently

People might expect Dirk Gently—a man obsessed with the spirit world and otherworldly pursuits—to be full of a lot of hooey. But though Gently may seem like he’s running a sham business with his “holistic detective agency,” he’s not messing about in the slightest. Gently is the real deal.

Get sleuthing at one of Krakit's four Vancouver escape rooms by booking you and up to seven other people into one of four themed escape games.

Escape This: 6 Zombie Apocalypse Survival Skills That Apply to Real Life

When it comes to surviving the end times, we normally think of things like machete-wielding skills or the ability to hotwire a semi-truck. But it’s not just practical skills you’ll need out there. Humans’ main advantage in the natural world is our big brains, and that’s what’ll get you through the zombie apocalypse in one piece. (Maybe that’s why the undead want to eat them so bad …). 

Not coincidentally, they’re also the same sorts of skills you’ll use to lead yourself to victory in Krakit’s Zombie Apocalypse escape room.

1. Ingenuity

Rather than stocking up on tinned foods and honing your knife skills, you know what’s really going to help you in the Zombie Apocalypse? Being creative and insightful. If you don’t know how to jerry-rig a tank, then at least your ability for inventive thinking will help you think up a plan and help you learn new skills along the way.

2. Flexibility

Along with ingenuity, flexible thinking is key. You can only use what you have at hand. How are you going to MacGyver your way out of this situation? Unfortunately, your original plan has gone out the window—better think of something else quick. When one thing doesn’t work, immediately switching to a new gear will help you get through the Zombie Apocalypse, escape games, and life in general.

3. Quick thinking

When you’re living on the run, often you don’t have a lot of time to come up with the perfect plan. Developing quick thinking by challenging yourself with rapid-fire puzzles and logic problems is a surefire way to make sure you stay one step ahead of the undead and also your coworkers.

4. Long-term thinking

At the same time as quick thinking is an essential skill, so is long-term thinking. Being able to do both means you’ll be able to escape immediate danger but also figure out how you’re going to secure safety for you and your crew in the long run. In an escape room, this comes into play when you solve the smaller puzzles that lead to the bigger victory—winning the entire escape game.

5. Reading people

If you want to survive in the cut-throat world of the Zombie Apocalypse, you’ll have to keep a close eye on the people you’re with. As much as we want to trust everyone, you must stay vigilant. Being able to read people accurately is key to figuring out if what they’re saying matches what they’re thinking. This skill applies everywhere, from zombie survival to the dating scene to the workplace.

6. Teamwork

Though you need to stay on your toes, you wouldn’t survive any sort of apocalypse without the help of your friends or even strangers. Learning how to meld your strengths with someone else’s is the only way to forge ahead, when it comes to zombies and when it comes to life.

Band together with a group of up to seven of your friends to defeat Krakit’s horde of zombies in our Zombie Apocalypse escape room. Book now.

From Ostomachion to Escape Game: A History of the Puzzle

The Ostomachion Puzzle (Illustration: Rosario Van Tulpe (CC))

Escape games may be a pretty new phenomenon (the first one opened in 2007 in Japan), but coming up with puzzles to solve purely for the fun of it is an ancient human pastime. While it’s hard to know for certain what the very first puzzles were, there are some really old ones entered into the history books.

The world’s first mechanical game

This game from 2550–2250 BCE looks oddly familiar. Many a Christmas cracker and kid’s birthday goody-bag comes stuffed with one of these puzzles, which requires you to lead the ball from one end of the labyrinth to the other. This clay one looks just as hard as the plastic versions we have today.

The world’s first riddle

One of humankind’s oldest riddles unsurprisingly comes from Classical literature. In Sophocles’s play Oedipus Rex from 429 BCE, when Oedipus encounters the wily Sphinx, it asks him this riddle: "What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?"

Oedipus answers correctly: “Man,” and is spared becoming the Sphinx’s dinner by his own quick thinking.

The world’s first puzzle

The famous mathematician Archimedes is behind this most ancient of puzzles: the Ostomachion Puzzle. Invented in 287–212 BCE, this puzzle has 14 geometric pieces that the player is required to arrange correctly in order to fit into a perfect square.

The world’s first crossword

The crossword is the new kid on the block, for sure. It was invented in 1913 by a journalist named Arthur Wayne, which makes it just over a century old. Crosswords are so commonplace now, it’s hard to imagine they were once an innovative pastime, just like escape rooms!

Take on a variety of puzzles and riddles when you play one of Krakit Vancouver Escape Games four themed escape rooms. Book now.

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. 

History’s Great Escapes: Napoleon's Escape from Elba

Napoleon greeted by the 5th Regiment at Grenoble after his escape from Elba (Charles de Steuben)

On February 26, it will be exactly 201 years since Napoleon Bonaparte made his great escape from the island of Elba. Being one of the most famous exiles of all time has really got to put a damper on your chances of making a prison break, which is why we at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game consider this one of the greatest escapes of all time.

It’s true that a lot of negative qualities are associated with Napoleon—being overly aggressive as a way to compensate for a lack of height being just one of them—but no one can argue that he wasn’t also a great strategic mastermind. This is precisely what led him to seize power as the new leader of France following the Revolution.

Unfortunately for him, people eventually tired of his antics, which mainly included invading other European countries. After ten years, his enemies finally got the better of him and ousted him from his position as Emperor of France, exiling him to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.

Napoleon lived on Elba for the better part of a year, at which point he caught wind that his rivals planned to move him to an even more remote location—an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. So, on February 26, 1815, Napoleon made his escape.

Taking advantage of in-fighting among the European powers who had placed him on Elba in the first place, Napoleon managed to slip past his guards who were otherwise preoccupied. He and his 1,000-man army—which he had amassed on Elba using his undiminished powers of charisma—boldly marched aboard a French ship and sailed to Provence. A regiment was sent to overtake Napoleon and his army, but instead, these men simply joined his ranks.

Two days later, Napoleon returned to Paris—and to his former title of Emperor. This wasn’t fated to last very long, however, with Napoleon’s power lasting just two days before he was exiled again. This time, to a new island a thousand miles off the west coast of Africa, where he would be unable to duplicate his Elba escape. He died on St. Helena five years later.

Pull a Napoleon and make your own escape when you book one of our four Vancouver escape rooms here: http://bookeo.com/krakit

Can’t Escape That Feeling: 5 Best Horror Love Stories

Zombies need love too (Photo: Kenny Louie)

Love Valentine’s Day but don’t love sappy rom coms? Neither do we here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game.

We’re completely sure that celebrating love doesn’t require red roses and sparkling wine, goopy rain-drenched kisses, or even chocolates (though that’s never really bad is it). Why are we so certain? Just take a look at these equally horrorific and lovey-dovey couples.

5. Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas

They may not be perfect—he has no flesh and hers keeps falling apart—but they’re perfect for each other. Despite Dr. Finkelstein’s attempts to keep them apart, the pair end Tim Burton’s beloved Claymation classic by declaring their love in lovely, romantic graveyard.

4. Edward and Kim from Edward Scissorhands

While there is no rain-filled kiss scene in yet another creepy romance from Tim Burton, there is a snow-filled dance that even Belle and the Beast would envy, when Edward makes it snow by carving an ice sculpture in Kim’s likeness. Like Belle, though Kim finds Edward super weird at first, she ends up falling for her very own beast—though things turn out rather less happily.

3. Oskar and Eli from Let the Right One In

Is there anything more precious than first love? Even if it’s with a vampire? Oskar, from the dark and moody Swedish indie flick, doesn’t let Eli’s penchant for killing human beings ruin his feelings for her. In fact, it makes him like her even more.

2. Buffy and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

A tortured love story to rival Romeo and Juliet’s—only with a whole lot more dying. Could their tale be any more tragic, guys? There are probably some people out there still hoping that Buffy and Angel get back together. Fingers crossed.

1. Eve and Adam from Only Lovers Left Alive

We’re starting to sense a theme here. Despite some franchise doing their best to ruin it, there really is something romantic about vampires, despite their unsettling bloodlust—it must be that whole immortal thing. No film portrays this better than Jim Jarmusch’s quiet film, which tells the story of a devoted vampire couple through the ages. Eve and Adam are really just a great couple to aspire to this Valentine’s Day, whether you’re a vampire or not.

Take your own eternal love on a Valentine’s date to remember at our Vancouver escape game. Book here: http://bookeo.com/krakit

Escape Your Brain: How Optical Illusions Work

We can all agree that the clues and riddles that lead to escape room victory make you do some serious brain gymnastics. Why? Because by twisting your expectations, they force acrobatic thinking.

This is basically the same principle that optical illusions work on—except they are all the more frustrating, because we can never exactly solve them.

When we take in data about the world—through our eyes, for example—we make assumptions about that world. But these assumptions are not always true to reality.

Ponzo illusion

Take the Ponzo illusion: It looks like the horizontal lines are different lengths when, in fact, they are the exact same. The angled lines trick our brains into using our depth perception. And, just like that, four simple lines will outsmart us, every time.

This is why optical illusions can be incredibly frustrating: they’re so simple, and yet they trick our brains so effectively.

 

Grey squares illusion

We all know the illusion above: The squares with the two dots are the exact same shade. But none of us actually sees it that way, do we?

The only way for our minds to process all the information around us is to take shortcuts. These help us to make quick work of what we’re sensing—but it can get us in to trouble. This is the same principle both pickpockets use to distract you while they steal the watch right off your wrist. They misdirect your attention by messing with our sensory shortcuts.

Perceptual shortcuts like the ones that make us susceptible to optical illusions and pickpockets are the same ones that can thwart us when we attempt to solve riddles. That is, we fall into familiar patterns and come to the same old conclusions. Usually this is great—but not when a mystery is afoot!

Slowing down, and seeing what’s really in front of our faces, is the only way we can work against this natural shortcoming.

It’s like Sherlock says: “You do see, you just don’t observe!” The trick is to try and do both at once. 

See how well you can master your perceptual shortcuts in one of Krakit’s four Vancouver escape games. Book here: http://bookeo.com/krakit.