Play the Game of Love: The “One Night Stand” Escape Room

Photo: web4camguy (CC BY-SA 2.0)

We had a lot of fun in Halloweentown for our Nightmare Before Christmas escape room, but now that the season is over, it’s time to move on. Which, coincidentally, is the theme of Krakit’s next room: the One Night Stand room.

The aim of the game is to move on from the night before, which you and your pals can’t quite remember all that well. You find yourself in a strange bedroom. You get the feeling someone else was with you, but now there’s no one else around. Unfortunately, neither is your phone. The most strange thing of all is, you’re fully clothed. So, what happened?

That’s what you need to figure out before your 45 minutes are up. Find out where you are, how you got there, and what the what went on the night before.

Instead of finding yourself in the middle of The Walking Dead or American Horror Story like in our other three escape rooms, this room takes a page out of The Hangover’s playbook. Which is perfect for any squeamish or jumpy friends! However, these squeamish/jumpy friends will be required to have a great sense of humour, as there are some adult themes.

The One Night Stand escape room: the best time you can have with two to eight people—some even strangers—with your pants on! (And, yes, you must keep your pants on at all times. Sorry.)

On that note, it should be obvious, but the One Night Stand room has been created for adults. However, we can dial the theme to “PG” on request, and we can also adjust the “scary level” on our other Vancouver escape rooms.

The One Night Stand room at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game reopens in February (just in time for Valentine’s Day!). Keep your eyes on our website and social media for updates.

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"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and the Zombie Period Film

What’s better than a classic Jane Austen flick? A Jane Austen flick with zombies, of course. Ever since the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came out in 2009, we’ve been waiting for the film version. Finally, our wishes have been fulfilled: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the movie opens in cinemas Friday, February 5. 

Krakit Vancouver Escape Game wants to share our excitement with you, our clever and scheming escapees. So, we’re offering passes to a screening of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, with every Krakit winner entered into a draw for two passes. Plus there are some hidden movie codes in our escape rooms. 

In honour of the zombified version of Jane Austen’s classic tale set in 19th-century England, we’ve compiled a list of our other favourite Zombie Period Films—a niche genre, to be sure, but a good one.

1. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
Sure, there’s debate whether Frankenstein’s monster even counts as a zombie, since he’s sewn together from many different beings. But, he’s reanimated dead flesh—which means, in our books, he’s in. Set in the late 1790s, Frankenstein is one of the first philosophical think pieces of the plight of the zombie.

2. Dead Snow (2009)
This Norwegian horror-comedy may be set in contemporary times, but the zombies the cast encounters are straight out of the 1940s: evil undead Nazis, still in trench coats and helmets.

3. 300 (2006)
Zack Snyder’s wild tale of an outnumbered Spartan army may seem like a surprise entry on this Zombie Period Film list. But then you remember that the Persian Xerxes army is made up of immortals who are referred to the “undead elite royal bodyguard.” And there you have it: a heavily costumed battle between humans and zombies in 480 BCE.

4. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
Speaking of undead armies, the second installment of LOTR features its own set of zombie troops: the Army of the Dead. Sure, Middle Earth might not be a real place, but given the amount of costumes and the olde timey feel, it deserves a spot in the Zombie Period Film pantheon.

5. Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012)
It’s the 1860s, and America is in the midst of its horrendous Civil War. But things take a turn for the much worse when the Confederate soldiers begin rising from the dead. Luckily, President Lincoln is a badass in more ways than one.

Book your spot at our Vancouver escape game before the premiere of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for your chance to win passes for you and a pal.

Best Escape Room–Themed Game Shows on Television

It’s far from a secret that escape rooms are getting more and more popular and landing on more and more people’s lists of things to try. So it’s not really all that surprising that television networks are getting in on the escape room action. 

At last count, there are three currently airing TV shows that not just feature escape rooms—like Big Bang Theory, Conan, and Two Broke Girls have done—but completely focus on them. Like escape games themselves, this sort of puzzle-rific television has deeper roots.

To help escape game fans catch up on this essential TV viewing, we’ve rounded up the best escape room–themed TV out there.

1. The Crystal Maze (1990–95)

One cannot talk of today’s puzzle- and escape-themed TV shows without first mentioning The Crystal Maze. Hosted by Richard O’Brien (aka Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show), The Crystal Maze was one of the biggest and most beloved UK game shows ever to air.

Many Canadians may have missed out on the craze, so luckily there’s quite a few episodes on YouTube to catch you up. And, if you’re heading to London any time soon, it’s even coming back as a “live and immersive interactive experience” (aka, a sort of escape game).

2. Takeshi’s Castle (2002–04)

From the other side of the world—Japan—comes Takeshi’s Castle. The premise is that contestants are trying to make it through a trap-filled castle in order to reach the count, aka actor Takeshi Kitano. More physical than puzzley, Takeshi’s Castle is nevertheless a forebear to today’s escape room–themed television shows. Plus, it’s by far the zaniest—what else would we expect from Japanese TV?

3. Race to Escape (2015–)

Race to Escape is the brainchild of the folks at the Science Channel. Their inspiration comes directly from real-world escape games, with contestants trying to solve clues and bust out of the various themed rooms. Though perhaps not as exciting as actually playing a game yourself, it’s definitely some useful viewing for anyone preparing to take on the Asylum room at our Vancouver escape game—the hardest room we have.

4. Hellevator (2015–)

Another new addition to the genre is Game Show Network’s Hellevator—but this one comes with a twist. Like our own Krakit team, the people behind Hellevator know a good scare when they see one—or make one, rather. This is unsurprising, as the show’s hosts are Vancouver’s own Soska sisters, the directors behind American Mary.

Contestants of Hellevator are challenged to escape an abandoned warehouse, which just happens to have a haunted elevator. Unsurprisingly, screams abound.

5. Code (2016–)

This show has literally just hit the airwaves, broadcast by Korean network JTBC beginning this month. To spice up the format, Code has celebrities as contestants (it was only a matter of time!). The group starts eight floors underground, with the winners advancing one floor per week by solving puzzles and unlocking doors.

Try out the real thing at our Coquitlam escape room by booking here.

A Short History of Escape Games

The history of escape games may be brief in the grand scheme (as compared to, say, tennis), but this entertainment favourite has been moving and shaking at an impressive speed, growing fast in a little time.

Escape room legend has it that the first of these rooms opened in 2007 in Japan: the Real Escape Game. It’s not surprising that escape games have their start in Japan—a country known for some seriously innovative thinking—but escape room history actually goes even further back than that, to PC gaming.

We all remember being completely defeated by Myst back in the ’90s, right? Logic puzzle games like this are where we find the origins of the first “real” escape game. Because what’s better than pretending you’re in a mysterious room with your own brain as the only key to escape? Actually being in one, of course. As generations grow up with gaming consoles and the Internet, spending great chunks of their lives in virtual worlds, there has come a great hankering for something more tangible, something more real.

Back to 2007: Takao Kato attempts to satisfy this hankering, and translates PC room escapes into the Real Escape Game. Fast forward five years to 2012, and the first escape room opens in the US. Meanwhile, more than 100 others have popped up across Asia.

Escape rooms have now spread to every continent (except Antarctica probably—although it’s really just one giant escape room, isn’t it ...). The first Canadian escape games, including the first Vancouver escape rooms, opened in late 2013 and early 2014, with Krakit bringing some dedicated horror fun to the Coquitlam escape game situation in September 2014.

The trend toward bringing some hands-on reality to entertainment isn’t just visible in the rise of escape rooms. Immersive entertainment has also infiltrated cinema (like London’s Secret Cinema) and can be seen in the steadily increasing popularity of city-sized ziplines and slip-and-slides.

What does this tell us? That the history of escape games is only just beginning. Because you can’t beat the real—no matter how fancy your 3D animation may be.