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).

Right Twists and Wrong Turns: Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” Turns 30

It’s hard to believe, but it’s true: this month, the ever-popular film Labyrinth turns 30 years old. Unsurprisingly, it’s an old favourite with the folks here at Krakit Vancouver Escape Game.

Starring a very young Jennifer Connelly, the film follows the somewhat tempestuous teenager Sarah as she attempts to rescue her brother back from Jareth, the Goblin King (the unforgettable, late, great David Bowie)—who she sort of accidentally maybe gave her baby brother away to.

It’s hard to say what’s most memorable about the film. Is it Sarah’s insanely gigantic ball gown, the Goblin King’s many song and dance numbers, or perhaps the image of one dog using another dog as his steed? When it comes down to it, it’s really the Labyrinth itself that sticks in the brain: the sprawling, constantly changing, dangerous and tricksy maze that dominates the entire story.

Here are some of the best wrong turns the Labyrinth has to offer.

The Oubliette

Though she just wants to get away from the creepy hands that compose the walls of the hole she has fallen into, Sarah never should have instructed them to send her downwards.

The Fireys’ Forest

After she becomes separate from her gigantic furry friend Ludo, Sarah unfortunately runs into the domain of the Fireys, who are convinced her head can come off just as easily as theirs.

The Bog of Eternal Stench

An act of kindness—kissing her reluctant helper Hoggle after he saves her—lands Sarah and company quite suddenly in the Bog of Eternal Stench. Luckily, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius are there to help them get back on track.

The Junk Yard

For a split second, Sarah gets to think her experience in the Labyrinth has all been a dream. Until the walls of her room come crashing down, and she realizes she is, in fact, in the middle of a trash heap.

The Escher Staircases

It all comes to a head when Sarah finally confronts Jareth in his castle—and finds herself in a vertigo-inducing mishmash of staircases straight out of an M.C. Escher drawing.



Love labyrinths as much as we do? Check out this previous post on real-life labyrinths and mazes before booking your own escape adventure at one of our four escape rooms, here: http://bookeo.com/krakit.

Not a Horror Fan? 10 Escape Films Just for You

Though we’re huge fans of horror (you might have been able to tell), we know that not everyone enjoys having the living daylights scared of out of them.

That’s why alongside our horror-themed escape games we have one that has all of the brain-teasing fun without all of the hair-raising chills. Currently, that’s our One Night Stand room—which offers a different kind of horror as motivation: You need to find out what exactly happened “the night before,” before your 45 minutes is up and the game is over.

For those who prefer the excitement of escape with minimal gore, we list 10 of our favourite non-horror escape films, with a title for every taste.

Labyrinth (1986) 

A selfish teenager has to solve a magical labyrinth to save her brother from goblinhood. Plus Davie Bowie, Jim Henson puppets, and a baby in a stripey onesie. What’s not to love.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 

Tim Robbins plays the long game in this prison-escape film that comes from Stephen King’s sentimental side.

The Martian (2015)

Another long-game escape. Matt Damon’s only hope of getting off the desolate planet of Mars is some serious scientific calculations and quick-thinking problem solving. And lots of waiting.

Battle Royale (2000) 

This classic Japanese film sees ninth graders pitted against one another, fighting for the chance to be the one who escapes a deserted island with their life.

The Matrix (1999)

Yes, a sci-fi masterpiece, but also a tale of ultimate escape. For what is the Matrix if not one giant hallucinatory prison from which humanity must break free?

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Though it’s been decommissioned for decades, Alcatraz is still known as being the inescapable prison. Clint Eastwood begs to differ.

Papillon (1973)

Another prison break film, set on another island. This time it’s Steven McQueen who attempts to escape his cell—over and over again.

The Maze Runner (2014)

A bunch of boys and one girl are tasked with navigating a shifting maze full of deathbots. Poor things are destined to run into even more obstacles in the forthcoming sequel, The Scorch Trials.

Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken run? More like chicken prison. This family-friendly claymation sees a bold chicken attempt to lead his fellow fowl to freedom.

The Hunger Games (2012)

An unsurprising entry, but one we can’t leave out. The first of the popular franchise has Katniss trying to escape the Hunger Games with her life, before going on to attempt freedom from larger political shackles.

Book a round in our One Night Stand Vancouver escape room here.