Since I was searching for things to do in San Diego as part of my plan for 2015, it looked very intriguing. Delving deeper; what I found sounded so fun, I could hardly wait to gather a group of friends to try it. Who hasn't wanted to be a detective in the game clue or a Sherlock understudy?
The hard part was narrowing it down to just 4 friends since I wanted to do it with everyone. However the game doesn't allow more than 5 players at a time and really is best with 4. Currently there is only one puzzle room, so it's not something you can do over again, until they come up with a new version.
Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long to satisfy my curiosity as this new adventure collided with the opportunity to deliver a unique birthday gift to give a couple of friends.
The Puzzalarium is what "they" call an immersion experience, in this case you literally are "locked" in a 8 x 10 room with your friends solving puzzles and gathering clues to unlock mysteries to find the key to unlock the door to escape. No cell phones, buzz saws, or distractions of any kind. You have 1 hour to escape and you are scored on your performance and puzzle solving ability. The puzzle master is the room with you, and offers hints if you are stuck, but beware the hints do cause deducts from your score. After the hour the puzzle master gives you a debriefing on how you did.
It's difficult to fully describe the experience without revealing to much about the game, but it was so much fun! I think this was the fastest hour of my life. It felt like we were in there for about 5 minutes. We didn't successfully escape the room, but I think we were close.
During our review with the puzzle master, he said for the "first 30 minutes you were lightening quick.. and then math happened." Apparently at the 30 minute mark we were where most teams are at 45 minutes, so we took comfort in that. Our downfall; turns out we were all out of practice doing long division without a calculator. Which is kind of embarrassing to admit for someone that works with numbers most of the day. All I can say is thank goodness for MS Excel and having my calculator handy or I might never leave work.
Even though it only lasts an hour, it provided much more entertainment and amusement as we discussed our successes, failures, and memorable quotes of the experience. There is something supremely satisfying about thinking in a unusual way, and that ah ha moment when you unlock the drawer and pull out an even more mysterious object that you have no idea how it fits in with anything you previously seen and you have 5 minutes left to finish. A perfect social experiment, we learned that we panic under pressure the closer the time got to the hour mark, the sloppier and more desperate we became, which most likely effected our ability to get out in time. There is nothing like paying to be locked in a room with some of your closest friends... and hoping your still friends when you get out! :)
Highly recommend the Puzzalarium as something new and different to try in San Diego and can't wait to try version 2.0 when it comes out in a few weeks. It 's perfect to try with friends, or if you are brave as a cool double date. Here is the link to their website for more info:
http://www.puzzalarium.com/
I'm dying to have my other friends try it so we can compare notes, so do it already. Think you're clever...The Puzzalarium awaits..Hint Available :)
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