Your new addiction: Escape rooms
Dozens of game rooms have opened in Israel over the last year, based on the graphic adventure video games that seemed to take over the world during the 1980s and '90s. You are the hero in a game that requires a little logic and a lot of creativity in order to escape the room within the space of an hour.
If you grew up in the '80s or '90s you will probably remember graphic adventure video games, which were also known as quest or "point-and-click" games (nicknamed after their user interface).
For whoever wasn't into that scene, these games lead the player from room to room (or from one scene to another), each of which required you to solve a problem or riddle in order to "extricate" yourself and progress to the final level.
Over the last year the games room trend has spread throughout Israel (where they are also known as "exit rooms"). The rooms present a game in which you are the hero and you need to find clues and solve riddles that will allow you to escape – all within the space of an hour.
A ynet team went to one of the games rooms in order to try it for themselves and see whether it's worth checking out. The answer they came back with is a resounding "yes."
The nostalgic games, which entertained untold numbers of children in their heyday with their unusual plots and weird humor (I personally especially remember Monkey Island and Indiana Jones), have made a comeback – albeit in reality rather than on computers.
The trend began in the United States, in Silicon Valley – the first exit room opened there in 2006. It was, however, by no means a big success. One of the main problems was that the emphasis was placed on the design of the room rather than on the tasks, thereby failing to sufficiently challenge the players.
Over the years, however, the concept improved and the rooms being established today are a perfect solution for those of us who miss playing outside with our friends, before the advent of computers and smartphones with their Candy Crushes that confine us to our seats.
More than 40 of these rooms have already popped up all over Israel, from Eilat and Ashdod to Herzliya and Haifa, with more on the way. The list of Israel's exit rooms can be found on the website of Amit Arnon, a professional video game developer, who first encountered the phenomenon in Italy and decided to bring it to Israel.
"As well as managing the Facebook group and the website itself, I also advise new escape rooms on the puzzles, how to design the rooms and how to create an atmosphere," Arnon says.
"I also create the electronics for some of the rooms and I've also created one room which is currently being built, in addition to another one that is on the way."
So who are these exit rooms aimed at? Everyone – couples, groups of friends, families, groups of workers and more.
It's also an ideal activity for those who are looking for something a little less banal to do on an outing, as well as parents who want to prize their kids away from their smartphones for an hour.
The experience in the room is a special one: 60 minutes of action in which you will run around the room, touch every item while trying to figure out the riddle that will lead you to the next step.
It's not at all easy – from the moment you get inside the room you will not stop thinking, pressing every button and touching every protrusion from the wall in order to find some kind of clue. And you don't have Google to help you.
Managing to get out of the room after solving every puzzle is a major challenge (confession: we had to have help more than once or twice) and certainly a different experience from going to the pub or the cinema.
We fled from Brainit 's "Trapped" room. For details on all the exit rooms in Israel, check out room.run .
