Imagine a world filled with magic, whimsy, lasers, mystery, creepy items hanging from the wall and an end scene designed to make your blood curdle in terror.
Now imagine being trapped in that world and being tasked with increasingly difficult challenges in order to get out.
Escape City opened its doors in downtown Saskatoon and challenged Ominocity to solve “Keller’s Magic Emporium”, an escape room where you work your way through a series of puzzles with hopes of becoming the apprentice to a great magician.
Uhm, hello!
We assembled a group of six of our smartest friends and made our way down to 3rd Avenue, where this Edmonton based company just opened their new location.
Once we stowed away our phones we were led into “Keller’s Magic Emporium” where we watched a spooky introductory video and were then given an anxious 45 minutes to make our way out of the room.
Having hired professional set designers when constructing their escape rooms, Escape City places a heavy emphasis on theatrics, along with the smart use of mechanics and technology. This creates a very surreal experience that is well crafted and highly entertaining.
The majority of us had never experienced an escape room or the terror sweat that comes with being trapped by confusing puzzles. Needless to say, vast arrays of emotions were felt. Cheers were had, curse words cursed, and even screams slipped out as the game took us into unexpected places.
Solving each puzzle felt hugely satisfying and every member of our group contributed in our quest. We recommend bringing a group of 4 to 6 players – the more eyes and ears the better! But you might want to leave your squeamish mom or your wandery little brother at home.
After a slight struggle near the end of our journey, Ominocity successfully made it out of “Keller’s Magic Emporium” with 13 minutes to spare and without any hints from Escape City’s staff!
While “Keller’s Magic Emporium” is the easiest of Escape City’s rooms, it apparently only has a 33% success rate, making us feel oh so smart and proud.
We popped into a nearby pub with adrenaline flowing after completing the game to unwind and immediately starting planning to tackle one of Escape City’s other rooms, which are a great alternative to a concert or a movie. Their Saskatoon location features two other escape rooms, “The Inheritance” and “The Cabin.” Cue spooky sound effects, sighs of working with difficult pals, and more beers clinking in celebration.
Escape City costs $25 per person and rooms can be booked online at www.escapecity.ca.
