Even The Franklin Institute has gotten in on the escape room craze.
“Intergalactic Escape” opened June 14, and “Island Escape” welcomed its first puzzle-solving guests June 28. The new, 60-minute escape rooms on the science museum’s first floor take up a combined 4,000 square feet.
“This is a first for The Franklin Institute … a continuation of our initiatives to reach a new and broader audience. Escaping these rooms requires skills essential to every field of science,” said Franklin Institute President and CEO Larry Dubinski, adding that the logic, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration involved in successfully completing an escape room challenge are what scientists do every day.
What makes these escape rooms different from others, he said, is an emphasis on media and technology. For example, Intergalactic Escape requires you to use a wrist scanner to activate the challenges and puzzles. Since Intergalactic Escape debuted, “every available time slot has been sold out,” said Dubinski, attributing its popularity to a video appearance by Franklin Institute chief astronomer Derrick Pitts.
Intergalactic Escape begins with a journey through a wormhole into a parallel world, where everything is inside out and upside down. With Pitts as the captain of your mission, it’s up to you to restore the balance of the universe and change the course of the future. Sci-fi fans will appreciate the references to “The Matrix,” “The Fifth Element” and “Star Trek.” It’s designed for players 13 and older.
Taking a more whimsical narrative, Island Escape – which is appropriate for ages 8 and up – transports players to the deserted island paradise of an eccentric billionaire named Marcellus. In this adventure, players are assigned roles like entertainment director or movie star, and you will be tasked with completing a series of challenges to earn safe passage off the island. The challenges can involve keeping beach balls in the air, activating a blaring foghorn and pedalling a bike carousel.
These immersive, multimedia puzzle challenges were developed by Philadelphia company Steel Owl Productions, who created the game “Escape the 1980s.” “No two games are ever the same. This is almost like ‘The Hunger Games’,” said Steel Owl developer Elisabeth Garson, revealing that the behind-the-scenes crew supervising the escape rooms reserves the right to change the rules or drop in additional challenges.
“Know your roles … and participate,” reads one of the Island Escape tips.
“Not opening? Let someone else try. 99.99 percent of the time, the problem is with the person trying it. If it’s not opening, pass it on,” reads another.
A minimum of six people are needed to play, and capacity is 14 people per experience. “If you don’t know people in your group, you need to get comfortable with them fast. Yell out what you find. Make sure every person in this group knows what you’re doing,” reads yet another Island Escape tip.
According to Garson, the escape rooms will remain at The Franklin Institute through at least 2018. “It’s a great game. We know it’s super fun,” she said.
