Want to Be a Detective? Escape Rooms May Help

Want to Be a Detective? Escape Rooms May Help

WASHINGTON—

The timer is running. People have 60 minutes to escape from a room they paid to be locked inside of.

“It is a game with clues that are spread throughout the room. And there is no starting point. You start wherever you feel like. It is up to you to put the clues together in order to find the key to get out,” Smith says.

The room  - one of two offered by Timothy Smith's Escape Lounge¹ in Washington - is designed to mimic² the Oval³ Office in the White House. It features a presidential seal embossed rug, an iconic desk, presidents’ portraits and other props⁴.

“It is a game with clues that are spread throughout the room. And there is no starting point. You start wherever you feel like. It is up to you to put the clues together in order to find the key to get out,” Smith says.

Everyone loves a good mystery.  Playing detective and creative problem solving games are as old as the Riddle⁵ of the Sphinx. The genius of Sherlock Holmes morphed into the game of Clue where everyone got the chance to play detective. Now, in the Internet age, games like Escape Room, where gamers are locked in a room and must find clues to get free, have kept the genre⁶ fresh and alive. Now the Escape Room game is showing up in the real world and it's going viral.

The fun part of Escape the Oval Office is that anything here could be a clue to solving the puzzle: The antique⁷ typewriter from the 1930s. Or the vintage turntable that plays records. Or the map of Washington, D.C. And then there are hidden messages that can only be seen under a black light.

Sometimes, the hot line on the desk rings.

“Would you guys like a clue?” the voice on the line asks.

The game master monitors the progress on a camera and calls to offer hints as needed.

Teams can be made up of co-workers, families, tourists or friends. This particular group is made up of six friends and two strangers who just met before the game starts.

One of the participants, Kat Matus, says she has never been on any of the Escape Rooms before. "So it was a lot of fun. And I think that it was actually great that we didn't know each other because it really forces you to have to learn how to work with one another.”

It is estimated that there are about 600 Escape Room adventures across the country. When Smith opened the Escape Lounge a year ago, there were two others in the Washington area. Now there are 12 and growing.

While each experience has different themes and settings, the formats⁸ are similar, and solving the puzzle requires social and physical engagement⁹ and quick, creative thinking.

Demetrios Psihopaidas came with friends. ”It was a little stressful. Some of the clues seemed really complex. But it was a lot of fun, and we had no idea what to expect. None of us have ever done it before," says Psihopaidas.

With seven minutes left, the team finally found the key.  Psihopaidas runs to the door with the key. "It works! The door opens!" As he shouts, everybody reacts with joy.

“I was a little worried that we were not going to find all the clues and we weren't going to get out in time," Psihopaidas admits, "So I was happy that we were finished. ”

Smith says the escape success rate is between 30 and 40 percent.

“So it is pretty challenging. Escape the Oval Office is not an easy game.  I think this game is popular because it gives an individual a chance to be a detective or to be a James Bond.”

But, Smith says, like most team sports, this game is really all about being a good teammate and having a good time.

1 lounge   

n.休闲室，休息室，长沙发；v.闲荡，闲散地度过，混日子

参考例句：

• We had coffee in the lounge.我们在客厅里喝咖啡。
• Don't lounge away your working hours.不要消磨工作时间。

2 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

3 oval   

n. 椭圆，椭圆形跑道；adj. 卵形的，椭圆形的

参考例句：

• She has a lovely oval face.她长着一张可爱的椭圆脸。
• The shape of the earth is an oval.地球的形状是个椭圆形。

4 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

5 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

6 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

7 antique   

adj.古时的，古代的；n.古物，古器，古玩

参考例句：

• The Sunday antique market is a happy hunting ground for collectors.周日的古董市场是收藏家的淘物乐园。
• I saw the vase in the window of an antique shop.我在一家古玩店的橱窗里看见了这个花瓶。

8 formats   

n.（出版物的）版式( format的名词复数 )；[电视]电视节目的总安排（或计划）

参考例句：

• They are producing books in all kinds of different formats. 他们出版各种不同开本的书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A true GUI includes standard formats for representing text and graphics. 真正的图形用户界面包括表示文字和图形的标准格式。 来自互联网

9 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。